Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!!

Hoping that the true spirit of Christmas is with you this season!!!

We had a great day, but with this special present under the tree, how could we not!!

The "Real" Panama Canal Story

This morning started earlier than most--we began our trip into the Panama Canal. With first light we entered the left side of the first lock (notice the arrow) with a freight carrier on the other side that made the trip very interesting.









We had 85 feet to climb--from the Pacific Ocean to the lake at the center of Panama.

We go into the lock and the water comes in to make the ship rise to the level of the lock in front of it. We had three locks to go through to climb that 85 feet.







When the water levels of the two locks are even, the gates open and the ship proceeds into the next lock. Amazing! Our ship is small enough to go through the locks--many cruise ships are too large--but we only had two feet on each side to spare!








Once we were through the locks we traveled the Gatun Lake. The water is brown but the land is green--why not--this is a rain forest.

As a matter of fact, last week the Canal closed for the third time in its 97 year history! There had been so much rain that the lake had flooded and the water level was too high for the lock.






We continued the 50 miles across Panama to the other side and came to the locks on the Atlantic side. Because we were a cruise ship, and we had paid a premium, we passed up the ships that were waiting to go through. Our toll was right around $200,000--payable in cash before we went through!!!!








We had been blessed with great weather for the trip, but we could see rain bearing down as we rolled into the locks that would lower us the 85 feet to the level of the Caribbean Sea.










The rain was quick and after nine hours of navigating from beginning to end we were finally through the locks and on our way to Cartagena, Columbia.

The Panama Canal--what an experience!!

Days at Shore

Our stops on the Pacific side of the cruise have been delightful. Our first was in Cabo San Lucas and the trip into the port was beautiful. The water was blue and the whales and dolphins played along as we entered the harbor.









Our next stop was Acapulco and we took a city tour through old Acapulco and made a couple of fascinating stops. One was to watch the cliff divers. These men, not all young nor in tip top shape, climbed the cliffs bare footed, then dove into the waters below, and climbed the cliffs back out. Amazing!












Yup, we are having a good time!

Today we are in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. There were many local craftspeople out selling their wares and some very interesting street food.


No snow here!!

The Island Princess

We boarded the ship in San Pedro, CA bound through the Panama Canal and ending in Ft. Lauderdale on December 20.

So far it has been fabulous. I'd show more pictures but this is costing $.55/minute and I just noticed it won't be posted until 12/14/10.

We've been to Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, days at sea, the food is great, nice people--can't complain!!

Palm Springs

We've parked the coach in Homestead and have flown off to Palm Springs. Renny and Marlene promised to put up with us for a couple of days and show us a good time. And that they did!! Besides enjoying their company immensely we ate well, went to the Palm Springs Follies (the youngest dancers were 57-58, oldest 81-83--but they were great!), went to the Indio Tamale Festival (ate the best tamales ever!), and met this mottley crew (friends from Thousand Trails Palm Springs--see Faye and Ken!!) for the Festival of Lights parade. What a good time we had!!

Happy Second Birthday, Macy!!!!

Here's our little miracle baby celebrating her second birthday! What a little love! She is one busy little girl and loves to do anything Addy does. She is a little chatterbox and it is so fun to talk and play with her!

Happy Birthday, Macy!!!! We love you!

It's Christmas Time

We have finally gotten to southern Florida, and because we are taking off on a Panama Canal cruise on December 2, we had to get "stuff" done. We had to bake some Christmas cookies with Brayden--he likes the rolling out part and of course the frosting and sprinkles part...
















and of course, the eating. We had to make kringla and he thought they were even better when he dunked them in frosting!









Rylan didn't care much about the cookies, but he was fascinated with the tree and the presents underneath--just his height!! And he can get to that Christmas tree in short order from where ever you put his down.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are still in Wauchula, so we invited Francine and Gilles to share a traditional Thanksgiving meal with us. We had a great day--we taught them how to play pickleball, went for a walk along the river and saw a resident alligator, ate (but not too much), enjoyed our pie with a cup of coffee and a chocolate spoon, then played more pickleball (I think we have some new players!), then ended the evening with part of a live concert by Mike Thomas of TT. A very good day!

Florida at last!

We drove into Florida and 80 degree temperatures (and no snow!) and quickly changed into appropriate attire--no not swimsuits yet. However, we met our Quebecqois friends Francine and Gilles and spent the day at Bradenton Beach. Welcome to Florida!!!

Pickleball and Eating at Peace River

One of the things I like best about Thousand Trails is making friends and then running into them somewhere down the road. It was fun to see Stan and Sally again (we even went bowling with a group of them), and we hadn't seen Janet and Bob for a couple of years, Rich and Donna were there, and it was fun to see Cal and Diane again.

