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August, 2006
July 31 - August 6
Monday, July 31. After checking out Kamp Kegonsa, a private campground just north of Stoughton and finding it would not be a desirable place to stay, we moved up to Babcock Park in McFarland. We couldn�??t believe our eyes when we pulled in and found there was not another soul in the campground. There were several reservations for today attached to the posts, but nobody showed up (I�??m thinking its because of the heat �?? another 96° day). Shortly after we got hooked up, the campground hosts showed up (they had moved to another county park for the month of July).

In the afternoon, we went to get haircuts and groceries, then went to Pat�??s for dinner. Unfortunately, Pat was working a side job and didn�??t get home until 8:45, so we didn�??t visit for long.

Tuesday, August 1. Mike had a doctor appointment this morning, then we drove up to Wyocena to visit with Mom. She fell out of her wheelchair on Saturday night and has a big goose-egg on top of her head and a big purple bruise on her forehead. They have checked her out and monitor her closely, but she is ok. We had a nice visit and Mike got us burgers from the Caddy Shack for lunch.

Pat stopped by and talked for a while on his way home from work. Clouds have moved in and we�??re hearing some thunder, so hopefully, cooler weather is on the way.

Wednesday, August 2. We disconnected and left Babcock Park at around 11:30 and headed south to Sublette, IL to Woodhaven Lakes (a resort hidden in north central Illinois). My cousin Carole and her husband Bob purchased a lot in the park where they keep their motorhome in the summertime. It is an hour commute from their summer home in Oswego, IL and was an easy 2-hour drive for us. Bob and Carole are snowbirds and spend their winters in Naples, Florida.

The place is very interesting, has 6,000+ privately owned lots that can have a maximum of 800 square foot house, a motorhome or trailer, etc. The lots are good sized and many are nicely wooded and can be improved however you want. Some of the older ones don�??t look the best but most look very nice. The place has amenities such as 2 swimming pools, a beach, tennis courts, theaters, clubhouses, hiking and biking trails, several lakes, a small grocery store, and laundry.

After getting settled in and seeing each other�??s motorhomes, we got a tour of the place and drove into Sublette for a naughty fried chicken dinner that was very good. When we got back, we sat around Bob and Carole�??s visiting and were joined by their friends, Nan and Jim who just sold their home and bought a new motorhome to start full-timing. They also just purchased a lot here at Woodhaven Lakes. Their plan is to spend 7 months in Florida and 5 months in Illinois. Its always interesting to see how other folks structure their life.

Thursday, August 3. Carole and I took a nice brisk walk along one of the many paths, while Mike and Bob sat and drank coffee and did computer stuff. While we were walking, we surprised momma and 2 young deer that scurried off into the woods. As we turned the corner to go to our motorhome, a buck was staring at us from the woods (see photo).

In the afternoon, we drove around and looked at some of the available lots, many that are very affordable (this might be a consideration for a base in this part of the country). Later in the evening, we sat at Bob and Carole's and had zip packs for dinner (burger, potatoes, onions, and carrots cooked in foil on the grill), then sat around a campfire until almost 11:00 having *bleep*tails and chatting. It was a pretty full day.

Friday, August 4. We started the day out the same as yesterday only we didn't take Lucy with us on our walk this morning - we walked for an hour and I don't think she could have kept up with us. Mike and Bob sat at their motorhome drinking coffee. When we got back, we watched several different birds coming to their feeders.

In the evening, we went to a wine tasting and met Wilson and Delores and Lou and Pat, friends of Bob and Carole's from their home in Florida. Carole, Nan, and I went to hear 70s music in the pavilion and danced a few times while the guys played poker. This weekend is the 35th anniverary of this place so there will be lots of activities going on throughout the weekend.

Saturday, August 5. Another busy day, starting with Carole and I going to the flea market and farmers market, going for a walk, a stop for a few groceries and a slice of pizza. Bob and Mike went to Sublette and picked up steaks for dinner and a force of nature wouldn't let them drive past the tavern just outside the park without stopping (funny how that works, huh). Later in the afternoon, their daughter Shari and her friend Eddie arrived and we had a wonderful steak dinner.

We were all invited to Wilson and Delores' new home on Woodhaven Lake to watch the fireworks display. There must have been 100 people in their lawnchairs watching the fireworks. After leaving there, we went back to Bob and Carole's and sat around a campfire.

Sunday, August 6. The day started out with a good rain and along with it came drier air that felt really good. We went to see Jim and Nan's new Alfa See Ya motorhome - truly a beauty! - and sat having bloody mary's and talking. We all walked to see the car show, not many cars, but several really nice ones.

Later in the afternoon, we met at the pool for a short swim, then we went to a great Mexican restaurant in Mendota for dinner. Everyone was tired and we were all planning to move on in the morning, so we parted company just after dinner.
August 7 - 13
Monday, August 7. Had a relaxing start to the day, getting ready to move on. When I had Lucy out for a walk, the neighbors, Ray and Lucie from Inverness, FL stopped by and we chatted for quite a while. Its so nice to talk with folks who have common interests and enjoy the RV lifestyle. Bob and Carole came over for coffee and a short visit, then we got serious about getting ready to go. It was a nice 2-hour drive back to Babcock Park in McFarland, where we will stay until about the 18th.

Tuesday, August 8. We�??re set up at Babcock Park where we will stay for the next couple of weeks. Pat was off for a few hours in the middle of the day, so we hung out with him for a while, then he was off to work again. Patty and Roger stopped by in the evening, out for a Miata drive, and we walked to the Maple Tree for a *bleep*tail.

Wednesday, August 9. This morning we headed for Wyocena to visit with Mom. Took her for a nice walk and sat on the deck by the lake for a while. She sure enjoys being outdoors. Just relaxed the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday, August 10. My cousin Ken and his wife Gerta picked us up and we went to the Green Lantern for a wonderful local favorite breakfast of walleye and eggs. Had a nice visit with them. Randy and Julie arrived in the area this evening, so we went to the Maple Tree for dinner. Folks that visit this area always want to have the walleye.

Friday, August 11. Not much going on today, but stocking up on a few groceries. We took Lucy to Sun Prairie to spend the weekend with Becky and Ron and the girls. This is a trial run to see if they still want to have her for 3 weeks while we are in Switzerland.

In the evening, we met Susan and Dean, Pat and Roger, and Barb at Barber�??s Bay for dinner, then went to the informal get-together for my 40th class reunion at the Bowling Alley in Stoughton. There was a pretty good turnout and we had a nice time. It�??s always good to see folks that you had so much in common with, way back when, but so much has changed through the years and only see in 5-year increments.

Saturday, August 12. Started the day out watching Patty�??s baseball team lose their 1st game, 11-8 in a tournament in Monona. As the day progressed, they won the 2nd and 3rd games, so will be going on to play again tomorrow. On my way back to McFarland, I stopped at a few garage sales but didn�??t find the mother lode today *bleep*tail hour started out at 6:00 at the Stoughton Country Club. The reunion committee did a great job of decorating and organizing the program. The prime rib dinner was excellent and the program was entertaining. A synopsis of the last 40 years was presented and then a few silly prizes were passed out to those who traveled the farthest (a fellow who lives in Japan), those who didn�??t send a check (5 people), the 40th check received, and then a random drawing. There were 59 of our 160+ graduates in attendance. Had a very nice time and at least a short visit with most of the classmates.


August 14-20
Monday, August 14. Spent the day with Pat and Savana. Dropped my laptop at Best Buy for repairs, the headed to State St. The galleries that we wanted to visit were closed, so we walked down State St to the library mall and to get some Babcock Hall ice cream (a Madison landmark and specialty).

Pat's family joined us for dinner at the campsite tonight.

Tuesday, August 15. We met with Kent, our financial advisor, and left his office feeling good once again. We can still afford to be retired and to live this lifestyle that we have grown to really enjoy.

Savana played in the playground and I joined her on the swings for a while. Later in the day, we went to visit with Mom, Dan and Sharon, then stopped at the Hoovey's in DeForest for a nice dinner and walk.

