Sunday - September 14

 Another HOT one today reaching 92

 

    We went to Mass at 10 with Father Loftus.   The Holy Trinity choir is soooo phenomenal!!!    Anne went with us to Coffee Hound - good pastries and coffee.   Anne went on home and we drove to Panera to quickly change clothes and then pick up Donna Rae at Westminster Village.    Through her church (Wesley United Methodist), they have a program with 2 very nice $$$ bikes where the passenger sits up front strapped in and the driver is behind pedaling (7-speed with 3 electric assist speeds).    We followed Donna Rae's long-time friend, Ethlynn (97) to the place on the trail where we get the bikes and met their drivers.    Ethlynn's son, Greg is a realtor and a volunteer to drive; Darcy was Donna Rae's driver.

Darcy adjusting Donna Rae's helmet

And away they go for their 50-minute ride

All finished and happy, happy!   These gals thoroughly enjoyed their ride  - the trail has a lot of shade, so they were quite comfortable

We asked Donna Rae if she would like to go for ice cream - "YES", so off to Gene's for some yummy refreshing vanilla (Donna Rae), chocolate (Mark) and lemon (me)

Anne stopped by Gene's and got to see Donna Rae!

Took her back to Westminster and we came back to KK - enjoyed the AC!   

Kathy shared these beauties from our trip to NOTL

We went for a walk after supper - it had cooled down just a bit.    New Hampshire was the only new state, but 5 from Florida.    Talked to a guy from southeast of Columbus, Ohio who is on his way home from a trip to the Badlands.    He and his wife sometimes camp at East Harbor near Port Clinton where we like to ride bikes.

 Zoom tonight had 10 siblings - discussed medical insurance for traveling out of the country (different than travel insurance).    Several were not aware of this.  

Enjoy your week ahead and stay cool.  
 

Saturday - September 13

 Warm day as it reached 92 here at KK.    Mark and I went for a walk in the morning before the heat hit.   

We met our long ago former neighbors, John and Linda at Busy Corner for lunch,    What a crazy busy place packed with lots of hungry folks.   We had about a 20-minute wait and then good food and visit.    Always enjoy getting together as we go back to 1974......51 years of friendship.

Mark, Pat, Linda, John

Friday - September 12

  Beautiful day in central IL, but more summery than fall with a high of 86.   For the next several days we'll be in the upper 80s-90s 

 I got a haircut with Morgan at 10:30, back to KK for lunch and finished unpacking.

Tonight we met our friend Darrel for supper at Busy Corner.    Darrel's wife, Tamara passed away in May and we've been friends since 1971.    It was so good to see him and catch up.   I was touched that he gave me a beautiful pin of the American flag that was a favorite of Tamara's and one she wore frequently.   

A treasure from a dear friend

Mark, Darrel, Pat

Mark kept track of new license plates here at KK while I was gone.   New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota (2), Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee and Colorado.

More beauty from Niagara-on-the-Lake

Monday-Thursday - September 8-11

 I'm back from a wonderful 3 days on Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (NOTL).   Here's a recap...

Monday - Mark and I arrived at the Bloomington/Normal airport at 4:30 AM.    I met Claire and at 6, we were off to Chicago.    Kathy flew in from Dallas (had not seen her in over a year) and we 3 flew to Buffalo, NY for our annual girls getaway.   Got our rental car and had a 56 minute drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake with easy clearing thru customs.

We stopped downtown for light lunch at Fournos Greek restaurant - yummy appetizers and then we walked around til time to check in at The White House Boutique Hotel.    What a lovely place and a very warm welcome by Sonny, the owner.    We sat around the dining room table and Sonny chatted about this and that and even connected the internet to our devices.    He carried our bags upstairs and showed us our spacious room.   We rested a bit and then time for dinner at Oaklands at Riverbend Inn - wow, a lovely inn/restaurant in rural NOTL.    We had a great dinner and of course, plenty of chatter.   On home and called it a day.

Tuesday - Sonny's wife Judy prepared a delicious 4-course breakfast (yogurt parfait, coffee cake, fresh peaches/raspberries, scrambled eggs with tomato slices and sausages).   We dined with 3 guests from Pittsburgh - Ernie and Michelle and Michelle's cousin, Lenny.    What delightful folks (that's one of the things I love about a B 'n B - the interesting folks you meet and visit with over breakfast)!    We said good bye and wished them a fun day as they did to us.   