Deer Hunting in Minnesota

So we left the coach in Tennessee and took a leisurely drive to MN. As usual we celebrated the three birthdays (Mitch's, Carol's, and Mark's--all born on November 6th!) with a bash "Up North". When we all get together we are busy as you can tell from the picture, but what a way to celebrate!

The weather was warm and the deer must have decided to go on vacation because there were no deer to be shot this year.





I figured we had gone "dear" hunting because I found a couple of those. Addy and Macy kept us quite entertained--here they were collecting all the pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals to make a "nest".

One day we picked Addy up from preschool and the four of us went on a date for lunch at DQ. Macy says it's a "Gampa date"!

I think I like two legged dear really a lot!!




We knew it was time to go home when the snow fell--six inches "Up North" and the deer still didn't come out to play.

It was gorgeous, however, and the "dear" played in the snow and had a great time.

Even though Eden Prairie had gotten eleven inches of snow, by the time we left the highways were clean and dry and the drive back to Tennessee was just fine.

Halloween--Scene 1

Brayden loves air transportation and was excited to be a pilot for Halloween.














Rylan got to be a mummy with his mommy.

Happy 35th Anniversay, Nancy and Gary!

We planned to leave our motorhome in Tennesse at Jackie and Jerry's while we went to Minnesota to deer hunt. Nancy had called and wanted Mitch to cook dinner for all their Tennessee relatives as a surprise anniversary party. The meal began with Red Pepper on Herbed Goat Cheese on Toasted Bagettes and Stuffed Mushrooms, then Mitch fixed a wonderful beef tenderloin with twice baked truffle buttered potatoes and grilled asparagus. To end the meal I had made Chocolate Cheesecake. We all had a great time!

Natchez Trace Wilderness Preserve--Thousand Trails

We have enjoyed the TT parks because the locations offer variety, both in the scenery and the people you meet. And it's a ball to find someone you met in one park and there they are in another park. So here's Mark and Chris from Canada who we met in Florida, staying one night in Tennessee. We had a good game of pickleball and off they went. We'll see them somewhere down the road!





Speaking of road, this preserve is on (or just off) the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 440 mile scenic two lane highway from New Orleans to Nashville -- at 50 mph max. There are no billboards or commercial transports.

This part of the parkway is loaded with Civil War history, local lore, and fall colors. We did a dinner theater in Nashville the other night and the drive home introduced us to the local inhabitants--deer (many), skunk, opossum, raccoon, and armadillo.

Catching up with the boys

Thought it was time to catch up a little with the boys down south.

Rylan is now six months old and jabbers all the time. He now has two teeth and is learning to sit up by himself and will be crawling any time soon.















Brayden is busy at school and loves to go swimming in their swimming pool. He has gained over two pounds since he had his tonsils out two months ago. He likes to draw and make models of airplanes and helicopters.

Western Tennessee

We left Branson and had an interesting drive across the top of the mountains from Branson to Memphis. Needless to say it was a long trip.

However, we are here in at Thousand Trails Preserve Cherokee Landing and have spent some time checking out the Civil War lore. We spent a day at the Shiloh National Military Park and another at the Corinth Interpretive Center. Both were fascinating. We also discovered from a visit to a local museum a vintage tamale shop, so we went there to pick up lunch. Amazing--a dozen skinny little hot tamales for $3 at this ancient tamale stand and the gal gave us the tamales free and said if we liked them we could come back. They were really good, the best Mitch had ever tasted. Next time we're here we'll go back!

This part of Tennessee is cotton country. We don't see this in Minnesota! Click on the picture for a close up.

Branson Rally with Monaco North Central

We left MN and headed south to Branson to spend a week with our Monaco North Central group. We caravaned with ten other coaches and arrived to join another 15 coaches at Treasure Lake RV Resort. What a good time we had: plenty of shows (this is Yakov Shmirnoff--a Russian comedian), a lot of food, and good company.

Leaving Minnesota

The end of September meant that we had to leave northern Minnesota behind. I'll miss the serenity of the weekdays, the quiet walks in the woods, the peacefulness of the lake, and I'll miss the busyness of the weekends, friends and family, too much food, and two little girls romping and playing with Gramma and Grampa,

Brothers!

Caryn sent us this pix of Rylan at the beach and we thought is was cute, and then we realized he looks just like Brayden!

North Shore Drive

We've been talking about taking the drive along the north shore of Lake Superior all summer, but just finally got around to doing it.

After leaving Duluth the real drive begins by going through one of two tunnels that cut through the bluffs along the lake.







Along the way is one after another of Minnesota's State Parks: Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Baptism River, Tettegouche, Temperance River, and each one is full of wonderful falls along the rivers that fall into Lake Superior.