Wednesday, August 16. The excitement for today was a wonderful dinner at Harvest, on the downtown square in Madison (thanks to a birthday gift certificate from Ben and Jill). They serve only locally grown products. Mike had pork loin with an apple caramel sauce and I had roasted chicken in an almond sauce. Before dinner, we stopped at The Old Fashioned and had one of the specialties.

Thursday, August 17. After a nice, long walk with Lucy, I learned that our lunch date with 3 of my cousins had been canceled, so we spent the whole day at home and getting ready for the trip. I actually fixed us a dinner at home tonight.

Friday, August 18. My friend Stacie and her son Max came by this morning to go for a walk. We had a nice visit and a nice walk too. Little Max is growing fast and learning to say many words now.

We picked up our prescriptions for the trip (you can't get more than a 1 month supply these days, so we had to made arrangements with our health insurance so we would have enough).

Late afternoon, we drove up to visit Mom and met Dan and Sharon there, then went to the Friendly in Portage for fish fry. Its a long drive and it was a gloomy, rainy, kind of foggy day.

Saturday, August 19. Pat's 37th birthday and he called me first thing this morning to let me know that Webbie, his 12 or 13 year old Rottweiler died early this morning. I feel so bad for them all, she was a sweet dog that Pat rescued when she was about 3 years old. What a thing to remember every year on your birthday.

We met Mike's brothers Dan and Tom at Mom's and had a summertime cookout of steak sandwiches, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon and birthday cake to celebrate her 88th birthday. She was real happy and enjoyed the afternoon.

Shortly after we got back from there, Pat and Tracey picked us up to go to the Essen House in Madison to celebrate Pat's 37th birthday. Wow, our 1st born son is getting up there. Pat's friends Dan and Alecia joined us and we had a wonderful German dinner. It was an early night because Pat had to work in the morning. Tomorrow we get real serious about getting ready for our Switzerland trip, we are down to 3 days before leaving and getting quite antsy and excited.
Nendaz-Paris August 23 - 27 - Travel to Switzerland and Paris
Wednesday, August 23. Rob drove us to the airport and all flights were on schedule, traveling from Madison on United Express to Chicago, from Chicago on Alitalia airline for 8 hours to Milan, and from Milan on Alitalia to Geneva, arriving at 1:30 pm. It was cloudy when we arrived in Geneva, but was a nice 2-hour drive through the valley between Geneva and Nendaz. The north side of the valley is covered with grape vines dotting the hillsides (also known as the pre-Alps). We stopped in Sion to purchase a half-pass that allowed us to get ½ price tickets for the bus, train, and boat transportation through Switzerland (cost of CHF 99.00 and could be used between 8/25 and 9/24/06).

On to Chalet Le Dahu* to get settled in and to have coffee and Sonja�??s apricot dessert. Along the way, we stopped to buy apricots at a small market near their home. Streets are narrow and very windy. Rudy and Sonja�??s goal for the day was to keep us awake so we wouldn�??t suffer too much from jet lag. We drove east to the next mountain that can be seen from their deck. We intended to go for a walk, but it was real windy, so we stopped at a restaurant and had a beer. From there we drove to see a small wooden chapel. Sonja fixed crepes for dinner and we had meringue and cream for dessert. We were both exhausted and went to bed at 9:30.

* Le Dahu is an imaginary animal that resembles a small deer. Because it resides in the mountains, two of the legs are always shorter than the others (can be short in front if heading up the mountain, short in back if heading down, and short on one side if walking across). Legends are similar to that of the the jackalope in the US.

Friday, August 25. Slept until 11 am, and were just waking up when Rudy knocked on the door to see if we were still alive. We then had a breakfast of coffee, bread, cheese, and fruit.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the Cathedral Valeria in Saillon village, where the oldest organ in the world is played every Sunday. We then walked through the small village to see the smallest registered vineyard (3 plants), a memorial to the local hero, Le Sentier a Farinet. Farinet made counterfeit money and gave it to the poor people of Valais county. The grape harvest product is mixed with other grape from this area in order to obtain about 1'000 bottles. They are sold for the benefit of charity organizations. The memorial is located on the hillside and you walk through beautiful vineyards (owned by the Dalai Lama) to get to it. Along the way, there is a pathway lined with plaques that have been left by visitors to the place, including Lady Diana, Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama. Surrounding the 3 grapevines is a sort of altar where people leave stones to bring them good luck. Unfortunately, we hadn�??t packed any stones in our bags, so we picked some on the walk up to the place and left them there.

On the way back, we walked through the village to the Hotel du Lac and had coffee and some dried local meats.


Saturday, August 26. Started the day at 5:30 to travel by car to the bus in Nendaz, by bus to Sion, by high speed train (160 mph) to Paris. Terrain changed from mountains as far as Lake Geneva, then to lower mountains, and as we approached France, it was quite flat. We all had naps on the train.

We walked to hotel, the Hotel Austerlitz, a couple of blocks from the train station where we got settled into a very tiny room with a double bed, a small table, and a tiny bathroom, but it was quite cozy and we had a nice view of a courtyard. After finding an ATM to get some euro for spending, we took the Metro (the city subway train system) to Notre Dame cathedral (built in 987), and to the fountain of St. Michel, where we boarded a double decker bus and had a tour of the city.

In the evening, we went to the Bistro Romain for dinner. I had cod fish with vegetables and Mike and Rudy had Carpaccio (thinly sliced raw beef). After dinner, we went to the Caveau de la Hachette, an underground jazz club that has been operating since 1946 and a place that Rudy had frequented during his college days in Paris. The music and dancing was wonderful

Sunday, August 27. The morning started with the Louvre Museum. The building itself covers several city blocks and has 3 wings that are at least 2 block long each. Unfortunately, we had to divide our time and only spent the morning. During our time there, we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, a room full of European sculptures, and some of the Egyptian items. In order to study each artifact in the Louvre, it would probably take at least 2 weeks.

We then took the subway to the Eiffel Tower and boarded a nearby boat cruise that took us along the River Seine. We then got back on a bus tour that took us to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart that sits atop a hill where you got a beautiful view of the city. It is located near Montmarte, the bohemian area of the city where the artists Monet, Gaughan, Van Gogh, and LeTrec once lived and worked.

August 28 - September 3
Monday, August 28. We all wanted to shop for some souvenirs, so we went to the Galleria Lafayette, an exclusive mall that looked similar to many of the cathedrals, with beautiful stained glass ceilings. From there, we went to the tallest building, rode the elevator to the 56th floor and had a 360 degree view of the city. The sky was cloudy but we had a clear view and the sun came out while we were there. It was raining pretty hard at times. We took the Metro back to our hotel for a short rest.

We then took a taxi to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart because we were unable to see the inside of the building the night before. From there, we took a petite train tour of Montmarte, the bohemian area. The tour took us to the sex district and we saw the Moulin Rouge. We had a wonderful French dinner with a nice wine from Burgundy, served by a very nice, friendly waiter. We dined from 8 pm to 11:30 and hailed a taxi (BMW) back to our hotel.

Tuesday, August 29. This morning, we visited the castle and Gardens of Luxembourg, just beautiful flowers and reflection pools, and ornate sculptures. It was a cool, damp morning, but we walked from there to see the Pantheon of the Nation, a basilica that was transformed to a temple housing the remains of the great men of the nation. Since it was raining, Rudy tried to get a taxi to take us to the train depot but several taxis refused to take 4 people. The driver that finally took us said that if we had been 7 beautiful women, they wouldn�??t have refused to take us. Probably true. At the train depot, we had a coffee at the Caffe Ritazza that serves 750,000 coffees per day. We were back on the train, on our way back to Nendaz.

