We had a wonderful time with Bev and Wally in St Louis.   Wally picked out great places for us to eat, we enjoyed the great weather, time on the deck by the fire reminiscing about the 46 years we have known each other.   We were able to see their new beautiful home, and just relaxed.  Thanks Bev and Wally.   After a few nights it was time to give them a break and hit the road.   We headed south. My initial plan this year was to leave St Louis and head east through Tennessee, but after hurricane Helene that would have taken us through areas of East Tennessee and Georgia that were hard hit,   so instead we went through Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee into Mississippi just south of Memphis.   It was a good ride. The autumn color in the trees continued, with different types of trees giving us different oranges and yellows.  We knew we were in the south when we saw the cotton fields being harvested.  It is always neat to see ‘snow’ covered fields and rolls of cotton.   All along the highway is lined with white tufts of cotton that have been blown there by the wind.  There was also a lot of acreage of soybeans being harvested.  The National Soybean Festival is an annual event held in Portageville, Missouri.  We made it through Memphis traffic to land in Olive Branch Mississippi.  The south side of Memphis for an easy start in the morning.  I had intended to go a little further south but found small hotels at $1000 a night, apparently Old Miss has a football game tomorrow.  So instead Olive Branch where we had a walk through the parking lot for a cocktail and a steakhouse,  which proved welcoming and tasty.  In the morning a light breakfast and further south.

talk at the fire table

Fields of Cotton

Rolls waiting for pick-up

Cotton on the Road

Looks pretty cool

Welcome to Memphis

So as of the last blog we had gotten home after Labor Day from MJ and John’s house.  September went by quickly as it was a beautiful fall in Wisconsin.   Temperatures remained well above normal most of the month.   I golfed later than …..   Probably ever.     Even when the mornings were cold, and the sunrise kept getting later,  the sun was warm and felt great.    Chris and I had some time to relax and start to plan for our future – Washington Island and heading to Florida.  I was able to attend the Packers game against the Colts and cheer the team on to a win.   It was a warm day at Lambeau with water being sold out in the 4th quarter.   You won’t hear that often at Lambeau.  We had a great day but the heat even made the beer go down slowly by the end of the day.   I made it to see a Wisconsin release of the movie ‘Just a bit outside’ about the 1982 Brewers.  It was great, especially for a fan from 1982 who knew the players being interviewed.  Well Done.  Our friend Jeff came up from Illinois for a couple of days and we had some golf, some food and some beers.   In October we joined our annual trip to Washington Island.  A celebration of Janet and Steve’s anniversary,  we have become good friends with their friends.  It was another successful long weekend.  From meeting at a micro brewery and lunch,  to the theme of black tie New Years Eve party, hiking, biking, eating and drinking.   A super time on the Island.  And the timing was perfect for full color in the trees,   It has been a beautiful fall.  Then back to Oshkosh to unpack and start packing.   Luckily with still that good weather,  I did get out to golf again with John.   Chris and I planned out a few things we want to move to Florida, sort through our clothes -what needs to go?   We are traveling with a little less baggage than past years.  So Sunday Oct 20 we were on our way – to Milwaukee.  My Brother and his wife Claire were celebrating their 50th anniversary that day or we would have already been on the road.   It was a chance to celebrate with them,  and they provided a lunch and admission to the Sunset Playhouse.  My brother is the Master Carpenter there,  he volunteers and builds most of the sets they need for any given play.  We had a wonderful time seeing family and the play 9-5 was very entertaining.  Thanks Skip and Claire, and they said it would never last.    After a night in Milwaukee we were heading south,  well actually mostly West,  but still south.   We made a stop in New Glarus Wisconsin to have a beer at New Glarus brewery.   It was Chris’s lucky day on Monday because she loves watching the bottling line and it was running full speed!  We spent a little time and then on to Cedar Rapids Iowa.   A relaxing ride through the rolling countryside, with corn being harvested and the trees in lovely color.   New Glarus is the Swiss town that Chris’s grandmother took her to when Chris was small, and driving out into the countryside we could see why the Swiss settlers were reminded of their homeland. A warm sunny October drive, we crossed the Mississippi into more color and rolling hills of corn fields.  A stay in Cedar Rapids Iowa was the right distance to drive on a Monday.  We had a great stay and then headed south the the St Louis area.  Currently we are staying with old friends Wally and Bev for a few nights.    Then on to the next phase of our trip.

Jeff joining us in Oshosh

John and I on our last round for the season

The ‘Island’ group

Bitters shots all around

Steve serenading us, looks classy doesn’t he?

A Black Tie New Years Eve party, in October

the Northern Lights on the Island

Randy, Chris, Skip, Claire, Denise, Jason

50 years ago

The wedding party today