After some cold damp weeks of Wisconsin Spring we finally can figure out what average is.  Those weeks were 20 degrees below average temperature, and now we have had a weekend of 20 degrees above normal.   It was wonderful.  Everyone had smiles on their faces and were out on the streets.  We had the patio open and took some walks.  It has just felt wonderful.  Now again,  it is Spring in Wisconsin, so it won’t last.  But a couple of days in the 70’s does wonders for the soul.

We are loving our apartment and downtown Oshkosh.  Today we took a walk and spent time at one of the coffee shops.  From our upper deck we have great views of Lake Winnebago. and we have great views of Oshkosh and historic Main Street.  Main Street and the National Bank building we look at were used in the Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies.  So we hope that spring continues as above average until we get to summer.   Chris and I have both finished our colonoscopies and are good for 10 years.   It is good to get those over with, and with a clean bill of health.   So those were 2 uneventful weekends we are done with.    Coming up will be some weddings, a baby shower and a trip to Florida.  So it will be awhile before we get to an unplanned weekend, but we will have fun getting there.   My work continues to be interesting.  I have been told which company I will work for later in the year, and told because I need to move out of the building I office in now.  So this week is moving week,  and hopefully before May I know a little more about what I will be doing later in the year.   But what ever.   I will take it as it comes.

Hopefully everyone is getting some time to enjoy the weather.

We are back home in Oshkosh, so we can start unpacking and organizing!   But we had a great time in New Mexico.   Janet and Steve joined us to help celebrate Marie’s birthday and we had a great time.  We visited breweries, wineries, aquariums, historic sites, Sante Fe, Petroglyph National Monument, Bosque del Apache and probably a few other places.   Besides eating a lot!  But it was all good.   We rang in Marie’s birthday with some other of her friends, and managed to keep moving each day.   While the weather was cool  (we understand Wisconsin was having a very warm spell),  even when it was in the 50’s and 60’s in Albuquerque the sun warmed us up quickly.  It is a great place to visit and every time leaves me wanting to see more.   Chris and I flew in and  out of Denver and drove to Albuquerque.  The price was less than 1/3rd and we had the bonus of seeing Steve and Nancee, and being treated like royalty at their house (Thanks Rehfeldt’s).   Steve and Janet decided to Amtrak it to ABQ, and provided the only downer of the trip.  They left ABQ Sunday the 13th and were on the Amtrak that derailed in Kansas.   Thank God they are OK, and with some side trips have made it home safely.  Enjoy each day!

raise a glass

Green Jeans Shipping Container Businesses, Hydroponic year round Farmers Market

Kaktus Brewery certainly unique

Happy Birthday!

most carvings are thought to be from 1300 AD

Petroglyph National Monument, volcanic rock formed the area

they say even though it looks like graffiti it really is that old

look at those 2 birds

Winery just starting to bloom

Sante Fe old plaza

Bird Watching

in addition to the National Wildlife Refuge being a winter home to 100’s of thousands of birds it has great views

It has been awhile since I updated,  but it has been rather hectic.   Chris stayed in Florida until early February when I went to get her!  Florida was wonderful,  Marie had spent time with Chris in Florida so they ‘bonded’.  We have great friends in Florida who we love to be with.  Including Al and Viv, our 90+ year old neighbors who we spend our happy hours with!  Chris and I had a good drive home in early Feb.   We look forward to retirement when we can make that trip over a couple of weeks instead of days.  We received, and accepted an offer on our house in late January.  So February has been busy.  Once we were back in Wisconsin we were busy trying to finish our downsizing.   We had much more in the house, garage, and boathouse to deal with than we though we had.  So there were many trips to St Vincent DePaul, Habitat Restore, and the town dump.  On Feb 15 we took a rental in downtown Oshkosh, just where we wanted to be.   Many trips in the cars hauling stuff here.  Mary Jane was in town for a week and we tried to keep her busy.

And today it is final.  We had our closing, and a check in hand.   Still lot’s of boxes to sort through.  We took a 3 bedroom apartment because that was all that was available, and for now it is a great place to store boxes we need to sort through!   And on Wednesday we head to Albuquerque for Marie’s birthday,  with no worries about leaving the house behind.   We now live at 100 North Main Street, Oshkosh WI  54901. Apt 602.

Al and Viv

Empty house

The Library and Northeast Oshkosh

North Main Street

South Main St towards the river

3rd bedroom

I just want to say Merry Christmas to all!

A great time to reflect on our lives and our blessings, and we are truly blessed.   A different Christmas this year,  we are in Florida, shorts and sandals.   Last year we had Christmas Eve dinner with Mom, and she had a good day.  Today we will grill out by the pool. We are blessed to be able to travel and do the things we want to, while many in the world struggle.  We have MJ with us,  John is back in Michigan with his family.

So we wish you the Very Merriest of the Christmas season, may you enjoy friends and family, and find no lumps of coal under your tree!

Randy & Chris

Christmas Eve 2014

It already feels like we are nearing the end of November. And that means winter is approaching.   I did see some snow flakes in Menasha last week.   But we had a beautiful November day today. It made it to 60 degrees and sunny.   So we picked up some leaves for the last time, I prepared the lawn mower for winter now.   I know there will not be many more opportunities to work outside without frozen fingers!

But we have had a wonderful fall with many nice days. And our travels since New Mexico included Washington Island and Milwaukee. Next coming up will be Detroit for Thanksgiving, then off to Florida in December. For the Detroit trip, John gets my Mom’s grandfather clock since he spoke up once to tell her he would take it!   And we will make Florida for the Christmas boat parade, then I will come back for some work, and am planning to drive a car down for Christmas.   Chris will be there an extended time this year, and I am afraid the car we have left sit in the salty air all year won’t hold up.   Plus it gives us a chance to get some things moved down to Florida that we do not fly with.

Chris has been busy on her yearly hat making for Mary Jane’s elementary students.   She will have made 50 hats this year. MJ gives out the hats and gloves for Christmas and they are always a hit with the kids. Besides the fact most of those families can’t afford to buy them winter clothes.

So we hope you are having a wonderful fall also. And happy birthday to my brother!

Enjoy.

Bright November sunshine

Before the leaves fell

Joining the bitters club on Washington Island

Hats

hats,

and hats.

We have had so much fun the last couple of weeks! Marie and Albuquerque were fun and relaxing. We saw a lot of the beauty of New Mexico on this trip. And we tried to help out with a little yard work while we were there.   The end of the trip was up to Denver.   The ride from Albuquerque to Denver is awesome.   So beautiful, so many different views.   We will do that again! We met up with good friends in Denver for a Rehfeldt wedding.   Congratulations to proud parents Steve and Nancee and beautiful bride Kristin.   While we were there we spent some hours at the Denver Botanical Garden with Mark and Terry.   We enjoyed our hours there. We had a lot of fun, saw wonderful sights including the Castle where the wedding was, shared some beers, and took in the sights. The worst part was heading to the airport at 5am after the wedding. But it was worth it for seeing the blood moon eclipse while being up in the mountains.

Marie’s house

We were lucky to catch the showing of these horses throughout the garden

misting pool

Well summer is almost officially over!    The days are much shorter and I am told leaves are starting to turn in Wisconsin.   But we are not there!    We have traveled south and are still enjoying some warmth.   We are in Albuquerque New Mexico visiting Marie.  We took 2 weeks and are having a great time.  We are both working while we are here, but arranging some days off and time to sight see.  Time is going quickly as it always seems to.

We spent one day driving to the Jemez Pueblo and doing some sightseeing.   In 1540 Coronado and the Spaniards came through this area to explore and conquer.   In the early 1600’s the Spanish came to colonize and Christianize and the Jemez historic site are the remains of the church and grounds built about 1621.   It is pretty amazing stuff and one can only imagine the work it took to build walls up to 7 feet thick with local materials.   And the area is a beautiful drive and considered a must see drive.   The rock formations and coloring leave you awe struck in the bright New Mexico sunshine.  That is an area we could go back to!   So it was a great day,  Marie’s friend Fawn joined us on our journey, and we even managed to find a winery hidden in the hills.

And we have managed to find a few brew pubs, and of course  the New Mexican food we love.  Although one of our favorites this trip boasts Albuquerque Soul Food, and the chicken and waffles have made the national foodie shows!    And we spent one afternoon taking a trolly tour of Albuquerque to learn a little bit more.   It was an entertaining tour and showed us lots of places we need to go back and visit.

But this trip will be over soon.  We will end by driving up to Denver for a wedding this coming weekend.  So Chris and I will get some more sight seeing in and spend a couple of days with friends.  Then back home!    Hope you all are well, Enjoy.

Entrance to the Church at Jemez Historic Site

the church originally had a choir loft and wooden roof

The hillside above the church grounds. Millions of years ago volcano’s were common in NM

they say the hot sulphur springs are proof the volcano’s are still alive

The owner was inspired by Star Trek Next Generation to name the brewery Nexus

the Red’s did not come out on any of the pictures as intense as they are in real life

We are well into the Wisconsin summer and trying to do all we can to enjoy it.   I have been lucky enough to get some golf in.  We currently are camping in Peninsula State Park in Northeast Wisconsin.  Last year was the first year we missed in 35+ years, so it is fun to be back.  Seeing lots of old friends and relaxing.   And the park is always beautiful.   This year we do not have a truck or a trailer, so we rented a trailer from a local dealer.  It was made more difficult since last week was the Experimental Aircraft Association fly in and I think all the dealers in the state committed their rental units to the EAA.  But we worked out a deal and it is working out fine.  Marie has come along,  but she has a hotel room!  We have a few more days of enjoyment.   Oh, and we also made it to the Packers Shareholders meeting!

Peninsula Bay

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, even those out of country!  A big deal here in the states to celebrate the country’s independence, although too often we may forget how good we have it.   We are living a good life here.   Work sucks some days,  but it is a means to an end!   We have been enjoying the summer.   We have made it to a number of farmer’s markets and there are more vegetables all the time.   Walking the morning market with some fresh sugar snap peas and a cup of coffee works well.  No boats this year, so no rides but no maintenance!  Our wonderful neighbors held their Independence day pig roast and fireworks before the 4th this year.  And somehow they managed to have more food and better fireworks than ever.     And being out for a walk or bike ride is very enjoyable, our summers are short but good!

For the long weekend we made a Michigan trip.  We spent a few days with Mary Jane and John in the Grand Rapids / Holland Michigan area.   We like Western Michigan a lot, and we are usually there on the ‘edge’ of the seasons and not summer time.   So we walked to lot’s of shops and of course a few breweries.   We took the car ferry across Lake Michigan.   I was again happy NOT to drive through Chicago.  2.5 hour relaxing ride is much better.   And we had very nice rides.    Next up will be getting ready for the Door County camping trip in a couple of weeks.  So we hope all is well with you, find something to enjoy in life!

Lake Butte des Morts

New Holland

Big Lake Brewery 2nd anniversary party

Founders Brewery

a great tap line up at Hop Cat

Grand Haven

Heading out on to the lake

the channel from Muskegon

Unloading the cars

Here comes the boat

Hello All.

Just a quick update from the Bauer household.  Nothing new and earth shattering!  We have made it into June,  1/2 way through the year already.     And the Wisconsin weather is starting to make us think summer.   I finally put more of my winter clothes away and brought out some of the summer gear.   A week ago I still started a fire in the fireplace, as night time temperatures made it down into the 30’s and threatened frost warnings for the plants.    But I think we have that beat now, think optimistic.   I have some plants in the garden and everything is growing well.   We had some rain last night and through tomorrow,  the temperatures are forecast to be in the 70’s and near 80 this week.  So I am much happier!

Marie is with us, she arrived in Wisconsin the week before US Memorial day.   Memorial Day weekend I took a couple of days vacation and we headed up to Hayward Wisconsin, the far northwest part of the state.   For a number of years now it has been our routine to visit with Dick and Carol who keep a very nice trailer on Sand Lake.   We no longer have our camping trailer, last year we rented one and drove it up there.  This year we went an easier route and rented a cottage!   It was nicer being next to Dick and Carol, but this was an easy drive up to northern Wisconsin.   The cottage was older but well kept and clean, and only 5 minutes to Dick and Carol.   We had another wonderful weekend.  The weather was better than we expected.  Dick and I spent a lot of hours on the water fishing, and did very well with our catches of Crappie.  Large sized pan fish that taste wonderful.   And we made time for some shopping and some favorite restaurants.   Thanks Dick and Carol, we had a blast.

So now it is settling into a summer routine.   I had to put a new battery in the lawn mower, and the grass is looking well.  It needs some fertilizer and weed killer but overall green and full.   The spring flowers have bloomed and the apples have formed on the trees.   We are forming our plans for our late July trip to Door County.   Last year we went to Europe and for the first time in 35 years we missed our time with friends camping.  So it will be special to be back this year.     And we are planning a Michigan trip for 4th of July weekend.   We have some things to get to Mary Jane and John so will meet half way and spend a few days enjoying southwest Michigan.  So the summer weekends are already getting booked up!

No progress on our house sale.   We are tiring of the process, obviously the value we and the realtors believe we have is not being seen by the potential buyers!  We have lowered the price to our bottom line and have had a lot of activity with people wanting to see the house.  But no offers.  Our realtor assures us the market is better than it has been for 8 years, so we agreed to keep it for sale another few months.   If nothing happens by then I think we will take it off the market for awhile.   But hope springs eternal we will find that right person yet.

We hope all of our family and friends are doing well.  We worried about family and friends in Texas during the recent weather problems, but it sounds like all is well.   Everyone deserves a break now for nice weather,   Enjoy!