Pittsburg, Kansas November 1, 2008

Here is where I spent 2 years in college. Pittsburg,

Kansas in the southeast corner of Kansas.

I went to college to major in music and this is the

music hall that I spent a great deal of time in.

This is the Alpha Gamma Delta house. This was the
sorority I belonged to but this is a newer house. The house I
remembered is now a parking lot!!

This is the center of campus. Not a very
great picture. It is a very old school.

"Gus" the gorilla. We were the
Pittsburg Gorillas. As John pointed out
they sure are native to the area??!!!!
My dorm "Nation Hall".

The new stadium.

Huge Jungle Tron. I think that's what they

called it.

Vicki Pelz Van Becelaere and me at the restaurant

in Pittsburg. She was one of my sorority sisters and

she still lives in Pittsburg. She has her masters and

is a media specialist.....(just like you Jan!)

Vicki, me and Don (Vicki's husband).

The 4 of us at Jim's steakhouse.

Happy Birthday Don Kloster!!!! Feel any different at this milestone??? Hope you had a good

day, we were thinking of you.

We got to Pittsburg around 1:00 and decided to tour the campus and see what was different and what was the same. I believe this college was built in 1903 and truly, it still looks quite old, except for some new additions like the stadium and some renovations of the library etc. They are building a new medical center too. It was fun to reminisce about those school days. It's funny how when you are there all these people keep popping into your mind. We met Vicki and Don around 6:00...they picked us up, and we went to the steakhouse. They know so many people because Don was raised AND went to school in Pittsburg and has lived there ever since college. We really had a nice dinner and visit.

After dinner we went around the town to see a few more things I had missed and then by Don's business (which is a specialized printing company) and they elementary school where Vicki teaches. We stopped at their house for a little while and while I was there I talked to another sorority sister, Sue Ann Gilmore. She has her own home health care business and loves it.

Got home around 10 or so....didn't even notice the time.

I was really glad we came here. Tomorrow it is on to Winfield, Kansas to see an old high school friend.

Halloween October 31, 2008

John and Kathy, Debbie and Gary Palcher

I have contacted several friends that I have gone to college with and one or two that I went to high school with. I have to remember that they are ALL teachers and are all still working. I tried to get a hold of Janice who was a college roommate as well as the maid of honor in my first wedding. She lives in Cameron, MO., and I finally got a hold of her dad, because I couldn't get ah old of her and she never called me back....so, guess she didn't care to see me. Anyway, I did get a hold of Debbie and her husband and they did meet us for dinner. Debbie teaches art at a private Catholic school for 4 yr olds through 8th grade. Gary is in the food business. Debbie and I were in the same dorm and also were sorority sisters. She was from Wichita and at the time I lived in Mulvane, KS., which is a suburb of Wichita. It was good to see her...after you talk awhile it is truly like nothing has changed. Yes, we are older and yes, our kids are pretty much grown, but we are still the same people. We had dinner at an excellent restaurant called J Alexanders.

Tomorrow we will go to Pittsburg, KS where I went to college. We will be seeing Vicki and Don

Van Becelaere. More about them tomorrow.

Thursday Oct 30, 2008

Got to KC around 1:00. We are staying at the same park we did last spring, Worlds of Fun. The park is really nice and there is hardly no one here. We had lunch at the casino here...and gambled again my same 20.00. This time I lost it all. We set us some meetings with some friends of mine from college for tomorrow night an also on Saturday night when we are in Joplin, Mo. Joplin is right over the border from Pittsburg, KS where I went to college.
We ate dinner at a place called Shrouds. It is known for their pan fried chicken. It was served family style and it was too much food for the two of us.
We're just watching TV now and chilling.

On the road again. Oct. 29, 2008

The Shay's and the Dawson's at dinner.

Here we are, on the road again. We spent our first night in Des Moines. Made it safely with no problems and stayed in a RV park in Altoona, Ia. I believe the casino out here is called Grand Meadow. We went there and ate lunch and I gambled with 20.00. Left with 20.00 too, so didn't do too bad.
We met Chris, Jen and the kids at Red River Bottom Brewery downtown in Des Moines for dinner. It was a brew house, but the food was pretty decent. After dinner we went to Chris and Jen's house to see all the updates they have done. It looked really nice. Got home around 10 or so and shut 'er down.
Got up at 4:30 am to no heat or power....we plugged into 30 amp and needed 50 am to run the electric. Wasn't the coaches fault...it was ours!!! Re set everything and were good and warm til we got up.
Heading for KC today.

Fall in Minnesota October 2008

Cannon Falls home

Lake home

It's fall, and we will be heading out soon. Fall brings on a variety of emotions for me. It makes me kind of sad yet the cool air is always invigorating. I am not sure why the sadness, although it is a changing season and maybe I am just sad that the summer is over and I will be shoveling soon. Oh, that's right, I won't be shoveling, my children will! :) I also think that it IS sad when summer is over because we love our lake home so much it's sad we don't go up there as much in the other seasons. It's also sad because I know we are leaving again and will miss the Cannon house and mostly my kids and parents. I miss all my family and friends but being in the house with Ryan and Jac and Brady for so long it does feel a little lonely when we leave. ANYWAY, on a brighter note...