We girls drove downtown to shop (good retail therapy), took our packages to the car and then walked to the Shaw Festival Theater which is a very big deal in NOTL.    We all thoroughly enjoyed the musical "Anything Goes".   WOW.....the dancing, singing, choreography, costumes all top notch.   After the play, we walked downtown and enjoyed some delicious COWS ice cream which Mark and I first had on Prince Edward Island back in 2012.   It is 16% butterfat and sooo good!

Went back to the White House and rested a bit before another trip downtown to the Irish Harp Pub - great Irish fare (Shepherd's Pie, Seafood Stew and Irish Egg Rolls).   

Wednesday - today we packed our bags and ready to check out of the White House.    We came downstairs to say good bye to Ernie, Michelle, Lenny and Sonny.    We had not planned to eat breakfast here as we were going to have lunch at a winery.    But Sonny insisted we sit down and have coffee and apple turnovers plus grapes  - all delicious!    Sonny wanted pics of all of us so went outside and he took several and then good bye hugs - as Sonny said "You came as guests and leave as family."   

We drove downtown for coffee at Balzac and then strolled Queen Street one more time.    Drove in the country to the beautiful Two Sisters Winery.   Mark and I have been here 2 x previous and love the beauty, food and ambiance.    After our yummy lunch, we walked around the vineyards and pond.    As we were walking to the car, we heard the tragic horrible news of Charlie Kirk's shooting.    So much hatred and evil in our country.   My heart is breaking for his wife and small children.

Off to Buffalo and a smooth cruise thru customs.   We got gas for the rental car, checked into our hotel, returned the rental and then shuttle brought us back to hotel.    We watched more coverage of the shooting and then to "Buffalo Wingnutz" the pub in our hotel.    Tuesday nights are "1/2 price wings" and it was a happening place.   Back to our room - we have a very early morning coming....

Thursday - Alarms went off at 4:30 AM today.   Shuttle picked us up at 5:15 and off to airport.   Kathy's direct flight to Dallas left at 7; Claire and I left for Chicago at 7:30 but we had a 5-hour layover till our flight to Bloomington.    Lots of people watching, reading, games, and yakkin'.

Mark and Mike were at the airport when we arrived at 2:30.    Always good to be back home, but what an awesome time we had.    NOTL is so charming with perfect weather, spectacular flowers, great eating and shopping +++ "Anything Goes" which was phenomenal.

I will post a few pics tonight and more coming tomorrow.

Sonny and Judy - great hosts

Ernie, Michelle, Lenny

Fournos Greek restaurant

Oaklands at Riverbend

Irish Harp Pub

Two Sisters Winery/Vineyards

Buffalo Wingnutz

Bye bye...this morning at the airport

That's enough for tonight!!!

We remember 24 years ago - 9/11/2001

God Bless America

Sunday - September 7

 Beautiful pre-Fall day full of sunshine and upper 60's.    We met Anne at 10:00 Mass with Father Bo and then to Destihl for a hearty breakfast.    After we ate, Mark suggested we walk outside as there was plenty of open spaces in parking lots surrounding Destihl.    So, that's what we did and yakked some more.

Said our good byes and back to KK.    Quiet afternoon - I finished packing.    Tomorrow I'm off to Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON for a girls getaway with friends, Claire and Kathy.    I'm taking a break from the blog till I return on Thursday.

Zoom tonight was 6 siblings off and on - Theresa and Janet left early.    Our brother-in-law, Tom H was in Shipshewana same time as us....he likes that neat Amish community, too.   Other talk about Christmas travel plans, Janet and Joan's dealings with Cleveland Clinic, etc.

Have a great week!

Saturday - September 6

 A fun Saturday taking off at 8 for Goodfield and a latte for me at "Revive".   Then to Eureka and picked up some goodies at Braker's Market and final destination was Allie and Owen's home in Edwards (near Peoria).    Jane arrived a bit later and what a fun morning along with delicious breakfast casserole w/sausage gravy, fresh fruit, orange/cranberry bread and caramel pecan rolls.    So much to catch up on - been several months since we were all together.  

The guys chatted away and we gals did the same - lots of laughs.    Said our good byes with a plan to get together on October 1st.

Mark and Owen

Allie, Jane, Pat

All of us!

Mark and I stopped at Costco and Dollar Tree and on home.    Nice day but cool and breezy with a mix of sun/clouds.

We went to the Carlock Family Restaurant for early supper, back to KK and finally got to walk and do our license plate thing..........Texas and Florida have 3 each; Arizona (2) Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri each 1.

 

Friday - September 5

 We sure had a fun morning with a trip to town and a stop at Panera to get coffees and pastries and then to Westminster Village to visit Donna Rae.    Always so good to see her and catch up,    She is doing well!

