Fun times at the lake

We slept in until about 10:00. Grandma June has a new game for us called, "Paint the Dock." Funny, isn't she. I had a couple of Mt. Dews and then went out to start scraping. Greg came out to join me and promptly got stung by two wasps that were living in a big nest under the dock. Junel is trying to finish her book, The Forest House. A little later Greg, Julie, Junel, and I went out on their boat for a ride and some wakeboarding. Greg and Julie are quite good at it. I hadn't water skiied for quite some time, and had never wakeboarded. It looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to have a go at it.

Greg helping me get ready to wakeboard. (© 2006, Julie Bacigalupo.)

After about 4 tries got up for a little bit. Fortunately Julie had her camera along so I have documented proof (see below).

Me wakeboarding. (© 2006, Julie Bacigalupo.)

 I even managed to cross the wake once before I lost my balance and had to let go. I then tried another 3 or 4 times to get up again, but the boat kept pulling the rope right out of my hands. It's different enough from water skiing that it seems it would take some practice to do it well. Still it was a blast. After we wore ourselves out we just putzed around the lake getting some sun and having a few beers.

I can't believe I'm drinking Corona. (© 2006, Julie Bacigalupo.)

 
Greg and Julie pose for the camera. (Photo by Junel Bacigalupo. © 2006, Julie Bacigalupo. ) 

There were some kids staying in the house next door that had been wanting to get pulled, so we went back to their dock, got some more beer, and they joined us. One of them pulled off a back flip that was rather impressive. After they all got a chance we came back to shore. June fixed a great meal of meatloaf, salad, and corn on the cob which we all promptly gobbled down. I did dish duty, Greg zonked out on the rollaway, and the rest of us built a fire and had s'mores. 

One of the neighbors behind us was shooting off some amazing fireworks early. They were actually about as good or better than many professional displays we have seen. After that we came inside. Greg was still zonked out, Junel and Julie played a little Yahtzee and I read a little of the US News Special Issue on the Da Vinci Code. A little trivia for you. Did you know that it is incorrect to refer to Leonardo as da Vinci? That would be like me saying my name is From Decorah. Soon we went to bed. Hope I am not too stiff tomorrow.

Up to the Lake

We slept in until about 10:00 today. After some blueberry coffee cake, Junel and I walked around the back yard and she showed me June's garden--lots of really pretty flowers.

Grandma June's backyard. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

June is 80 and she still mows the lawn. Unfortunately she has some macular degeneration and has trouble seeing. Last night we showed her some wedding pictures, but to see them she has to look through a TV magnifier. I called my Aunt Sharon at work and she was able to take some time off to meet Junel. So we packed up the car, stopped at the liquor store for some beer, and headed over to Bloomington. We were able to visit for about an hour with her and Dalen. It was good to see them. We left for June's cabin about 2:30. It is north of Brainerd aways and near some of the lakes my family used to go to on summer vacations when I was a kid. There was some bad traffic for a ways outside of the Cities and we missed our turnoff to 169. We ended up taking 10 to St. Cloud and then up to Brainerd the same way we used to go though now it's 4 lanes instead of 2.

Grandma June's cabin in N. Minnesota. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

We got to the cabin about 8:30 and unpacked, had a little chicken salad, and chatted for a while. Junel's brother Greg and his wife, Julie, arrived around 10:00 and so we've been catching up with them. Their dog, Ellie, a Springer Spaniel, was with them and has just finally settled down.

Going to Minneapolis

Junel woke up about 4:30 to get ready to go to the airport. I got up about 5:30 and we left for Reno around 6:00. We had a fairly uneventful flight to Atlanta and then a 4 hour layover. To kill some time we had a couple of beers at T.G.I. Friday's^® and then some dinner. 

The place was packed, but eventually we got a table. It was nice that the airport had some decent restaurants there. The flight to Minneapolis unfortunately was delayed about an hour, so we were a little rushed to get to the Enterprise rental place before they closed at 11:00. We picked up the car and headed to Apple Valley to Junel's grandmother's house.

 
Junel and Grandma June. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

Junel had told me about Grandma June's rum slushies and sure enough, we were offered one when we got there. I had one of those and a margarita, Junel had some wine, and we all chatted for a bit. Then Junel decided to take a bath, so June and I chatted some more. Pretty soon it was time for bed.

Getting Ready

Today I am packing for our trip to Minnesota and Norway. Junel and I will be visiting her grandmother and her brother and wife and spending approximately a week at her grandmother's cabin in N Minnesota. Then we'll be taking a 10 day tour of Norway. I finished the school year last week and then immediately started music rehearsals for Guilty Pleasures. I even have one tonight. Junel has also been working hard and actually we're both ready for a vacation. 

As part of their 50th wedding anniversary, my parents invited all of the kids and their spouses to go on a trip to Norway. As it turns out only Dawn and Bob, and Junel and I were able to go. My cousin Steve and his wife Kathy are also going to join us, however, and it should be fun to get to spend some time with them. I have no idea what the internet availability will be over there, so I will probably "handblog" and input the posts and pictures later. More later....