We made a few stops along the way to check out the sights, but more importantly to find coffee and pies! There is nothing better than a picnic with cheese and crackers, a good bottle of wine, a coconut cream pie, picturesque Lake Superior, and great friends to share it with!









It was a beautiful drive with the water on one side and the trees on the other. Fall in Minnesota is just beginning, but it promises to be a colorful one.

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

We have spent the last two days grinding and making venison sausage with the help of Carol, and eating each evening with the help of Jim. Finally we decided it was time to eat out and headed for the famous (infamous) Gordy's Hi-Hat made well known by Guy Fiero on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in nearby Cloquet, MN. Jim regaled us with stories of going to the movies and then Gordy's all for $3 (that included a buck for gasoline!) in the 1960's.
Even the rain that came with that gray sky didn't put a damper on our evening!

A Weekend with Bob and Jo

We were planning a Saturday dinner party at Bob and Jo's (in the Cities) with crazy friends Pat and Bennie. Unfortunately Bennie had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy (no cancer in the lymph glands) so they were unable to come. Keeping Bennie in our prayers, and knowing they would want us to have a good time, we did.

This picture shows it all, a weekend of eating (we went to the Farmers Market in Minneapolis), drinking aged Japanese scotch, putting together a puzzle (I wonder if it is finally finished) and seeing the movie Avatar in 3D on an ultra screen. Fun, fun, fun!

Minnesota Gold

Shayne bought us a book "Mushrooming Without Fear" because we have seen so many mushrooms this year and we just needed more information.


So we read the book (twice it advises us) and went for a walk in the woods "Up North". We found patches of beautiful deep yellow orange wild chanterelle mushrooms--Minnesota gold.
(Click on the picture for a closeup of these pretty mushrooms.)







We picked and picked and then Mitch cooked this wonderful Sauted Wild Chanterelle Mushroom with White Wine Sauce over Whole Wheat Penne Pasta. Yum Yum!

We are still picking mushrooms. (Did you know that Puffball Mushrooms are edible--and very tasty?!)

PS: Sarah did call and check on us the next day to see if we were still alive!!

The Watchmen Reunite

It's been four years since Mitch's Gospel Quartet Group has sung together. Since then new guys filled the spots of Mitch and Gene, then Central split with the Lutheran ELCA dilemma and Jim went one way and Tom the other. With our being somewhat in the Elk River area Jim decided it was time to get the "group" back together for a Sunday of singing at both churches. The guys had a great time, and the congregation loved them just liked they used too. And Georgene had her "boys" back together again!

Rylan eating his toes!

We sure miss the boys, but Caryn keeps us updated. Rylan enjoyed his fingers while he was here visiting, but now he has found his toes. Caryn says they are very tasty!!

Happy Birthday, Shayne!

The weekend started with a beautiful, calm, Friday night and the lake was perfect for a late night ride. Sarah asked if we might watch the girls and here they are! Babysitting has sure changed since our kids were little!

It was a great weekend to celebrate Shayne's birthday: the weather was just fine, the company was good, and the food--well, Shayne wanted a Mexican day, so we did breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a Mexican twist including Sangria, Margueritas, and Coronas with lime!

We even included a "Cupcake Wars." The cupcakes had to contain chocolate and chili (not the soup). Four of us had come up with four totally different kinds of chocolate cupcakes with very unique ingredients including things like instant espresso, chili powder, cayenne pepper, roasted adobo peppers ground into a flour, ground chipolte cashews, and fresh jalepenos. They all tasted different and turned out to be pretty good! It was a good day of eating homemade Mexican!

Brayden gets his tonsils out

Early Monday morning Brayden had his adenoids and his tonsils removed. But trooper that he is, after the surgery, his silly face for the camera and a "thumbs up" showed everything went well and he in on the road to recovery. (He managed to eat 10 popsicles on Monday--didn't want any on Tuesday!)

Thank God for His graciousness and that little ones take these things pretty well.

Guess Who Came to Dinner!

We like our little spot on Big Sandy Lake and convinced friends of ours that Minnesota was between Michigan and Washington state.

We had a fun pontoon ride, swam in the lake, ate like we went out to dinner every night, played Eucre (however that is spelled), and enjoyed the company emmencely!







We even got the Pickleball court marked on the local tennis court and played some pickleball!

Here they are--Faye and Ken!!! It was so fun to spend some time with them.

(You'll have to read Faye's blog for the ending of this story!)

A Week with the Girls

After the Rally Mitch went back to Big Sandy and I stayed in the Cities to watch the girls. Did we have fun! We played and played and played (I did get to eat--Shayne and Sarah made some great dinners we enjoyed with a nice drink and some quiet time).