We had this visit planned for a while and she asked if we would like to go with her to a program downstairs.    The speaker was Steve Carr, a former neighbor on Jackson Street and a retired FBI agent who now is a resident at WV.     Wow....so very interesting!    Mark and I thoroughly enjoyed it and grateful to Donna Rae for inviting us.    Said our good byes till we meet again - hopefully on the 14th.

Sweet Donna Rae

Then to do the laundry (3 loads) and after getting the washers going, Mark went across the street and brought back lunch from Steak 'n Shake - boy, that was good....been a long time since we've had a steak burger!  On home with the clean laundry.    So much construction on I74 which goes past KK.....we'll probably take country roads into town as it's going to be a long while till this is done (they had started this big project just before we left here the end of May.)

Quiet afternoon as a few RV's are trickling in for the night or weekend.

SIXTY years ago tonight Mark and I had our first date - September 5, 1965 at the Tri County Fair in Mendota, IL.    How time flies!!!  😀

Thursday - September 4

 We had almost 1/2"  of rain last night!   We were up and off to the Das Kaffee Haus just down the road for coffee and pastries.    What a nice place and just 4 years old.    Back to the campground to get Big Red and Flo and off we went at 9 AM.

We drove thru many country roads in Indiana - nice to gain back that hour, but with a stop for quick lunch in Hebron at Casey's, it was still a 6-hour trip.   I stopped at WalMart for a few things in Normal and Mark went to the truck stop on Market Street for Flo to go thru the truck wash.    

We sure enjoyed our time in Shipshewana - great weather and surprised to hear that our brother-in-law, Tom was there at same time with friends.    Hope they enjoy their time.

Had a nice visit with Micci (she and Mark are now the new owners of Kamp Komfort). They've done a great job as managers the past several years.

We plan to be here till October 8th.....started out in OH, then IN, IL, IA, IL, WI, IL, IN and then onto FL.   And a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON for me next week.

Good chat with Liam.....2 weeks of classes finished and continues to run, swim and bike.

Off to dreamland shortly!    Nighty night...

Wednesday - September 3

 Another fun day in Shipshewana starting with a yummy breakfast with Bob, Linda, Dick and Mary at the Blue Gate dining room.    They put out quite a spread.    Then Mark, Bob and  Dick left for Bristol and checked out the recliners we are thinking about for Flo - Mark liked the one on display a lot, so....

We girls shopped and after meeting the guys, we all enjoyed the music of the Everly Brothers performed by brothers Zach and Dylan Zmed who have sang their music for the past 10 years.    They put on a really good show - very entertaining along with their guitar player and drummer.

A bit more shopping in Shipshewana and then drove to Middlebury to check out "Joyfully Said" a fabulous home decor shop that was formerly a popcorn company - wow....we loved this place.    Then to dinner at "West on Warren" - great meals!   Between all the shopping, eating, games, Everly Brothers Experience, and lots of laughs, it's been such a fun 2 days.

After dinner, we came back to their hotel and played SkyJo with Mark the winner and me the loser, AGAIN!!!!    But I did beat Linda and Mary at RummiKub.    And then time to say good bye!    We left just in time as the rain is really coming down (had a heavy rain this afternoon on our way to Middlebury, too).

Bob with all the farm animals and pumpkins

Linda and I modeling same jacket

Group photo in beautiful Shipshewana

Dick, Mark, Pat, Linda, Mary, Bob

Kamp Komfort....here we come!

Tuesday - September 2

 Beautiful day for lifting Catrina out of the water and that happened at 9.   I left at 8:30, stopped at Coffee Express for last coffee (a freebie) of the season.   Mark got Catrina all tucked away for the winter along with the great folks at Superior Marine.

It was a 2.5 hour trip for me to Shipshewana but I made another stop at RecPro in Bristol, IN.   We are thinking of changing out our sofa on Flo for  2 recliners.    This place has a showroom of various pieces of furniture for RV's and I could sit in the chair....Mark will go check the place out tomorrow.  

  I arrived in Shipshewana about 20 minutes before brother Bob, Linda, cousin Dick and Mary.   We went to Jo Jo's Pretzels for light lunch and then we girls started the shopping....the town is all decked out for fall - just gorgeous!

Mark arrived at the Shipshewana South Park Campground and got Flo settled.   He called me and Bob and I picked him up around 3.   It's just 4/10 of a mile from their hotel.

