Sunday, July 14, 2013

Saturday, July 13 - Portage, WI

Sharon had to work on Friday, so I took my time getting ready for the day and then headed to Oxford to see my cousin, JoAnne.  She and her husband built a log home on Hill Lake a few years ago and I haven't seen it since they moved in.  What a beautiful spot.  It was great to have some one on one time with her, as we had coffee on the deck, took a walk around the lake, perused the garden, and did a lot of talking and reminiscing.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of Jo or her beautiful home, just the lake.


A couple that lives in our community in Mesa, Don and Sharon, also have a summer home in Oxford, so I gave her a call to see if we could connect.  They were just getting ready to head to Portage for an afternoon of shopping, so they stopped by for a short chat on their way out of town.  It was nice to see them and to meet their friends and it was good to introduce them to Jo.

The Lodi Ag Fair was our activity for Friday evening.Ithink I'm getting my redneck on this weekend - lots of good old small town Wisconsin activities.  We met Rachael and her 2 kids and watched as they had fun going on a couple of rides.  Then we met up with 
Ron, Becky, Brooke and Elizabeth for a pork chop dinner from the Wisconsin Pork Producers Association - a yummy tender, tasty pork chop.  We then watched the demolition derby, an entertaining event where a bunch of guys and a couple of women try to damage their opponents cars and eliminate them from the heat.  Many of the cars end up smoking, sputtering, tires fall off and they turn into crumpled metal.  The only injury was when a guy played head-on into another car - he ended up with a broken nose and lost several teeth- they hauled him off to the hospital and his wife finished the heat in his car.

It was a good thing that Sharon was driving the back roads on the way home, as she spotted several deer hidden in the grass and avoided hitting them.  My eyes are no longer trained, as I didn't see a thing.


Today marks 5 months since Mike passed away and its still hard to believe that this is permanent.  Sharon and I have had several moments during this visit.  This morning, we headed to Princeton to the flea market and had mini donuts and cheese curds for breakfast, then perused the goodies for sale.  Princeton is known for its antique shops and Saturday flea market in the park.  We bought some veggies for tonight's dinner nd I picked up some local maple syrup.

Dan and Sharon's family joined us this afternoon for a cookout with brats, burgers, beans, coleslaw and sweet corn for dinner.  Again, we had our moments as we remembered our loved ones who can no longer be part of these family gatherings.  It is a good thing there are kids around to keep us distracted.