The Summer of 2015 - A Bit of History (Part 1)

Since my blog is written after the fact, I didn't think it was too late to do some catch up and write a summer summary - the summer of 2015, that is!

Here is the first part of the highlights of the past summer -

June: Driveway camping at Larry and Vicki's, friends from Menomonie. We were joined by two other couples and had a great "practice" pancake breakfast at the Menomonie Airport. Larry wanted to perfect the pancakes he would cook the following weekend for the annual fly-in at the airport. Larry was instrumental in raising the funds to build the airport in the late 1980s.

Larry took us up in his plane for a tour of the city. The bodies of water are the Red Cedar River and Lake Menomin.

This year's Menomonie Airfest & Autorama is June 25, 2016. We'll be there. How about you?

July: Independence Day Parade in Knowles. This has become an annual tradition for us. We sit on our friends', Amanda and Troy's, front lawn and watch the world's largest 4th of July parade. One band (Lomira High School) followed by vehicles from 10-12 local fire departments, implement dealers, trucking companies, and civic groups. By the way, the paraders throw out the most (and good) candy - better than what a kid can collect at Halloween.

Historic as well as new emergency vehicles parade down Main Street.

The bigger the better for new tractors.

July: Iola Old Car Show

In the campground at the Iola Old Car Show (July 10). Someone
likes flamingos! The "official" show now goes from Thursday
through Saturday, no Sunday hours. I guess people were coming
on Thursday and not Sunday so the Show changed its hours. In
future years people will start to come on Wednesday!

Who can resist Tow Mater - from Cars - inspired by a
1951 International Harvester tow truck. He's one of our grand boy's favorite. 

The theme was Pace & Race this year.

A souped-up 1938 Fiat racer. - put together
like ingredients in soup.

A 1952 Cunningham two-seat roadster.

One oldie on the blacktop outside the theme tent.

July: Camping with the family at Peninsula State Park. Another annual tradition. This year there were three grand boys, the youngest being 2 1/2 months old. We picked LOTS of cherries this year at Falcon Orchard, Sister Bay. 

Rick and I highly recommend Bay Shore County Park  at 5637 Sturgeon Bay Rd (Hwy 57), New Franken WI. It's atop the Niagara Escarpment, has a terrific playground for kids, and even washers and dryers on site (something usually only found in private campgrounds). Plus - it's only a short drive from Green Bay. 

We paid homage to the Packers at Lambeau field and toured the Neville Public Museum. A former colleague, Beth Lemke, is the director. 

Last stop - Kalbus Country Harbor camp-
ground on Lake Winnebago.,

Sunset over the lake.

Watch for the rest of the summer story in another blog post - coming soon, I hope!