Day 19: October 9, 2025

 It was time to seek out the outdoor pickleball courts. They were south of town. 

Then Tad got to play at the dog park.

We had to entertain everyone. The cat even got into it. The pets were fascinated with Lynn. We had a nice visit.

After dinner, Lynn came over to play cards. We taught her Spite and Malice. Lynn really likes card games.

Day 18: October 8

 A day of rest working on stuff for Umpqua Watersheds.

Day 17: October 7, 2025

I am not sure what we did today except visit my "boyfriend" as Kasey calls him. 

He was at the liquor store. We were on our way back from taking the motorhome to the fairgrounds to dump the septic, get propane, and fill with water.

Day 16: October 6, 2025 21 miles on the bikes

 School Day. We decided to take a bike ride around Pine City. We walked Tad around the neighborhood and let him run in his favorite field. Good and tired, we settled him down inside the motorhome.

There is an old fur trading post nearby that has a nice interpretive center nearby. So we headed there with the intention of meeting Nick and the at the park.

It was very easy ride and a pleasant day.

We got town earlier than Nick and I wanted to check out the hardware store. It was a really amazing store with a mixture of household items, decor, and hardware. Lots of hardware. The place was bigger inside than it looked from outside. The store was filled with remnants of the historic store. An old cash register and cabinet filled with organized screws. I needed some screws for the motorhome door to attach the hydraulic arm. The woman who has worked the store for a very long time and seemed to be one of the hiers, knew exactly where to go. We went to the back and found more cabinets with more variety of screws. But she found what I needed.

Nick arrived soon after I left the hardware store and the kids played in the playground. The day was started to get cool and we headed back to Lynn's to complete the loop.

We made it back just before dark. 21 mile round trip.

Day 15: October 5, 2025, State Forest near Pine City, MN

Comet has really been comfortable in our travels and occasionally likes to spend time in the bathroom. There is just enough space on the counter for her as she waits for one of us to turn on the water so she can get a drink.

Lynn like to come out and enjoy the sunshine and brings her beverage. We talk and laugh and Tad gets his Auntie fix.

Today was laundry day and we took a little trip around the area to explore. There is a state park nearby that was very nice. Not many people and lots of open camps sites. The park is along a river and Tad got to go swimming. 

The roads were getting covered with the signs of fall. Needle and leaf drop provided a carpet that no one had driven over yet.

The forest floor was filled with mushrooms.

 

Day 14: October 4, 2025 Going to the Zoo

 

Breakfast on the patio with Joe and a sneak peak at his cars that he collects. Some real beauties.

Then it was off to the zoo to meet up with Kasey's kids and grandkids/ Pam wanted to go along and surprisingly, she has never been to the zoo. She is leaving town and may never get another chance so away we went.

A beautiful day made is so very pleasant. The kids were all happy to see each other and spend some time playing and chatting. Oden was in his element. He loves the outdoors and wants to go into environmental studies as a career. He got to talk with one of the volunteers at the zoo who encouraged him to volunteer and get involved with the zoo. They don't live very far so it would be convenient to make that connection.

The Red Pandas were a new exhibit but since the pandas are shy and are not active in the middle of the day, we missed them. Janice was bummed.

The zoo has a few playgrounds for kids and those are almost always more interesting to the kids than some of the exhibits.

But the tiger put on a show! We were treated to some of the best close up encounters that we have seen in all our trips to the zoo. This tiger was hamming it up.

We were all tired by the time we got done.

Back at Lynn's, Comet let us know that she wanted to go walking about as well. She is quite the adventurer and would likely enjoy the zoo too. She had to settle for pictures.

Oh, and this asian beetle bites. Minnesota has been invaded.

Day 13: October 3, 2025

 

We bought a high speed photo scanner on the way to the cousins. Best Buy had the best deal. Photos weren't the only thing of interest. There were stamps on letters that were sent from Norway to Aunt Jo. Kasey's relatives live in Norway and there is a town called Hovik. He likes to joke that all the inhabitants walk around with confused looks on their faces.

The project began and I helped by taking pictures of him sorting pictures.

I got curious of all the relationships of these people in the photos. I went to the Family Search webpage and dug up some information. It turns out that Olson wasn't the grandma's original name. It turns out that the Norwegians often gave the last name consisting of the first name of the father joined with the relationship. So Nilson is son of Nils and Gina's last name was actually Nilsdatter, or daughter of Nils.

Joe had a cool map on his wall of Minnesota. It was a day of celebrating history.

Joe bought pizza and we stayed overnight in his driveway. Tomorrow will be a big adventure at the zoo with all of the kids and family.

Day 12: October 2, 2025

Our walks around Lynn's neighborhood revealed a few changes. She is getting a new neighbor. A lot had been for sale nearby and I guess someone finally bought it. The house was moved from somewhere nearby. We saw it on the highway headed toward Lynn's just west of the destination. Next time we visit, it is likely to have new residents.

We broke the news to Lynn. She was happy for them.

Tad wondered if they would have dogs. TBA, Tad.

We will be walking around the place again. 

Let's enjoy the peaceful day.

 

Day 11: October 1, 2025

Our day was planned around a trip to the big city, Minneapolis, to see the cousins.

Sisters Pam and Diane and Diane's son Joe. The colors along the highway were expressing fall.

As the skyline of the city emerged, the traffic picked up a bit.

Our task was to look at some old photos that Pam had. Kasey's Aunt Jo, Pam and Diane's mom. passed away in the summer and they sold the house and Pam was preparing to move away to North Carolina in the next few days.

There were so many photos and we just were not prepared to tackle the task. It called for a more expedient measure.

We contemplated how we would tackle the project and settled on purchasing a high powered photo scanner. The hunt for one nearby was on.