Greetings to all!
We are now in Duluth MN visiting with our newly married daughter and her husband. We walked in on the extended Erickson family who also happened by at that moment so it was a bit of a family reunion. Good to see everyone without all the hubbub of the wedding [Sept 1st].
Spent the last few days visiting with Kris and Tom at Kris's 'cabin' in Birchwood Wisconsin. A very quiet and charming place that Kris has been refurbing for some time now. A beautiful loft guest bedroom with a king bed that defied any explanation as to how they got the massive thing up a tight circular staircase. Great company and good to get caught up with things since we've not had a chance to talk for months. Sat on her back deck eating great food and watching the deer walk by and lick the salt lick and 'huff' when they caught our scent. Big bonfire one night just to drink wine by.
The road to Wisconsin was longish after leaving Dave and Jane's idyllic setting on the lake. About 450 miles and probably the most we would want to do. We did have a goal and this was contrary to how we really want to conduct this trip. However, the passage over the great lakes past Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan was interesting for the many many many small towns we passed through -many with 400 residents or less. We could not figure how such towns create enough 'critical mass' to survive. Still can't. Some are as much as 30 miles from each other with wide swaths of unincorporated land in between. Certainly no place to run out of gas...
Stopped in one "bar/restaurant" to buy a cup of coffee. It was very odd. They sold nothing for food and only ETOH. The barkeep responded to my query about buying a cup of coffee with a blank stare and the reply, 'we don't sell coffee'. Ok, not so much of a restaurant then... Once we knew to look for them, there was one of these places about every 5 or so miles.
Off to Sioux Falls tomorrow trading long views of forest for long views of corn. Then onto the badlands. XM radio has been great and it has been good to have long conversations with my wife on 'stuff'. At the same time, neither of us feels compelled to talk either and silence is sometimes nice. 33 years of marraige I guess wears a few edges smooth.
Devin is doing a great job of managing our home in our absence. Thanks Devin!
Matt
Matt
