Staying busy and getting ready for a motorcycle trip.

Sandy noticed that when you try to enlarge our pictures that they come out to the same size, so I am going back to the same layout when I started the Blog.

We have been busy monitoring the progress of the remodeling project.

Today is July 17th and I was supposed to be headed to Canada for a fishing trip but since we are in the middle of the remolding project I ended up canceling out. Good luck fishing guys.

My youngest brother Joe and my business partner and friend Dale are planning a motorcycle trip to Glacier Park, western Idaho, then come back through Yellowstone and the Black Hills. So on Monday the 20th Dale and I rode to Duluth where I exchanged my Aerostich regular length pants for a pair of longs. These were part of the new motorcycle riding gear I bought a couple of weeks ago. It seems the old set of Aerostich I bought back in 1992 have shrunk a couple of sizes. In fact when I wore them to pick up the new set I had to even take of my T-shirt to fit in the jacket. Well--maybe I left the T-shirt on. Then as long as we were there I picked up a few more things that I absolutely needed for our upcoming trip. Here are our bikes at a rest stop on the way back. My bike is the Moto Guzzi (Italian) on the left and Dale's is the Victory (US made, a division of Polaris Industries) on the right.

We are still not in the house but they should be done with everything by August 7th. On Thursday the July 30th they sanded the hardwood floors and put the first coat polyurethane.

We are staying at the Mystic Lake Casino campground and today, Saturday August 1st, they had a Corvette show in their parking lot.














Here is a very nice 63 split window coupe.










This is a customized Z06.













It's Saturday the 8th.


During the last week they got alot accomplished at the house. The carpet was installed in the lower level so we set up the spare bedroom down there. The Cambria counter tops were installed.The painting is done except for some touch up and the appliances are installed. On the 6th they installed the ceramic back splash in the kitchen and completed the other finishing touches on the tile. The lights were installed with the exception of the dinette light that the electrician was installing as we walked into the house. It did not look right and we discovered that they had sent the wrong fixture. The correct one will be installed on Wednesday of next week. Then on the morning of the 7th back splash was grouted and around noon the floor guy came and put the final coat on the wood floor. That will be the last I will be in the house for two weeks as Sunday morning I am heading out on the M/C trip.
Sandy could stay at the house but she will be staying in the motorhome until I get back and be going to the house to get the kitchen organized. We had taken all the kitchen boxes and put them in the basement during the week. With me gone she can arrange, rearrange and----, well you get the picture. Then when I get back we can start to organize the rest of the house, although we probably won't buy much new furniture until we get back next spring.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Our Arizona friends left today

On July 3rd Ron, Jane and their granddaughter Ally arrived at the Lebanon Hills Campground in Apple Valley around 2:00 in the afternoon.

Ally’s parents, Scott and Peggy, were going to stop later in the afternoon to pick up Ally and have supper with us. We had planned to have angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream to celebrate Scott’s birthday which is today. Things did not work out and they were not able to stay for supper. That was too bad Scott because the cake was delicious.

Jane, Sandy and I went for a quick tour of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. We stopped at the Historic Arch Bridge on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

On our way through St. Paul we stopped at the famous (to us anyway) Snuffy’s Malt Shop where we each had a full-size malt. Peggy, Jane wants to know if you have been here.

We left Lebanon Hills for White Water State Park around noon. On the way to Whitewater State Park we drove by a farm that had these large White Pines. They remind me so much of Bonsai Trees.

Here we are at our destination, Whitewater State Park.

Once we got to the park we had to wait a couple of hours to get into our site because it was still occupied since the check out time here is 4:00 PM. Once we got to our site there was some concern about clearance over a parking barrier.

Whew!!

Ah heck, I had inches to spare.

Denver and Charley are wondering, did that last group leave us some snacks? The previous campers had spilled dog food all over and the dogs wasted no time in finding it.

Because of getting to our site later in the afternoon we decide to be lazy and just make pizza for supper.

After supper Sandy and Jane went down to the birder feeder area behind the Ranger station to take some bird pictures. I want to thank Jane for all the wonderful wildlife pictures that are in this posting.

Goldfinch’s galore.

A pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

A young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Duck, No, I mean a Blue jay is coming at you so duck. What a picture, Jane.

On Monday when Sandy and Jane were out for a walk they came across several deer. Here is a great photo of a fawn.

Some more pictures from the walk showing the beautiful white pines.

Here is an American Goldfinch feeding in it’s natural habitat on it’s favorite food, Thistle.

Ron, I think they caught us sneaking off to go fishing. Looks like Andy and Opie in Mayberry.

While we were gone Sandy and Jane went back to the bird feeders and got a great photo of the Baltimore Oriole.

We finally get some relaxation time.

Before lunch on Tuesday the 14th we took a little hike to Chimney Rock to work up an appetite.

This is the start of the stairway.

Jane wanted us to stop for a picture break, and I was not about to argue.

More steps to go.

Did I hear someone say, only 200+ steps to go?

Denver and Charley said it was time for a water break. Again, who was I to argue.

Sandy said, I knew if we got high enough I could get cell phone service. Now I know the real reason for the hike.

We finally reached the top!!!

Here we are with our gratuitous picture at Chimney Rock.

Ron and Jane doing the same.

Now where is that Nature Store? I’m sure I saw it on the map earlier.

Persistence paid off. They had the essentials of life, “ice cream”.

It’s Thursday the 16th at 6:51 AM and Ron and Jane are getting ready to climb in the motorhome and start on the first leg of their trip back to the Tetons.

Jane and her two front seat co-pilots. You can barely see Charley to the left of Denver and poor Ron has to be in the back seat.

Good bye and have a safe trip.

Sandy is saying good bye to Charley.

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy

Closed on the house and Back to the 50's car show.

We closed on our house Friday morning and right after, our friends and former house owners, Brad and Connie, left for Cody, WY to supervise construction of their new house. We wish them the best of luck and hope to get out for a visit in the next year or two.

On the afternoon of the 16th we drove to Wausau, WI to have the last of the warranty work done on the motorhome. I’m so glad we bought at King’s Campers as they and their techs are so good to work with. After we got checked in and parked for the night we went out to supper at an interesting restaurant.

If you double click on the picture you can see an old Hudson in the top window.

We got in for our 1:00 PM appointment to have the required annual service on the refrigerator and Aqua Hot system. They also took care of a couple of warranty items. By 4:00 PM we were on our way back home. It is a ways over and back, 400 miles round trip, but it's worth the time to get capable and honest work done.

On the third weekend of June there is an event held at the State Fairgrounds called Back to the 50's. This is a car show that started in 1973 for 1964 and older cars and now gets over 11,000 entrants for the 3 days. We were not able to go on Friday and when we got there by 8:15 AM on Saturday there were no more parking spots on the streets so we had to park in one of the overflow parking lots. As it turned out there were 4 Chevelles parked together. The day was just perfect for the event with clear skies and a high of 85 degrees.

Our Chevelle is the second from the right.

The first thing we had to do when we got there was to have breakfast. Nutritious, right!! That’s Sandy in the hat getting her fresh hot cinnamon roll. Mmmmmmm.

Here are a few pictures of cars at the show.

1958 Chrysler product of some sort.

1964 Comet.

A nice ‘57 Pontiac.

 

On Sunday the 21st, we went to the wedding of my cousin, John, and his wife Alissa. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding even though it started to sprinkle at the end of the ceremony. Congratulations John and Alissa and we wish you a lifetime of happiness.

We have been busy picking out tile for the bathrooms, carpet for the downstairs, cabinets and countertops for the kitchen and paint colors. We decided to extend the wood floors that were in the entry, kitchen and dinette to thru out the main floor. After we pulled the carpet they pulled a couple pieces of wood to check the manufacturer and we found out that they have gone out of business. So rather then take a chance on getting a mis-match we had them pull all the wood and started over with #2 maple. It turns out the entire new wood floor will be nicer than keeping the the same original floor. As of today, about 2/3's of the wood floor has been installed.

Our friends, Ron and Jane from Arizona will be here tomorrow, July 2nd, with their granddaughter Ally . They will be here for a couple of weeks so I will probably wait to post again until after they leave.

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy.