The Someday Book

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My man, my book, my family – three main issues keeping life interesting.

There aren’t a lot of separate compartments in my life anymore. Almost everything is connected to every other thing.  Today, I’m thinking about the book that I’ve been working on seemingly forever.

When I started spending time with Kevin one of the first things we talked about was our death experiences. His was the death of his ex wife and his role as caregiver for her. Mine was the death of my husband, Dennis, and my role as caregiver for him. I told him that I had written about my experience and that I was getting a book published about it. I guess he was impressed. He started planning to take me on a book signing tour when the book came out.  He’s still waiting.

So having told a little about Kevin, I must now tell something about the book. Since I knew nothing about publishing, I paid a publisher to help me through the steps. Three or four times I have been excited and told family and friends that great progress has been made. The rough draft of the book was written and a cover was designed. Beta readers gave feedback. Editors helped with development and cleaning up the copy. All this to say that progress has been made, but so agonizingly slow. 

I understand that I am not the publisher’s ideal client. I haven’t wanted to blast social media with the marketing of my book. I haven’t wanted to hunt down people to endorse my book. I have gone on zero podcasts to talk about my book. I’m not planning on book signing tours (sorry Kevin). I only want a written record of what happened for posterity. It would be nice to sell a few copies but that has not been my main goal. 

Now, it’s been over a year since buying my publishing package. I have no idea if anything is happening with the final stages toward a finished book. I’m getting worried about the lack of response. I’ve never had a hard copy of my manuscript, but to be safe I had one printed. I gave it to Kevin. He read it. I hoped he would understand me better, through my story, and I think that happened. Once again, major issues in my life get connected, one to another. Funny, right?

Bu this whole “book thing” needs to be done soon. I can’t keep editing, rewriting, and reliving it in detail over and over again. Initially I felt that God wanted me to record what my husband and I were going through. I still think that, and if it is true, I will at some point have a book. But I’m done telling anyone to hold their breath waiting for it.

Cover of the Someday Book, except with a change to the subtitle.

We Weren’t Good at That

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A continued story…

My Kevin doesn’t “fly off the handle”, and that’s a good thing to know. After our uncomfortable evening driving home in separate cars, he texted me good night as usual. He asked me over for Sunday dinner, which is also a routine we have. But I knew he was thinking things over. 

On Sunday, we had a serious conversation in which he told me he did not feel “equal” to me. When it came to spirituality and faith, he said he probably wouldn’t ever be. I must have mentioned being “unequally yoked” as being one of my concerns at some time. He was getting the point that my faith was the highest priority in my life. He wanted to be honest about how intimidating that felt to him.

I went home in a very somber mood. I decided I couldn’t keep seeing him. I wrote him a letter of explanation, in case I had trouble telling him in person. I asked him to come over the next day. I could tell that he anticipated what I was going to say.

At this point in our relationship we had been dating for nine months. I had so many reasons to love this guy! We had hiked all spring and summer, and helped each other with projects. We had shared dozens of meals, and talked for countless hours. We were going to make Thanksgiving dinner together for our families. We had future plans. We had verbally acknowledged that we liked each other a lot. It was incredibly difficult to give all this up and I cried as I told him my decision. He listened quietly, even patted my hand and told me he knew it was hard. I thought he had come to the same conclusion all by himself. We said goodbye, and he left. 

It turns out that we weren’t very good at breaking up. I became aware of how much I missed him almost from the start. I knew how happy I had been lately, and how sad I was going to be. It was a relief when we started finding small ways to check on each other. I began to hope we would still be friends. It took us a little over a week. By Thanksgiving evening, while talking on the phone, we agreed that what we had done wasn’t working at all. We were done with the misery, because we could be. It wasn’t a hard decision.

Are we “unequally yoked” in our faith? Even more than me, Kevin has always thought that it was more than chance that we met. He does have faith that God can plan relationships between people for their good. We have talked about how God has shown up for us at different times in our lives. My upbringing has blessed me with more biblical literacy than his, but that is not what faith is about. There were a lot of biblical literate people around in Jesus’ day too. Jesus preferred fishermen who had faith in Him. 

In our case, I believe Kevin and I have differences. But it would be foolish to think that God is done with either one of us. I hadn’t asked God for another love relationship and hadn’t expected one. I know I could go without one if that’s what God wanted for me. So, Kevin coming along has been a real surprise to me, at times a little scary. I’ve prayed about it from the start.  I also feel a somewhat miraculous plan behind what we have. God started something, and unless He stops it, I’m in it. I believe that God is actively planning my future, and Kevin’s part in it. I know it’s going to be interesting to see what He does with our differences. 

There will be more about my man, Kevin. I have so many stories…

Traveling Together

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Here I am again, and it’s only been four months since I last wrote. I think about doing it a lot but I have the habit of doing other things instead. In the business of recording my life, I’m uncomfortable with these large gaps. Winter of 2026 is a good time to catch up. Being home recovering from Norovirus gives me more than the usual time to do it. 

It seems that my life, lately, has centered around three main issues; my man, my book, my family. I will start with my man, Kevin. I had heard that you can learn a lot about a person by traveling with them. That is why I had invited Kevin to join me in North Carolina. I have to say that this trip did not disappoint.

On our hike in Clifty State Park, Madison IN, with the Ohio river in the background.

We did well while staying with Julie. We did well traveling in the car to Indiana. Everyone has their own style of travel and we matched pretty well. I was excited to show Kevin my cousin’s beautiful hotel on the Ohio river (Fairfield Inn, Madison IN). I had booked a room there for him, while I stayed at Marlene’s house. We spent an extra day there and took an eventful hike at Clifty State Park. I could write a whole story on that hike, but not now. 

The last day of the trip was to the Wisconsin airport where he had left his truck. Toward the end of this time, we talked about our relationship. One or the other of us will often put the invitation out there – “what are you thinking?” It’s one of the things I admire about Kevin. He actually has reflected on our relationship and will talk about what he thinks. 

I had some questions about intimacy, partly because doing a trip together has a definite feeling of intimacy. Even aside from sexuality, there’s all that time in the car, learning each other’s tolerance for bathroom stops and hunger needs, what to listen to on the radio… it’s a lot. But we hadn’t really talked about the sexual aspects. We hadn’t shared a room, or a bed and I had sensed there was tension surrounding that. 

Kevin and I come from somewhat different cultures. The bottom line in my upbringing is no sex outside of the marriage covenant. In his, marriage is important, but not as necessary if there is commitment expressed. I think what I asked him was, “Are you just waiting, and expecting that I will soon change my beliefs about marriage and sleep with you?” He thought for a moment and answered “yes”. 

Looking back, I think he heard the “are you waiting” part, and of course he was waiting. I was concerned about the “are you waiting for me to change” part, and that was not going to happen. I also added that if a sexual relationship was his primary goal, he should probably go find someone else to pursue it with, asap. My hurt was that he apparently did not respect my faith held views on a Godly marriage. His hurt was that I would so easily reject him. 

And so began our first real crisis. It didn’t feel like an argument, really. It felt more like an ultimatum.There was no shouting or other meanness, but things did get really quiet. Fortunately we were at the airport. We finished the last hour of our trip in separate cars trying to process what had just happened. It was only the beginning of what we would learn.

Riverbend Farm, Day 8

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For the next few posts I will be writing about two people with the same first name, Kevin. To avoid confusion I will refer to my Kevin (Kevin May) and the other Kevin (Kevin Shanahan or Julia’s Kevin). I may occasionally call them Kevin M and Kevin S.

Yesterday I made the trip to Raleigh/Durham airport to pick up my Kevin and fetch him back to the farm. He met the Shanahans last August when they visited Hayward, but their time with him was brief. I reintroduced him to the family and gave him a walking tour of the house, barns, property and our Haw River trails. It was gorgeous weather. We hadn’t been together for a while, except on the phone, so there was catching up to do. 

I have been helping Julia with the evening meals while here, so I enlisted my Kevin’s help in the kitchen. I think the hardest thing about mealtime is deciding what to make. Kevin has an idea for almost any kind of meat, so I was glad to hear what he would do with the several pounds of chicken breast in the fridge. We had a pretty decent dinner ready when Julie got home from work. Kevin S, his daughter Reagan and son Camden (aka Bubba), Gwennie, Julia, Keven M and I all sat down around the dining table and had dinner at the same time. I only mention this because it doesn’t happen a lot for various reasons. It was nice. 

My Kevin has been making inroads with Gwennie, big time. For some reason, unknown to any of us, she has decided to call him Mr. Jim. It’s okay—I had been wondering what she should call him. I really didn’t want her to think all grown men were called Kevins. He made the astute move of calling up “Itsy Bitsy Spider” on his phone. That was followed by “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” and “Twinkle, Twinkle”. Her fascination with screens is very evident and her memory is great. She now asks Mr. Jim to play songs on his phone every time she sees him. 

My daughter Julia has always been great at making lists of stuff she wants done. Last Tuesday, on her day off, we rode around the farm in the mule. We made lists of everything that needed to be done. She says we need lists so that we’ll know what to do when we have a spare minute. After seeing the list I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be any spare minutes, ever. It’s a farm. Farms are where things go to break, deteriorate and sometimes die. Except for brush, weeds and thorns which seem to thrive remarkably well. 

My Kevin doesn’t like to be a freeloader. Today we looked at the list and chose a job to do which we didn’t think would be too difficult. I take that back. I have no idea why we chose that job. We decided to clear the weeds from around some piles of stacked black walnut lumber. 

This valuable lumber had been drying in the open for quite a while and needed to be protected. The plan was to re-stack it under a large semi trailer close by. Many of the slabs were two inches thick and very heavy. They were stacked on pallets that had rotted. High grass and evil thorny vines were all around them, but we conquered. We weed whacked, raked, and made a huge burn pile with all the bark and waste wood. We are tired but quite satisfied with our work. Welcome to North Carolina, Kevin M. 

Fortunately we put dinner in the crock pot before we went out to tackle lumber piles. Tonight we are having beef/ barley/vegetable stew and some good looking cheesy bread we picked up at Publix this morning. We will probably be having Ibuprofen for dessert. 

So, on to the weekend. The weather is still looking good and I’m hoping for a nice walk in a nearby park. 

Wood we saved. Some slabs were actually 3 inches and as long as the trailer was wide.
The burn pile.
I spent a lot of time under this trailer today. Shady and cool.

Riverbend Farm, Day 4

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This is the beginning of my fourth day, visiting in North Carolina. Everything is going pretty well.

Yesterday was exciting because I rode a horse again. There has been a period of time when I’ve stayed off horses. It ‘s because it seemed like the risk of injury was real and unnecessary. I felt the same way when I quit water skiing after nearly pulling my arms out of their sockets. But yesterday, I wanted to ride Andi. He is a beautiful gelding who used to be my horse and now lives with Julie on her farm. He’s been ridden much more regularly lately and there were four others going on this ride. It was on Riverbend property and all the horses are used to these trails. It felt safe. And it was fun. Andi is still quite energetic but he behaved well. It’s nice to not feel “too old” to do something I’ve always loved to do.

Where are my cowboy boots? I don’t know…

Some reflections on being two years old (not that I remember it personally):

Gwennie is 2, and in many ways I feel sorry for the stage she struggles with. It has to be hard. She is now so aware of herself as a separate person from her caregivers and parents. She has learned to say “no”, just for the feeling of power it embodies. But she’s still too inexperienced to know the good reasons for saying “yes” to many things. 

Today she always says “yes” to ice cream, fruit snacks, and watching Bluey on any available screen. Tomorrow it may be different. 

When she gives her attention to a person speaking to her, she looks at them seriously. You can see her focusing on what is being said. She is on task, learning what language is for. Because of that, her ability to speak has jumped tremendously since the last time I saw her. 

She has learned how to beg, saying “please” with just the right wheedling inflection. Inflection and body language are not lost on her. We don’t know when or from whom she learned to stomp her foot when she’s mad and saying no, but she’s got that down too. 

She has to be desperate before she asks for help with tasks she thinks she can do. She anticipates people stepping in to help. She often tells me “no Mimi, don’t help me” before I even think of helping her. I would describe her as “rough and tumble”, athletic and a risk taker. Last year when I visited, she would only spend a minute or two in the swing before being done. The motion seemed to make her dizzy and uncomfortable. Now, she climbs in the swing herself, buckles her own safety straps and wants a “big push”. There is always a lot of laughing and squealing for joy. 

How would you get yourself up into something at armpit level? She did it.

These first few days she has almost seemed resentful of me. She has not wanted me hold her. She says no to almost everything I ask her to do. She clearly prefers mommy, daddy, her siblings and Emma to me every time there’s a choice. That’s gradually changing, mostly because I don’t try to get her to do anything. I sit and watch Lassie with her. 

She runs most of the time.  She has more blue jeans than I do. She wears cowboy boots. Her “princess hat” is a brown, winter sherpa with ear flaps. But she has learned to sit still while daddy puts rubber bands in her messy, blonde hair.

She has learned to pretend. She takes daddy’s order for pizza, puts some in his hand, and takes his imaginary money. I know that’s not how I learned to pretend, but times have clearly changed. She plays alone in her bed, putting moose and frog down for a nap and covering them. She has her private places where she plays and sings to herself.

Watching all these things happening is fascinating and thought provoking. I am seeing how a child soaks up everything in their environment, for better or worse. I am seeing how important parenting is. 

Kevin and Julie are at their jobs already. Emma (super nanny) is playing with Gwennie. I think my task for today will be getting ready for Wednesday. A friend from Hayward is coming down to visit me and the family, and get a taste of North Carolina. My friend is a man, close to my age, and yes, we have been getting acquainted for the last nine months. I haven’t been writing about our experiences because I wasn’t ready to write. Maybe I am a little more ready now. More to come.

Back to RiverBend

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I finished the trip to North Carolina yesterday. The second half of the trip is always the prettiest, and challenging in a completely different way than going through the flat midwest. Coming down off high ground on I-64 is a little like a scary carnival ride. The traffic always seems to be almost bumper to bumper, around serpentine curves and at 60 – 70 miles per hour. Also, like the roller coasters, it’s expensive, with a $5 toll booth every few miles. Focusing that hard on driving gets me all tensed up, and I’m aware of all the beautiful views I’m missing.

The end of the second day of driving is the city of Greensboro itself, and I usually hit it at rush hour. That’s not relaxing either, unless you count the time sitting in a long line and measuring your progress in feet instead of miles. 

I was tired that night but it always takes me a couple of hours to position my things in new surroundings. I didn’t lie down to sleep until nearly midnight. My room is in the basement, and so is the room where the two outside dogs sleep. Penny, the loud lab who eats rocks, has been wearing a bark collar lately and it has been quite effective. But tonight the battery was weak and she started barking around 4 am. I have a soft heart toward anything that needs to pee and can’t, so I got up and let both dogs out. That required a trip outside in the fresh night air which left me wide awake and unable to fall asleep again. My fitbit said I got 3.5 hours of sleep. It said it was a fair night. I’m not sure I agree. 

I was glad that I arrived at River View Farm with a nearly full tank of gas. I’ll have to remember to do that whenever I come. I never know how quickly I’ll be doing some errand for the family, like early this morning.  I got to play taxi for Tessa, Julie’s elderly dog with a swollen back leg. Kevin loaded her up in my car and I drove her to south Greensboro to the emergency vet clinic. 

Tessa is used to sitting in the front passenger seat, but I thought that would be a little too distracting for me. I put her in the back with plenty of room instead. She didn’t like it. I could tell she was thinking of leaping over the seats to the front of the vehicle. Then she started barking, which always makes it seem like some next step is imminent. Looking back at Tessa, while looking forward at traffic, while watching my GPS for directions made the trip exciting. I guess I’m glad I can still do exciting. To her credit, she was much better on the way home.

What a nice, sunny day it was. In the afternoon, during Gwennie’s nap time, I decided to go outside for a walk, and maybe a drive to town. I went to the car to put my purse (with my key fob) in it while taking my walk, but remembered that shutting the door with the key inside causes the horn to alert. I didn’t want to wake the baby, so I decided to put my purse in Julie’s truck, which was parked beside my car. I opened the truck door and for some reason, which no one can figure out, the truck alarm started up. It honked for four or five minutes before I got inside, found the truck key and shut it off. Needless to say, the baby woke up.

I took my walk anyway. One change the last couple of visits is that I am no longer Gwennie’s main resource when I am here. Her regular nanny is still on the job, which leaves me free to help in other ways, or to actually rest. I still get to watch the cuteness but am not responsible for the “terrible two” times. Because I drove down this trip, I brought the small bike that I bought for her this summer when she visited me. She is very excited and possessive about her “Bluey Bike” and helmet. She hasn’t gotten the idea of how to pedal it yet, but wears the helmet and sits on the bike numerous times during the day. 

There you have it – some of the highlights of Day 1 at Riverbend Farm. 

The Joys of Hiking with Friends: A Personal Reflection

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I’m not sure why hiking with friends seems like such a novel activity for me. I’ve always liked hiking, and taking walks with people but it didn’t used to happen very often. Now that I am retired, on my own, and motivated to stay active it’s different. It’s more frequent, of course, but it’s also more vital. It serves so many purposes.

I’m reflecting on this topic as I’m wrapping up posts on the Door County hike. One night at dinner I had to tell our group that I appreciated them. I appreciated all the planning that went into making the trip a success. I didn’t have to do any of it, and that was a new vacation experience for me. I appreciated visiting a new and interesting place and not having to do it alone. I appreciated the length of time we spent, the many conversations, the shared interests in nature and hiking (and eating…). I appreciated having women friends who were willing to spend time, effort and money having fun together. I appreciated that we were all healthy enough to walk a few miles at a time without complaining. It was great. I wanted them to know it was a blessing to be with them.

Every new hike, out would come Sue’s selfie stick
I was standing nervously on the edge of a cliff
Amazing, we are all still smiling.
Brr, brr, brr…

And then I started thinking about all the other times walking filled a need. Needs for friendship, family connection, inspiration, comfort, and relaxation can all easily be met through a walk with a friend. Walking and talking go together so naturally. The pace can be adjusted for reflection. Periods of silence are comfortable (especially when climbing hills). And since I usually walk in quiet places, I’m not struggling to hear conversation. I can concentrate on my hiking partner.

I can’t ignore how wonderful hiking is for my physical health either. I would even hike alone for that reason, but it’s more certain to happen with friends. On the days when I get my 10,000 or more steps in, I sleep better, think better, and worry less. I wish everyone could walk a distance, and I feel sorry for those who can’t.

The five women who went on the Door County weekend with me are members of the Birkie Girls hiking group. The group is much larger, with a variety of ages, stages of life and physical abilities. They meet every Tuesday at 10 am for a hike somewhere chosen by the planners for the month. Two hours is allowed for hiking. By noon they are usually at a restaurant for lunch, or doing the bag lunch thing. Fellowship is a big part of the plan. The special trips farther away are open to all, but only happen a couple times a year.

Gwen
Elizabeth

I have other friends who love to get together to be active. Among them is my friend Gwen who hiked the Birkie Trail with me a couple years ago. I’ve started hiking it again with another friend, Elizabeth. Truth is, I’m always thinking of people I’d like to invite to hike with me – people I’d like to get to know better. Hiking with friends is so worthwhile. I have to say, it is one of my greatest joys.

Door County WI: Leaving Ephraim

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We had a good two night stay at Pine Grove Resort in Ephraim. After breakfast, we packed up and left for the other side of the peninsula. This morning’s hike was in Newport Bay State Park on the Lynd Point Trail. On the way there were many nice farms, orchards and vineyards. The cherry trees were in bloom, as we had hoped.

Taken out the window of a moving car. Aren’t they pretty?

Newport Bay State Park is on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula, near its tip. It is a long park stretching down the coast quite a way. The wind gets pretty fierce on this side, coming off the lake. Our hike started out on the leeward side of a point where the wind was not bad. We rounded the point and it was a different story. The rocks and beaches were magnificent. The forests are mostly cedar, hemlock, beech, and maple. The wind and waves made a lot of noise which diminished quickly when the path turned inland. The end of our path was a very long board walkway through a fern grotto, and was easy walking. The other parts of the path were rocky, lots of roots, and some fallen trees to step over. All in all, a nice adventure with a lot of variety.

We are on the way to the beach
Water, rocks and waves
The caves stretch along the shore
This poor rock may soon join the ones in the water.
Boardwalk for half a mile over a fern bog

It was too early for lunch when we finished so we went further south to Caves County Park. This park is in the middle of Whitefish Dunes State Natural Area. The lake has worn away rock outcroppings into cavelike features along the shore, which are very interesting. From what locals say, it is almost always windy on this side of the peninsula. There are always waves. We took some selfies of our group, being careful not to step too close to the edge. It was a tiny bit scary, at least for me, because I have an imagination.

We went just a little farther to Whitefish Dunes to sit and have our lunch. It was windy but there was sun and it was pleasant. The beach here is suddenly wide and sandy, a marked change from the rocky bluffs.

They were putting in a ramp down to the beach from the level where we ate our lunch.

Tonight we are in Bailey’s Harbor at the Beachfront Inn. It truly does front right on to the beach. It is a quaint, older style of motel. The doors have real keys tagged with the room number. I was parked about three steps from our door. There are so many things on the peninsula that make it look like New England. The many cottages and Victorian houses have lush green lawns and flowers. There are boats in the harbors and gulls in the sky giving a definite nautical feel. Bailey’s Harbor is a little less choppy and there is a small breakwater that shelters our waterfront. For a few feet the water is almost still, which is something I haven’t seen all day.

Nautical blues and whites, a door with a real key, and the car is literally on the other side of the door.
But we have a nice view of the fire pit and breakwater.

Our dinner destination is just across the road from our Inn. Chives, a fine dining restaurant, is said to be a “homey eatery with small, medium and large plates of upscale New American eats amid rustic-chic digs.” When did restaurants become eaterys? What is a New American eat? How do you upscale it? And what should I expect of a rustic-chic environment? I’m looking forward to learning a few things tonight. I would like to know who writes descriptions like this too.

Have you ever eaten fiddlehead ferns? Ramp? Yeah, me neither until this meal.

We are hoping to come back to our “sleepery” after dinner and sit out by the gas fire pit. I hope the wind dies down a little so it isn’t so cold. The rocking chairs out there are rocking all by themselves.

It was just too cold to stay here even though it was very picturesque.

We Saw a Wolf

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But there is no picture – don’t get excited. I wasn’t able to get the wolf’s permission. I just thought that would be a good way to get started telling about today in Door County.

More rain than we thought. Colder than we thought. We started our day with breakfast at White Gull Inn, Fish Creek. Most of us tried the Limpa toast with chopped cherry jam and it did live up to its reputation. Our plan was to visit a few stores and galleries during the rainy, windy and cold part of the day and try to hike in the afternoon. Turns out that was an excellent plan.

I got my souvenir shopping over at the first tourist store we went to. There are so many of them, and they are all attractive. They’re full of T-shirts and sweatshirts with place names, and of course, Door County is on all of them. I found my hiker medallions for Peninsula State Park, which I knew we would be hiking later in the day (and a sweatshirt, gloves and extra waterproof jacket because I was really cold).

We went to Edgewood Gallery next and spent an hour looking at all kinds of sculptures, paintings and jewelry. Many of the sculptures were large, outdoor pieces placed along landscaped paths. Pictures are better than words…

One of the many sculptures
The price tag
My favorite, the raven has a bowl full of agates!

