ANOTHER YEAR OLDER!

Penny and I when we were much, much, much, much, much younger.  I may be wrong but I believe this was in Florida.

TRAVEL NOTES

Donnie says, "It is now so costly to fly from Austin to La Crosse (Round trip is $600+) that it is nearly cheaper to drive, even with hotels and gas."

And, Ron tells me, "We leave our ship in Florida, this morning, and start heading home."

I can't remember where  they were "floating from" but, I'm sure, we'll get a report when they get back.

We had a blog reader from Lappeenranta, Finland, this morning, wonder if Ron and Penny know where that is.  They've been there a few times.  Ron has relatives in Finland.

RON AND PENNY ARE BACK HOME

"We are back from our 22 day, 4700 mile trip thru ten states. We had clear road until we hit California and then it was snowing over the El Cajon pass but the snow was melting almost as fast as it hit.

On our way home thru Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming things changed when we got to Bozeman. We got up and we had a lot of rain that night and snow and the doors were frozen. I had to work hard to scrape off the ice on the windows and get the doors open.

We drove for thirty five miles on roads I do not care to drive on with the snow pack. Then it was good pretty much until the Big Horn Mtns near Sheridan and another fifty miles, but one lane was fairly good. Only car trouble was at my cousin Dan's, We got ready to leave and my battery was dead, so he gave me a jump. The other problem was my windshield wipers were frozen and covered with ice at Bozeman. I tried to scrape off a lot and then when driving, I turned them on and one wiper flew off.  Thankfully it was on Penny's side as her window was quite dirty with a long way to go. Have to get a new one, and had just replaced them recently.

Nice to travel but nice to get home."

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Ron and Penny are heading west.  Ron wrote, "Penny and I are getting ready to leave for a few weeks but want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope 2012 is a good year for everyone and that all of you are as well as can be expected at this stage of our lives.

We are heading to California for a few weeks as I have three sisters and a brother in the LA area and have not been there since 2006. We will spend a couple of days in the Santa Barbara area, and the Danish town of Solvang. From there we will spend a couple of days in the Monterey and Carmel area before enjoying Christmas eve and day in San Francisco where we were married 47 years ago. Next year we may drive around Lake Superior for my 70th birthday sometime in the fall."

FALL IN SPEARFISH CANYON

Ron and Penny took a drive through Spearfish Canyon to enjoy the fall colors. The photo's brought back some wonderful memories.  We used to get out there quite often when I lived in Deadwood.

One of the canyon sights everyone enjoys is Bridal Veil Falls. A friend, who also worked at the radio station, and I spent one afternoon climbing up the side of the falls (about 50 feet). I still don't believe I actually did it but I lived to tell the tale. The climb was well worth it. Behind the falls, at the top, is a small lake with the beautiful forest that seems alive with birds and it's so isolated that you feel as though you're all alone in the world. As I recall, with my fear of heights, getting back down was far more terrifying than going up.

It's amazing what you can do when you're young. Nowadays it feels like an achievement that I can still get out of the chair.
For more history of the canyon Click here to go to an excellent website

TRAVEL

HOW DID I MISS THAT?
Ron and Penny made a trip up to Mt. Roosevelt a couple of weeks ago and he sent this picture of the tower at the top.  He said they had never been there before and I said I don't think I ever saw it either.  The picture didn't ring a bell but I blew out my long term memory many decades ago so who knows?

In any event, there's an interesting website with more information about the tower.  Click here to check it out.

TRAVEL: HERE'S A VACATION TO DREAM ABOUT

Click here: I've found a place that Ron and Penny haven't visited yet!

FROM RON:

"You wrote about the Mustard museum in Middelton WI today. Penny and I visited the museum after we stopped to see you this past May. We have also been to the Vinegar museum in Roslyn SD."