We will go up to the lake next weekend over MEA and get all the things we want in the RV for our trip south. Then on Monday the 20th, I will be going to Grand Cayman with Helen for a week. When I return on the 27th...it will be a matter of how quick I can load my stuff into the motor home and we will take off. I will be keeping you posted as to where we go on this blog.

I am sad to leave our nephew Jeff, who has cancer back in his good lung and also my friend Holly who I worked with at Airborne, has also been diagnosed with cancer in a lot of places. I pray for them both and by the grace of God I hope to see them both again.

I also worry about Jane and Chuck taking care of Phoebe. She is definitely a sweetie, but I know this is a life changing experience for them. I pray for a good outcome for the whole family and hopefully Kyle will be able to take over.

Until we hit the road.........

Bailey's Harbor, Wisc. and Door County 9/17-9/21

The lighthouse..don't remember which one...:)
Julie (with camera), Carol and me on the boat.
Breakfast at Al Johnson's
They had goats grazing on top of the roof of Al Johnson's restaurant.
The boat we chartered.
The crew!
Kate at her finest!

Julie and Ken rented a stone cottage in Bailey's Harbor, Wisc. and Carol and Larry Olson joined them. John and I joined them a couple days later but brought our motor home and stayed at a campground nearby. We got there on Wednesday...they came out to the campground and we had a few "cocktails" then headed out for dinner at "Coyote Roadhouse". Had a great dinner in a very casual setting and then went back to Ken and Julie's and had a campfire out on the lake. It was a beautiful setting. Some of us had a little too much wine and scotch, someone sent her bra down the flag pole...so to speak...and someone was telling funny stories with extremely comical actions!!! Remember, what happens in Bailey's Harbor, stays in Bailey's Harbor!!! Actually it was all innocent fun !!

Thursday morning we went to breakfast at "Al Johnson's" and was surprised to see goats on the roof. They told us they bring them in for the day to graze and then they go down a ramp and back to the farm at night! This restaurant was very Scandinavian and they had pancakes that were to die for. After breakfast we shopped around town until 1:00 and then took a charter boat out on the lake. It was a really beautiful day and pretty calm on the water. The bummer of the day, and of the trip, was Julie's wedding band slipped off her finger and into Lake Michigan!!!! She was very upset..as well you could imagine. Thursday night we brought fish that my brother Dave had caught and Julie and Carol had brought goodies from their gardens and we had quite the feast! Fish, squash, beans, carrots, potatoes and topped it off with a fresh cherry pie I made.

Hard to beat that at a restaurant! We also had another lovely campfire! (Did you know Ken was an Eagle scout???)

Friday am we met Carol and Larry, Julie and Ken at another restaurant for breakfast. I think it was every bit as good as "Al Johnson's"....but I can't remember the name. After breakfast, Carol and Larry had to head home. They had Gopher tickets for Saturday and Carol had to head to North Dakota for work on Sunday. Julie, Ken, John and I went shopping. Oh boy, did we shop!!!

We found a few really cool items for John's office and got some really great ideas for the Florida home. Friday night we went to "Shoreline" restaurant in Gill's Rock. It was a way out of town, but the view was very pretty. After dinner we just cashed it in.
Saturday we decided to skip breakfast and do lunch out so we went shopping in Fish Creek for quite a while and then ate lunch at some bar. We did a little more shopping afterwards, then went home for a bit and met again at their cottage at dinner time. We decided to go the the Coyote Roadhouse again for dinner, it was close by and we all wanted to get an early start in the morning.

Sunday we left at about 8:30 and made it home by 3:00.

It was a great trip with great friends.

Summer Fun 2008

Suzanne enjoying her campfire.
Chase and Ben after fishing on the dock.
Ashley doing what she likes best!
John's sister Jean and Maddie enjoying the sun.

John and his pal "Maddie" on the boat. I am trying to read the paper at dusk on the dock!
Carol and Larry Olson and Julie Brown at the Cross Lake boat show.
Carol and Julie with their new purchases.
Carol, Julie and I out in front of the pond.

Jackie and Brady with Brady's sister Mandi and brother-in-law, Ryan
Neighbors, Mike and his daughter Lauren.
4th of July with Chris and his family and Jeff and Ryan and Syd, (not pictured)
Ryan chilling with Maddie.
Ken Brown serenading us on the dock.

Our newest family member, "Bella" the Yorkie,

Yes, Labor Day weekend is upon us so I thought I would just put a few pictures of our summer at the lake. There are always so many cameras going that I am not that good at making sure MY camera took the pictures. I can't find one of granddaughter Sydnee anywhere, but I know Suzanne (neighbor) has one or two of her with Lauren. Oh well, I tried.

We had visits from family and friends as well, always enjoying the water, boating, biking the trail, great meals in and out and of course...the campfires at night. It is sad that it is all near the end, but we are also a little excited about traveling again and seeing other friends around the country.

We plan to head west in October and then back over to Florida in January with the start of building on our new house. We will keep you all updated.