It hadn’t rained and was starting to warm up so we had a quick lunch in one of our motel rooms. I think everyone on this trip really enjoys our camaraderie, especially the time spent talking over meal times. Last night we covered our progressive deafness and hearing aides. Today it was dementia, ALS and MRI panic attacks. You can probably guess our age range. Actually, I am the oldest and feel a little like an imposter among them, but I’m here and that’s what counts.

We all wanted to get out on a hike, so we did the Hemlock Trail at Peninsula State Park. Here is where we saw the Grey Wolf. It was fairly close and crossed the path ahead of us. It turned and looked at us long enough that we could tell it wasn’t a deer or a dog. Then it disappeared into the woods on the other side – an uncommon sighting. What a great place with excellent views of the bay, and beautiful cedar forests. The observation tower at the end was quite an impressive structure. It had a long winding ramp that climbed above the canopy and ended at the top of the tower.

Both sides of the trail are covered with Lilly of the Valley. I’ve never seen so much of it.
Eagle Observation Tower
Ramp leading from the observation tower (like a zip line for old folks)
Back at Pine Grove Resort the sun finally came out.

Every day winds down with what is called a debriefing. We were talking about why it was called that when it’s really more like a happy hour. It doesn’t matter. Today it’s going to be at the pool and hot tub.

We have dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant at 7. I don’t know if I’ll feel like writing after we get back so I’m signing off here. More tomorrow.

Door County Vacation

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Yes, I get to take a vacation. It means I get to travel someplace of my choice, for the express purpose of seeing a place I have not seen before, not staying with relatives and on a budget that is predetermined and saved for. It’s so nice.

Door County is in my home state, Wisconsin, but on the opposite side from where I live. I’m still getting the geography straight, but in general I know that it’s on a peninsula with Green Bay on one side and Lake Michigan on the other.

It took us over 6 hours to travel here from Hayward. We started at 9 and stopped for lunch at Rib Mountain State Park. The sign at Rib Mountain said it was the highest point in Wisconsin – 1940 ft. above sea level. That doesn’t seem very high, but at the top of the observation tower the view was WOW! This was in spite of the rain, and the wind gusting to 40 mph every now and then. I say lunch, but what I mean was that I ate an avocado and a yellow bell pepper, in the car in the parking lot. We did stop at Starbucks at the bottom of the mountain. We needed to warm up. It’s cold, in the 50’s, uncharacteristic of this time of year.

I am traveling with my friend Lisa, and four other hiking buddies from the Birkie Girls Hiking Group. We are in three cars, trying to keep each other in sight on the road, and not get too separated .

This dog statue was at the distillery, I don’t know why. I didn’t have permission yet to post pics of my friends, so you get the dog instead.

Further up the road we stopped in at Door County Distillery, which is famous for beverages made with cherries, or maybe just tasting like cherries. The countryside here is full of wineries and distilleries and restaurants that serve local fare. Since the big lake is here all around us there is a nautical feel about the place. Lots of fish themed places, seagulls sitting in the fields, and boat decor.

We arrived in Ephraim around 4 pm and checked into Pine Grove Resort just in time for chocolate chip cookies, cheese and crackers and wine in the front lobby. They are generous and the rooms are very nice. We have a small balcony with a view of the bay.

After a brief conclave in our leader’s room, we set out for a nearby eating place in Sister’s Bay. It was recommended by our hotel manager as being reasonably priced and well liked by locals. Sisters Bay Bowl had a small bowling alley with half a dozen lanes. No one was bowling but the restaurant was full, as was the bar.

My steak meal. The waiter was nice and I gave him a good tip.

We had a great meal, with pleasant, friendly service. I think everyone liked their food. We were hungry. Lisa and I split a piece of cherry pie with ice cream. I have made a goal of having something with cherries in it every day because this is cherry country if nothing else. The cherry trees do have blossoms on them even though it feels like winter here.

Back to our rooms for a few minutes of watching news before bed. I was hoping for a better weather report for tomorrow, but no. It will still be cold and wet, but we are here to hike – outside if possible, inside galleries and shops if not.

More tomorrow.