Duluth, MN

Landing at San Francisco the sun was setting and it was 90 degrees.  Landing in Minneapolis it was raining so sunrise was not visible.

an unsatisfactory breakfast

I had about 4 hours in Minneapolis then a short 1/2 hour flight to Duluth.  Jeanne met me there.  We then drove to a little cafe for lunch

Then we drove to Gooseberry Falls State Park.  That was fun.  We walked around and took a ton of pictures of the waterfalls.

We then started our way back to the hotel. We stopped along the side of the road for a good view.

Lake Superior with Wisconsin on the other side

some unknown bird on a post

reflection under a bridge.

Then we signed up to have a tour of a famous mansion.  The Glensheen Mansion.  Quite the place.  I took several pictures but none of them did justice to it.

marble inlay table 

day and night in Paris lamp shade.  When you turn the light on you see stars and lights in the buildings

a sewing machine.  I took this for Joyce

view of the mansion.

We finally got back to check in to the Edge hotel.  Very nice.  

towel origami elephant.

We got settled in and did a few odds and ends then we went across the street to dinner.

I got the steak and Jeanne got the coconut shrimp and then we split. Worked out perfectly and then we split an order of glazed carrots.  Yummy meal.

Back to the hotel.  To download pictures and to show Jeanne my Scotland pictures.  We had a coupon for a buy one get one free drink at the lounge.  I think we could have been picked up if we had been interested.  But instead we took our drinks back to the room.  A very full day.

travel night all night

I am off to go visit Jeanne in Minnesota.  I had a busy day today with a lot to do before I left.  I got to the MAX station in time to get the 4:20 MAX.

One of the art structures on the way to the airport.  This summer we have not had much of the rain this depicts. 

I had plenty of time to get to the airport and to go through security.  The flight left on time at 6:30 pm.  I landed in San Francisco.  What an airport.  Not sure what to say about it.  It is very confusing.  Luckily I had plenty of  time to find my way from one terminal to the other.  When you switch terminals you have to go through security again.  I landed in the new terminal.  Interesting layout.  one floor is open with seating and restaurants and at each gate you go downstairs so the lines of people waiting to board is not visible.  A lot of art around.

This looks like it was done by the same artist as the ones at the Portland airport.

I do not leave here until midnight.  Then I have a long layover in Minneapolis.  I arrive in Duluth at 11 am.  Ugh!! Jeanne will meet me there.  We will stay in the Edgewater Hotel and Waterpark. https://www.duluthwaterpark.com.  I did not bring my swimsuit.

home safely

We made it home safely, though our flight out of Chicago was delayed.  We were home around 11:30pm.  Tired, it was a long day.  Today is catch-up day, with laundry, organizing, sorting, doing art show jobs and church stuff.

Nathan and Rebecca made it safely to Linda's in DC.  Today they will continue on to NC.  Everyone else made it to their homes okay.

All in all it was a good trip.

Maple Lane, the cemetery and pizza in Poland

Carolyn, the host of the B & B sure sets a nice table for breakfast.

with good food too!  Fresh berries, homemade sticky buns and vegetarian frittata

We caravaned over to Maple Lane where Rob's property is (he inherited it) .  This is the place that George's dad died. It was the family summer home.  It had been about 12 years since we have seen it.  We went through the motor home and the garage.  Rob met us there.  Rob and Lisa used to come to Maple Lane several times a year to get away and to monitor the property.  We then went to the cemetery where their dad is buried.    

Rob has been there off and on so he knew how to get there.  

The ground was very hard.  People took turns trying to dig.  We planted 2 plants - a kale and a mum. Then we dug a hole for the ashes.

Dorothy and Rebecca read some readings while we covered the box.

I hope that the plants survive. 

Then we drove to Poland (that is right)  to a pizza place that Rob has gone to frequently.  

It was good pizza.  Once it came we pretty much inhaled it.  

Right after lunch, Nathan and Rebecca headed off to DC, Dorothy, Ed and George S headed back to Defiance in 2 cars (full of things that they picked up from Maple Lane) and Rob gave us a ride to the airport in Akron since it was on his way.  That is where we are now waiting for our plane.  we got here a little early but that was fine because it gave me a chance to do my blog.  We fly home via Chicago.  We should be home by 10:30 tonight.

Brownies, a dry tavern and a slide show

A few days ago at one of our walks I got a bunch of mosquito bites on my ankles.  They are DRIVING ME TO DISTRACTION!!!

We have had quite the day.  Dorothy, George and I took Guinness on a nice long walk.  We had planned to leave Defiance about 10 am.  We got home to find Nathan, George an Rebecca making brownies.  New Plan.  We finally got on the road about 11:30 am.  First stop lunch - we stopped at Panera Bread in Toledo.  The menu there sure has changed.  Then we drove to Cuyahoga National Park.  There was a trail we wanted to walk.  We got separated and had a little difficulty getting back together.  Caravaning  is more difficult than it should be, but traffic and toll booths messed us up. Plus we did not have an accurate address so our rGPSs led us to different places.  We walked about 2 miles in the park.

There was a sign saying that the bridge was out cross at your own risk.  Which to us meant crossing was possible.

umm.  They were not kidding about the bridge being out

so we crossed ar our own risk

a very pretty falls.  Ohio does not have many of them

Then we drove on to Pennsylvania to our Bed and Breakfast.  The Cnndleford Inn is very nice.  http:/www.candlefordinn.com 

But this is small town USA, Amish country and everything, absolutely everything closes at 5 pm.  We got here close to 6:45 pm.  We had planned to go out to dinner when we got here.  The only restaurant open was in New Wilmington, 4 miles back and it closed at 8 pm.  So we did not carry all our stuff in.  We called ahead to say we were coming and then we went to dinner at the Tavern on the Square.  This area is dry.  But they will open a bottle of wine for you if you bring it in.  There was a wine store next door, the Fractured Grape Leaf.  I guess there is a loop hole.  So we bought a bottle there and we had another bottle of wine we took.  So we had a red and a white.  Of course there was a corkage fee for the bottle we brought but not for the one we bought next door.  Another loop hole.

Nathan ordered the Poggies

Rebecca had the Scrumptious Salmon Salad

taking the unfinished bottles home

When we got back to the B &B we settled in.  Then we had a slide show of both Nathan's pictures from our Scotland trip and Rebecca's pictures of her Mumbai experience.  So it was a late night when we were done.  I just crashed after that.   

The internet is good here.  Morning seems to be a good time.  Everyone else is asleep.  

Croquet, Settlers and Clue

We relaxed and went on a walk while Dorothy and Ed went to church.

Then we went to the Sweetwater Grill for a very nice lunch.  I had the best mac and cheese ever.  But I could not eat it all. I had the rest for dinner.

Mac and cheese with turkey and bacon

Rebecca had the tuna roll

After lunch there was a game of croquet.  Nathan won.  

analyzing the course.  I  guess there are missing pieces.

Soon after that Robbie and Martin left.  Since Robbie had come here with Nathan, Martin took him as far as Fort Wayne where he caught the bus to Chicago and Martin continued to Columbus, Indiana.  George, George S and Nathan played a game of Settlers.

  Dorothy and Ed had a church obligation. Rebecca and I relaxed, we also had a nice walk..  When Dorothy and Ed returned it was time to think about dinner.  Mostly we had left-overs.  Which were all still very good.  Since we are all leaving for a couple days Dorothy wanted help getting rid of some things.  

After dinner we had a rabble rousing game of Clue.  It was Simpson's clue.  That and with 6 people it was a challenging game.  

All in all it was a nice day.