Wednesday, August 30. It was about 40° this morning and we awoke to snow capped mountains in the distance. Today we traveled to Lausanne, about an hours drive from Nendaz to meet with friends (former co-workers of Rudy); Lillian and Walter, our hosts and Gigi and Lucien. We had a wonderful dinner of several courses starting with white wine and pizza. We then proceeded to the table where we had a first course of red wine, green salad and sausage in pastry. The main course was Walter�??s specialty, spaghetti. After the spaghetti course, we were served a Lemon liquor in a small, sugar coated glass. Following that, we had coffee and assorted cheeses, then cookies and swiss chocolate were brought to the table. Dessert was a meringue served with ice cream. The dining experienced began at noon and ended at about 5:00 pm.

Sonja and Mike started having cold symptoms, so we stopped and bought some throat lozenges and Echinacea. I have also had motion sickness, so bought some medicine to help with that.

After leaving there, we drove to Gruyere where the cheese by that name is made. It was a quaint little village and we stopped for a drink at the Museum bar of HR Giger, the surreal artist that was the designer of the movie, Aliens.

Thursday, August 31. Up at 6:30 to drive to Sion to catch the Matterhorn Railway train to see the Matterhorn, a world famous mountain in Valais canton. It is a cold morning, about 42 degrees. We changed trains in Visp, then to Zermott, then Riffelburg at 8,471 ft, and the Matterhorn at 10,132 ft. When we reach the top, the sun is bright, not a cloud in sight. Rudy and Sonja tell us that this is very unusual for this area, there are usually clouds blocking some of the view. We are fortunate to have chosen such a nice day. We walked down the mountain for an hour, to the next train stop where we had a beverage at the restaurant. We then took the train back to Sion.

Mike and Sonja both ill with colds, so will medicate and sleep in tomorrow.

Friday, Sept. 1. We all slept in this morning and it feels good not to have to wake by alarm. Both Mike and Sonja are feeling better, but have coughs. Rudy took us to upper Nendez, a newer section that is mostly tourism and ski resorts. The highest point in Nendaz is there and we got some good photos of the valley below.

We drove to Villanueva for coffee on the shore of Lake Geneva and stopped along the roadside to take a picture of the Chateau de Chillon, a medieval castle built on the shore of the lake. Villanueva is a high class community where Bill Gates has a house and rentals are in the $10,000/month range.

On to Lausanne to the home of Rudy�??s daughter Barbara, where we met her, her husband Patrick, their children Valerie, Laurence, and Sebastian, Patrick�??s father, and their guests Michel and Rosette. We had a wonderful dinner of fondue. Rudy�??s son Thomas, his wife Isabelle, and their daughter Elsa joined us for dessert.

Saturday, Sept 2. We were up early to travel to Zurich, where we had an appointment to meet with Sonja�??s daughter, Denise to shop for watches. Denise arranged for us to get discounts at Christ, a watch store on the Bahnhofstrasse (the exclusive shopping district in Zurich). Traffic was heavy, so Rudy dropped us off and he searched for a parking place, then joined up with us at the watch store. After selecting our watched, we went to Chopard, the jewelry store where Denise works and she gave us champagne and showed us some of their line of jewelry. I tried on a $160,000 necklace and a $90,000 necklace. The traffic was intense and it was difficult to get out of the city.

We then went to Sonja�??s son, Peter�??s house where we met him, his wife Christa, and their son�??s Marvin and Brian. We had a different type of fondue for dinner, where we cooked beef, turkey, horse, and lamb in a beef broth. We had a great time drinking, talking, eating, and laughing. After dinner, Sonja�??s son, Andy, his wife Ingrid, and their children, Alex and Nina stopped for dessert. Mike and I we spent the night at their home. Rudy and Sonja spent the night at Peter�??s house.

Sunday, Sept. 3. In the morning, we were greeted by Rambo, the family cat, a very friendly guy. The house is very nice with a recently added dining room addition and is located about a block from the Rhine River, the border between Switzerland and Germany. We took a morning walk along the river and were able to see a bunker left from the WWII days, built for protection from the Germans, but was never used.

Rudy and Sonja joined us and we drove to Titisee in Germany for shopping, beer, and black forest cake with coffee. When we returned to Andy�??s home, they served a wonderful dinner of cheese fondue.

Created on 07/30/2006 09:57 PM by bridge
Updated on 09/30/2006 07:50 PM by bridge
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