Monday - September 28

 Absolutely gorgeous day - love fall especially out in the country and KK is in the heart of harvesting as we are surrounded by corn and bean fields!    We were off to town with a stop at WalMart and then met the Monday morning group at House of Yolk for delicious breakfast - really like this place in a former Bob Evans location.

Ken, Sigrunn, Darrel, Sue, Pat, Mark

Ken and  Sigrunn, Sue and Darrel, Mark and I together one last time before we leave next week.   Stopped at Farm 'n Fleet and on home.

We walked around KK this afternoon and visited with a guy from California.   He and his wife are doing the Route 66 tour.    They are having a great time.    They left CA on August 21 and won't be home till mid November.    This is the 100th anniversary of that famous route.

Oklahoma is a new state.   This camper has been in the campground for a few days but not sure how many people live there?

A real "tiny" house!

I went back to town this afternoon and picked up a Rx at WalMart and then met the Monday Night Friends at Panera for supper.   We always have a bunch of laughs and tonight was more of the same - great group of gals....missing Nadine and Donna.

Ruth, Pat, Sue, Jody, Marsha and her daughter Laura

Our daughter-in-law, Erin, spent the weekend with 2 girlfriends in Vermont at a golden retriever farm - "Wines and  Wags".    They had a great time!

Erin and "friends"

I was burning a very pleasant candle in Flo today - "Pumpkin Spiced Latte" !  😄

FOUR years ago today, hurricane Ian left so much devastation on Fort Myers Beach

Friday-Sunday, September 25-27

 Friday -  I went into town for a manicure (coffee first at Jasper Java).    Good visit with Lisa and saw pics of her new grandson, Wesley born in July.    Onto Mendota to visit brother Bob and Linda.    Linda had a nice lunch for us and we got to catch up for a few hours.

Next stop was Rockford and pick up Janet for Sisters' Weekend on Eagle Lake, WI.    Doris has a lovely home there and hosted the sisters (10) this year.    The girls trickled in late afternoon (Theresa and Beth will join us tomorrow).    We settled in and then left for the Dover Inn and the Friday Night Fish Fry.    Lots of chatter rest of the evening and some games (Sliva Poker and Hand 'n Foot).

Front:  Doris, Joan, Marilyn, Lydia

Back:  Sharon, Karen, Pat, Janet

Mark had lunch with his SF colleague, Henry at Times Past.

Saturday - Some sisters (myself included) slept in for a bit but others were up early - WHY???    Ha....Doris made a delicious Cowboy Casserole, plus we had kringle, caramel pecan rolls and fresh fruit.    Theresa and Beth arrived and later, the 3 of us plus Sharon went for a good walk - beautiful fall day.

Some of us watched football in the afternoon and then we all went to 5:00 Mass with Father Hugo from Columbia - what a great priest who has 4 parishes (Kansasville and Union Grove) and so personable and young.    We were at St. John the Baptist.

And then time to eat again....Michael's on the Lake is a great supper club which we've been to before - all enjoyed our meals and of course, plenty of chatter.

Back:  Sharon, Theresa, Karen

Front:  Janet, Marilyn, Lydia, Joan, Beth, Pat, Doris

Beautiful view at Eagle LakeO

On home but 5 of us said good night - and the other 5 stayed up to visit some more.    

Sunday - there was some fog over the lake, but the sisters left at various times after getting the beds stripped and remade + the towels and tidy up the house.    Janet and I were the last to leave.    We had a really good visit back to Rockford - never a lull in our conversation!😀

Dropped Janet off, helped her get her stuff into the house and said hi to her Michael.    And then the last leg of the trip to KK arriving around 2ish.    Good to be back.    Mark and I caught up on our weekend.

He spent all day yesterday with Dave and Judy (Annette's parents) finishing up the Starlink set up, installing cameras, etc.    They are enjoying their high-speed internet and cameras.

He went to 10:00 Mass this morning and just chillin' here at the ole campground.

I walked late afternoon - gosh, it gets dark too early - time to get back to the eastern time zone,   But then we'll be falling back November 1st.

Only 3 on zoom tonight since the sisters had been together all weekend - Auntie Karen, Tom H and Mark.    They still had plenty to chat about!

Enjoy your week!

Thursday - September 24

 Busy day starting with driving to Lexington - tried a new coffee shop (Sirius) - it was a unique place which also served alcohol (weekend evenings) with lots of specialty craft cocktails served by LuLu, their mixologist who has worked all over including Europe.    Quite the place but we enjoyed our coffee and Mark had a burrito and I had a blueberry oat bar (both very good).

Then just a few blocks away was Morgan in her new location - (Raenn Beauty Lounge).    I hadn't seen Morgan in over a year, so always enjoy visiting with her and got a much-needed haircut.

We drove around Lake Bloomington - so many big homes from when we had our little cabin there!    Then to Green Gables and met Barb for a good long visit (3.5 hours).   It just seemed so different without Roger who passed away August 17th (his 75th birthday).     Barb has been such a dear friend and we sure feel for her but overall, she seems to be doing ok and was her sweet, friendly self.

Us with our dear friend Barb

We were waiting for the call from Heller Motors that Ruby was finished from when we brought her in yesterday - finally got the call, so said our good bye and hugs to Barb (hope to see her in Florida this winter).

Mark was in Big Red and me in Ruby and on back to KK.    We did our nightly walk (most of the time) and had a nice visit with a couple from Iowa.    New states tonight are Utah, Alabama and Massachusetts.

I'll be in Wisconsin the next few days for our Sisters' Weekend so no blog till  Sunday.

Wednesday - September 23

 Mark drove Big Red and I followed with Ruby to Pontiac (seemed strange not to have Flo in front of me)! 😉  Ruby was getting a check-up + check out a few things at Heller Motors.    After dropping her off we went in Big Red to The Cup and Scone (downtown coffee shop in old building with brick walls, tall booths, etc.) - cute and enjoyed our coffee/scones.

Then to the laundromat to do 3 loads - this was very nice and clean (ranked right up there with Port Clinton's).    On home for lunch.   

This afternoon we drove to Hudson and met boating friends for a pizza party.    Gary makes thee best pizza.    Lots of fun chatter with these long-time friends and we met Roger's fiancee' Lorraine - they will be married one month from today!     So happy for them!

Rod, Sharon, Gary, Roger, Lorraine, Barb

Tuesday - September 22

 W E L C O M E   F A L L

My favorite time of year is here!    Nip in the air, campfires with s'mores,mums, pumpkins, football,  apple cider, apple cinnamon donuts, pumpkin spiced lattes, etc., etc.

Mark was off to town for a haircut with Brandon.    They had damage to the barber shop, Dollar General next door and other nearby locations from the nasty storm that blew thru Bloomington a few weeks ago.

Today my cousin Jane was coming from Peoria to play Rummikube but she wasn't feeling well, so those plans fell thru.   Mark put new batteries in the tire pressure monitors on Flo.   I sorted laundry and wrapped a few Christmas gifts.

We walked in the afternoon but it was chilly, windy and no sun!   

 New states are Montana, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and North Dakota.

.We went to Busy Corner for some chili and pie - they have really good chili and it was a good night for that.    We shared a piece of coconut cream.