Now in Austin

Once again the time has come to update our followers.  Because of our medical issues in Duluth, we had cancelled out of a service project in southern Missouri for late October and into early November.  We had worked with most of the other volunteers there at other places and times, so we were disappointed to not see them again.  One of the other couples, the Hilmo’s, we have known for a couple of years, and we’ve met them on the road many times, but we have yet to work with them.  We knew they were headed to the Escapees park in Livingston TX after their work was done in Missouri.  Since our service at Winnebago had gone so smoothly and quickly, we decided to push hard for Livingston and meet the them before they moved on.

After 1500 miles in five driving days (including the “little” side trip to Sioux Falls) we finally parked in Livingston on Tuesday morning – Election Day.  The park was nearly full, and we could get a site for only 4 days, departing Saturday morning.  In the meantime, we had time to recover from the back-to-back driving days and to spend some time with the Hilmo’s.

With 2 weeks to go before our next project starts, we headed west and stopped near Austin Texas.  This is about halfway but, more importantly, has TV over the air.  We had a chance to watch news and network programming again.

While relaxing in Austin on Saturday, we realized that other friends were working on homes needing repairs due to 2015 flooding, and they were only an hour away.  We met up with them on Sunday and decided to continue our recuperation this week but to join them in working during the week of Thanksgiving.  We just can’t seem to stay idle too long.

Today we did a little sightseeing in Austin.  The weather here is sunny and warm so it was good to get out for a drive.  Here’s a picture of Lake Travis from a restaurant high on a hill.  Lots of very expensive, huge homes in this area.

On the Road Again, and Back “Home”

It has been a busy week in the Riewe household.  Last weekend was our quiet, stay-at-home, rejuvenation time at the cabin.  It now seems to have been so long ago.  Trouble was the weather: cool and wet.  It stayed that way into Monday, when we moved groceries and utensils back into the motorhome, and did our final laundry.  Tuesday morning was when we closed things up for the winter, opened the main electrical breaker, loaded the motorcycle, and hooked up the truck. 

Ready for Winter

We topped off the propane tank on the way into Duluth and set up outside of Steve’s house.  Tuesday evening we had a “going away” dinner with Paige’s mother, cousin John, and cousin Steve and his wife, Deanna.

Wednesday Bob had his last eye appointment early in the morning, and Joyce had a medical assessment later in the morning.  As soon as both were completed we hit the road to Elk River for a quick visit to see the granddaughters and have a turkey dinner at Brett and Jen’s.

As soon as the girls left for school Thursday morning we, too, hit the road again.  This time for Winnebago’s factory service center in Iowa.  We didn’t have a reservation so we took a chance on getting onto their drop-in list, hoping they could get us in on Friday.  We got there by noon, they had us in by 1:00 and had replacement parts scheduled for installation Friday morning.

Friday we had an invitation to lunch at the farm of friends Russ and Nancy Elmer, our next door neighbors at the cabin.  Just as we got there, Winnebago called to say our service work was complete. That gave us time in the afternoon to park the rig for the night and take off in the truck for our “home” in Sioux Falls.  In order to renew our drivers licenses we need to provide a receipt showing the two of us have spent at least one night in South Dakota.

Saturday morning it was back in the truck and back to Iowa to pick up the motorhome then head south.  It was a sunny, warm day here and apparently the weather was also beautiful at the cabin as we received pictures from Steve and others.  One of the nicest weekends this fall and we missed it!!

We still have a few more days of driving ahead of us.  Once we get to Texas we will sit still for a couple of days to relax.

Things are Winding Down

Here at the lake, it has been very quiet: little traffic on the road and even fewer boats on the water.  Most of our neighbors have put their boats onto trailers and pulled their docks out of the water.  There are about 100 households in our cabin owners association but less than 5 live here year-round.  The color of fall leaves is long gone and we can see through the branches where the leaves had been.

    

We got Paige’s mother moved out of rehab and into her new apartment and she is settling into the new social scene.  There is a good feeling to having this completed before we leave for the winter in the south.

 

Last week we had a little “field trip” to the Twin Cities.  We loaded some of Joyce’s extra furniture for delivery to David, had a nice dinner out with Dave, LeJoy and kids, took time to get our flu shots, and attended a badging ceremony, where Brett was officially promoted to Captain in the St Paul Fire Department – Congratulations!

This weekend we will make a smaller-than-normal batch of lefse for Holiday meals, and finish closing things up around here.  We plan to move groceries and utensils back into the motorhome on Monday and relocate to Duluth on Tuesday.  Wednesday Bob has his last eye appointment and Joyce has another assessment, then we will head to Brett and Jen’s place for a quick, early Thanksgiving dinner before hitting the road south on Thursday.  We need to get some motorhome maintenance done in Forest City, Iowa – hopefully!

We Have Heard Our Public

Quite a number of regular blog readers have reminded us that “it’s been awhile” since our last posting.  Yup, over 2 months!  At the time it seemed like we were doing very little, but looking back now I guess we really were busy.  Here are the highlights (in no special order):

The previous post mentioned we had volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity project in Virginia MN (about 30 miles away).  We put in 4 days there over 6 weeks: painting, finishing woodwork trim, installing doors, and forming a curved sidewalk.  There is going to be an open house this weekend to celebrate the completion of the house we worked on.

The prior posting also mentioned visitors and we had quite a few.  Paige’s mother came to visit here a couple of time (both alone and with friends) usually for a single afternoon but at least one over-night when the electricity was out in a great part of Duluth and impacted her apartment building for 4 days.  Paige’s sister and niece came from Arizona.  They hadn’t been here in a long time.  Paige’s cousin Tim and his son, Nick, were here for another weekend.  Bob’s brother and his wife got into camping this year and stopped by for a weekend as part of their loop through northern Minnesota (It was their first visit here).  We also got together with 3 of our Nomad friends: the Hilmo’s and Easley’s came to the cabin for visits, and we met the Norton’s for dinner in Virginia, MN.  Sophia, Ann, and Olivia spent a few days with us in August which we thoroughly enjoyed!

There were not many projects at the cabin this summer but we did replace and renew doors on the sauna.  They’re looking good.  We bought a new door for the outhouse but installation will need to wait until next year.

We also helped cousin Steve and Deanna move into a lovely year round house which is next door to their family cabin around the corner from us.  This move occurred in June so we’ve been able to spend a lot of time with them this summer boating, eating, and playing cards.

Bob’s doctors said that cataracts are a common result of last year’s retinal reattachment; they were right.  Early in August a lens was replaced but the follow up inspection in Sept showed the work is not yet complete.  We are still dealing with multiple drops until next week when we will learn more.

We have had 2 trips to the Minneapolis area to assist sons and grand-daughters, plus get some routine medical exams out of the way.  David and LeJoy’s wedding was a big part of the most recent trip. 

We have spent a bit of time on the water: in our own boat, cousin Steve’s pontoon, a Vista Queen Sunday brunch cruise with friends and attending Duluth’s Tall Ships festival to ride on one of those ships.

Much of our time, recently, has been with assisting Paige’s mother.  Between doctors’ visits, X-ray appointments, hospitals, and multiple rehab facilities there has been a lot going on.  She has been battling severe back pain with no real plan for relief yet.  The doctors are as frustrated as she is.  Yesterday we moved her from one rehab center to another where she is more comfortable. 

The next couple of weeks will involve lots of rehab, then a move to an assisted living place nearby. Pam and Paula will be coming next week to help with this move.  The move is to a smaller 2 bedroom apartment which is very cute and in a building just across the parking lot from her independent living apartment.  Because of these activities, we have delayed our departure and canceled our participation in a Nomads project in Missouri for late October.

A Quiet Summer

Nearly a month has gone by since our last posting.  This helps to prove how mundane our lives have been.  We would like to do a little outside painting and add some waterproofing to our dock, but we haven’t had more than 4 dry days in a row that we can remember.  The 4^th of July weekend was rather busy with about a dozen guests joining us for the holidays.  We still haven’t washed the motorhome and it is really filthy now, after a trip to Superior for routine maintenance and coming back through yet another rain over 12 miles of road under construction.  We were towing the Canyon at the same time and it was even more dirty.  While waiting in line at a car wash last week, a boy came by and broke out laughing and pointing, saying “Your truck is REALLY dirty!”  As if we didn’t know it.  It hasn’t been all rainy; we have had some nice sunsets like last evening:

  

For a change of pace, we volunteered to help paint the interior of a Habitat for Humanity house in nearby Virginia last week.  There were about 10 other volunteers from Wells Fargo also there so a lot of work got done.  We met the buyer, who was putting in part of his “sweat equity” and heard how excited he and his family are to get into a house of their own later this year.

We expect to have more visitors later this month and into August.

Well, That was Different!

We have volunteered for lots of activities in the past, but this week held a “first”.  We volunteered to help at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth.  They have had activities all week long, ending in the ½ and full marathons on Saturday.  Friday the organizers held a pasta meal and the William Irvin 5k run.  We joined the traffic control group for the 5k, and held posts at the sculpture garden, where the runners got their first view of Lake Superior.  Our job was to make sure the spectators didn’t get in the way of the runners.  Just past our location the course dropped to near the lake level and turned back along Duluth’s Lakewalk and then back to Canal Park.

This race started at 6PM.  The first runners came by about 15 minutes later and kept coming for over ½ an hour.  There were more than 2400 participants, most of whom were enjoying themselves.  The crowd included a number of “characters” (like a Forrest Gump look-a-like, and a couple of ballerinas).

Meanwhile, at the lake, we think summer is about to arrive.  We have had a lot of cool and damp weather, and now the forecast is for warmer and damp.  Our 4-legged guest has been having a good time with walks around the point nearly every day and swimming in the lake to retrieve her tennis ball on most days.  And now that the weather has improved, we plan on getting some projects done – sealing the dock, washing the RV, improving some landscaping, etc.  Need to get the place spiffy before the Fourth of July when we’ll have the family here.

Quiet Times at the Lake

Two weeks since our last posting!  How time does fly; but it’s not like we have lots of activity.  We have been busy cleaning up the leaves, mowing the lawn and hosting all the kids/grandkids for Memorial Day weekend. Here are the girls at Grandpa Cliff's gravesite.

Like many past long weekends, the weather was miserable until the actual holiday.  We put them to work stacking our wood pile. 

The golf cart always gets a good workout when they’re here.  It turned beautiful as our company packed for their return trip to the Twin Cities.  It has since turned back to wet and windy again. 

Last Tuesday we, too, returned to the Cities for a number of medical appointments and a high school graduation – congratulations to Valentina for completing high school!  We returned to the lake on Friday and helped with another graduation party on Saturday: cousin Steve’s youngest son, Ryan, who also completed high school this year.

There were also 2 additions to the extended family when 2 of Paige’s cousins became first-time grandparents within 2 days of each other last weekend.  Both cousins Dan and Steve had grandsons.  Congratulations!

This week we get our grand-dog, Stella, on Thursday.  Brett will be bringing her up here as they will be leaving on a 2+ week of vacation.  This year they’re going west – Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce Canyon.  Stella loves being at the lake better than travelling! 

So, we’ll be hanging out around the cabin for awhile.  Just hope the weather improves.  Looking forward to some visits from Paige’s mom, Joyce.