The patient guys waiting for the gals while we shopped

Dick and Mary with a favorite of Dick's who grew up raising holstein cattle

Bob, Linda, Mary, Dick

We had a wonderful Amish dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant - sooo much yummy comfort food!    Went back to their hotel and sat on the patio on this gorgeous evening with a nearby fire going and played SkyJo with Dick, the big winner (I was the big loser)!

Mark and I are now on Flo - big day but lots of fun and laughs!

Today was Luke and Maeve's 1st day of their new school year...have a fun and successful year!

4th grade

7th grade

Labor Day - 2025

 Today we honor the contributions of American workers and celebrate the unofficial end of summer!

WELCOME to SEPTEMBER!

What beautiful weather for Labor Day Weekend - perfect each and every day!

Our last day here at Superior Marine was busy but productive.....we moved Catrina to the wall near lift out well so Mark could clean both hulls and then use dinghy to go between the hulls.

I washed both Ruby and Big Red.    Sad to say good bye to our friends, Donna and Bob, Teri and Dennis.

Pat and Donna

Pat, Teri, Dennis

We sure will miss these folks but I'll be with my boat sisters (+ Chris) in March when they come to Fort Myers.

Catrina is ready to be lifted out tomorrow at 9.   And then we're off with Flo to Shipshewana, IN for a few days!

So, our boating season ends but sure was a fun one!    Once again, we are all alone here tonight at Superior Marine - the holiday weekend boaters have all left.   Most of these folks live in Ohio so planning to boat in September thru October.    

Here's to a great week ahead...

Sunday - August 31

 A perfect Sunday with sunshine and a high of 70.    We went for a few groceries, then to 10:30 Mass with Father Jonathan - he told us that in light of the terrible tragedy in Minneapolis, the doors to the church will be closed during all children's masses and the police chief personally said he would be present.    They will also up the presence of police security in the school area.   As he said "it's sad that it's come to this, but that's how it is now....and the safety of the children is most important".

Went to WalMart after Mass to pick up a Rx and on home.   Time to clean Catina (outside) - boy, did she need it, but lots of elbow grease, scrubbing and she is glowing!   

We had planned to go to the 4 P festival (perch, peach, pierogi, and polka) downtown sponsored by the Knights of Columbus for an early dinner, but Donna invited us to The Orchard Farm Stand along with Bob, Bruce and Christine.    It was a gorgeous evening to sit outdoors and we all love the food, so....that's what we did and had a great time.  Bree was our waitress (same sweet gal we had Friday with Steve and Margaret).

Back to the marina and grabbed some hoodies and blankets and then enjoyed a wonderful cruise on Bob's pontoon on the Portage River - nice music and weather was perfect.  Said our good byes to Bruce and Christine and BIG thanks to Bob and Donna for this wonderful ride.

Symon - such a good ole boy

Bob and Donna's buddy

Christine and Bruce

Bob and Donna

Flags all over Port Clinton are flying at half-mast in memory of those little children 

(Fletcher and Harper) who died in the Minneapolis tragedy

Bye bye to August...

Saturday - August 30

 It's the start of football season and all across America, there are game-day parties and cheering on favorite teams.   Here at Superior Marine, Donna (thee biggest Ohio State fan) and Bob invited me to join them and some friends on "So Blessed" to watch the Buckeyes take on Texas.   One of the biggest games of the season.    I told her I would cheer on her team if she'll do the same for Iowa (tonight) and Notre Dame tomorrow night.

Donna and Pat

Donna had all kinds of yummy snacks and their friends, Bob and Vicki joined in on the fun. Mark was working on Catrina but joined us in the 4th quarter and a 14-7 victory for OSU.

We went to 1812 for another delicious dinner - Bob and Donna, their friends Bob and Vicki and Bruce and Christine from our marina.    Very fun evening!

Donna, Bruce, Christie, Mark, Pat, Bob, Vicki, Bob

Iowa won 34-7 against  U of Albany - yeah Hawkeyes!!!

Friday - August 29

 A gorgeous 65-degree sunny Friday and start to Labor Day weekend.    Mark got a haircut with  Gina and then more working between Catrina and Flo.   

 We met friends from Cypress Trail who live on Catawba Island for lunch at The Orchard Farmstand.   Almost 2.5 hour lunch and visit!    We'll look forward to seeing them in FL in October.

Steve, Margaret, Pat, Mark

Last night Michael sent a pic of the gorgeous sunset over Lake James.   Annette sent a pic today of same sunset (different view from their home) + added some extra beauty in the form of Miss Maeve😄

Maeve and spectacular sunset

One of my boat sisters...Chris is not coming; Donna will be coming later.

Teri and Pat

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend!