Trip to Wisconsin--Installment I

My intention was to post while I was ON the trip (not leaving 10,000 pictures til the end), but a combination of mom's computer imploding and me forgetting the site where I EDIT this page leaves me with a large amount of info and pictures at once. So this is the first bit. More to follow... still trying to be sparing as there are tons of pictures and memories.

Erik & I met Ben & Pei in Santa Clarita on July 8th. They took me home and then took me to the airport the next day. We went out for Shabu Shabu, which was YUMMY! You drop your meat and veggies into the broth boiling in front of you to cook and then pull them out freshly cooked to dip in sauces with rice. Mmmmmm. . . Their little darlings, Itchy & Scratchy did just what my pets did when the suitcase came out. . . settled right in. Ha! I got home just in time for Peter and Grandpa's Birthday Picnic!Mom, Noelle, Jackie and I went to Heritage Hill (living history), which was very cool in it's own right... but we also got to see the Budweiser Clydesdales while we were there!
It was so good to be in the county! Fun at Sunset Park. . . tiny glimpse of mom's yard. . . muskrat on the pond. . . the pond after a rain (it rained at least once briefly every day for about the first week I got to Wisconsin--how I've missed rain!!!). . . Noelle, Jess & I had a Girls' Night when Pete went to camp at Lake Ellen; "Bucket List" and pizza!On June 21st, I picked up a Very Sleepy Erik from the Appleton airport. We drove through Point (Erik napped while I closed bank account and got to see a couple of people--next time we need more time there!) and up to Rhinelander, mostly as a thank you to our friend Bill who was cat-sitting for us and is obsessed with the Hodag!! Who knew that anyone outside of Wisconsin had ever HEARD of the Hodag?!?The next day we took a tour of Lambeau field with Jackie--it was actually lots of fun and very interesting!April, Ben, Don & Shirley arrived that night (no, I'm not going back and filling in dates). We went out to dinner and stopped to see a gorgeous sunset before heading to Sturgeon Bay. We went to the public museum in Sturgeon Bay with the Coffins ; it was interesting and we got to play with all the toys!We had a picnic at mom's, joined by the Coffins when they returned from seeing the American Folklore Theatre performance "Lumberjacks in Love." We played the lawn game that has so many names, most of which aren't very polite, and had a campfire--Erik had his first s'more--and ended the evening over cards.

We went up to Bjorklunden to watch Door Shakespeare perform "Midsummer Night's Dream", which was well done and hilarious!! Ben & Pei flew in earlier that day and drove up to join us (you can see them munching on Dal Santo's gnocchi, which Ben could not bear to miss).John took us out on the boat! Erik got to see the shipyard, the canal and lighthouse from the water; then we went back toward Potawatomi Park and swam off the boat. Erik's first introduction INTO Lake Michigan was a definitive jump-in-dash-out experience, but he warmed up to it later in the trip. ;-) Calvin and Claudia both got turns driving the boat and "manning the canon" (yes, Erik shot the canon too!)
Here ends the first installment. ;-D

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

We're safely home!

Monday went something like this:
3:42am (that's 1:42am Cali time)--Jackie scares the pants off Christel 3 minutes before her own alarm goes off to wake her up to get ready for airport (Erik flew out the night before and slept at Ben's)
6:30am--lightening stops and rain slows, Milwaukee re-opens to incoming flights and 6am flight finally boards
7:30am--arrive Milwaukee and walk directly onto connecting flight (7:45am) to sit and wait while the ground crew, called in during lightening, got caught up
8:00am (6am Cali time)--Erik wakes up for no apparent reason instead of sleeping late in preparation for this crazy day and work...
10:30ish--arrive Kansas City and walk to gate with 15 minutes to spare before boarding time!
12:20ish (that's 2:20ish WI time)--Arrived at LAX on time, got luggage and breathed the smog-filled California air while Ben and Erik slowed by the curb for me to jump in.

We then waded through airport traffic for ages, had a quick lunch with Ben, loaded up my computer (which Ben has been making UBER while I was gone) and Erik's bags, and headed to Santa Maria to pick up the dog. We spent enough time in slowed and stopped traffic that I finally called Ben to see if he could find out if there was an accident or something... just "treacherous traffic".

We picked up Pippin, who was glad enough to see us that he left off playing with three other dogs to come say hello, and hardly stayed long enough to thank Debra before heading out for Bakersfield so that Erik would have a little time at home before work. Ha! Somewhere in the mountains, in the dark, the diligent California road crews were working. Working so hard they closed half the road. We sat and waited to be let through for at least 15 minutes and then followed the "pace car" for about 12 feet before they stopped to wait again for another 5-10 minutes. Free at last, we then careened along rough roads at a whopping 35 mph FOREVER.

10:45pm (that's 12:45am WI time)--we arrive home. The cat ignores us to welcome the dog, but finally lets us say hello and does some purring and snuggling. Erik unloaded the car (with a little help from me), got ready for work and dashed out the door even as I was climbing into bed.

It was a LONG day. But we're intact and can't complain! ;-) I got the computer hooked up and have been sorting pictures (I still need to empty Erik's camera)... will try to find a few that are representative of our trip, but it will be hard not to put TONS up! We had a wonderful time.

Heading out. . .

Wisconsin, here I come!

I'm heading out to Wisconsin this week; Erik will join me in about a week and a half. Then he gets to meet family and friends and see Wisconsin for the first time!! :-D

Happy Independence Day!!

We spent the 4th of July in Santa Maria with Patrick & Debra (Erik's brother & sister-in-law) and friends and had a wonderful time!

Pippin's cousins, Josh & Chuck
We shared the 3-D glasses as Pat set off the fireworks. . . RAINBOWS!!!
Wilson (Mark) & Patrick
Bonnie, Laurence, Debra, Erik & Patrick
Pippin actually sat through all the fireworks--even the loud ones at the end. Then he went inside to lay down and have a little quiet time.
Laurence and Patrick enjoyed torturing Debra with Various Firework Antics. . .
There was much running and chasing and sniffing and racing about. . . and in the end they all crashed together.

If you don't like puppies and kittens....

. . . skip this post. It is a flagrant wallow in pet-cuteness which I totally understand not everyone enjoys. But it's the last post of the month and will soon be relegated to the archives, so I'm doing it anyway... epithets and all!

We spent a lot of time on the computers yesterday, and Sam & Pippin spent a lot of time sleeping near us (the cat completely took over the pet bed; Pippin got the floor). The cat was being especially cute, but he also doesn't have the annoying habit of hopping up or moving as soon as I get the camera out!!

Napping PetsStretch!Enough with the pictures, already.Wake up, wake up, wake up!!

Day Trip

After church on Sunday, Erik took me to Rosamond to visit the Feline Conservation Center (http://www.cathouse-fcc.org/index.html)! It was a HOT day, but the trip was fun. Some of the cats were hiding, but we saw quite a few and heard some interesting information. They have an evening event in September when they do some activities--we may go back for it! We also enjoyed the peacocks wandering about on the grounds.The drive was an interesting one; you go through several types of landscapes as you go up into the mountains and back down. Mom, do you recognize some of this from our arrival in Bakersfield?

Joshua trees:Windmills (this doesn't give you any idea of how MANY there were up there):As you come out of these mountains, the valley (floodplain) that Bakersfield is opens up before you... huge green fields. I couldn't get a good picture of that though--wrong side of the car!Random pet pic... they were done eating and then the cat discovered I hadn't put the food up yet. He thought he'd sample the dog's food! Which, of course, brought the dog running.

Kathryn & Rebekah

To answer your question, yes. Unfortunately Pippin DID chew on the sandals... almost through one leather strap and on the front part of the other. We had to throw them away. :-(

And Sam has been stealing straws out of our water cups if we leave them at the computer desks! He likes to chew them into little pieces and bat them around.

They definitely do naughty little things, but more often have fun playing together.And of course when they sleep, they look like little angels! ;-DI miss you too. Can't wait to see you!!

Happy Birthday!

Erik's birthday was on Wednesday, which he celebrated with a day off and then again on Saturday with friends.Lots of talking and eating and playing Pictionary... clockwise: Ben, Pei, Robert, Bill, Susan, Vance, Steve and Erik.A good time was had by all (note how the cat hates company....)Pei did leave with a different pair of sandals... Pippin got a little excited about the taste of hers. :-/

Face from Home

Michelle (formerly Stelzig) lived in my building in Point and just moved to Bakersfield with her new husband!! She came over for dinner tonight and it was great to catch up--I only realized later I hadn't thought to take a picture. But we'll get together again when she's in town (long commute for her right now). Yay for good Wisconsin folk!! :-D