July 2016

Rusty says that I am Lincoln's self-appointed ambassador for the Antelope Valley Project.  I guess that's true, since I try to take everyone who comes to visit on a tour, preferably a bike ride, of what I believe is one of Lincoln's finest accomplishments.  When I heard that two of my friends, Marilyn and Lorraine, had no idea of the beauty of the project, I invited them to join me for lunch and a tour.

Marilyn and Lorraine, two teacher-friends of mine.

My cousin, Linda, from Lexington, KY and cousin Cheryl from Omaha came to visit while Linda was in the midwest.

Linda shared pictures of her recent trip to Alaska.

Gretchen, Di, Linda and Cheryl

Rusty makes sparks fly while using the grinder.

Work on our cedar-strip canoe continues.  I thought scraping and sanding the outside was difficult.  It was a snap compared to scraping and sanding the concave surfaces of the inside.

Progress is very slow, one shaving at a time, but at least there is progress.

Rusty and I went canoeing in the morning...

and to dinner for bar-b-que in the evening...

celebrating Rusty's 68th birthday

I get very tired of constantly hearing about the upcoming election, but I guess that won't stop until after Nov.

I was, however, proud of Felicia for volunteering at the DNC.

Gretchen at 10 months

Gretchen has finally figured out that when small people, like Celeste, come to visit, she needs to lie down and be calm with them.

Grandsons and the BWCAW

Olivia enjoyed her trip to the Boundary Waters so much last year that she wanted to share the adventure with her boys.  We all had a fabulous time!

At the check in, each boy packed his own bag and watched the instructional video.  Papaw Rusty used the big map to show them where we were going.

All geared up and ready to go!

And away we go!

This loon was busy preening and didn't mind us.

We stopped for lunch and picked wild raspberries.

The boys carried their own packs, paddles and water bottles over every portage.

Setting up camp for 4 days.

Pierce couldn't wait to start fishing.

Papaw explains to Reece the need for caution when using treble-hooked lures.

Reece casts a long one.

Breakfast

 We picked wild blueberries and added them to the pancakes.

Guide Steve made sure the boys had plenty of opportunities to fish.

Each day we paddled somewhere for another adventure.  There was cliff-jumping, fishing, berry-picking, fishing, portaging, fishing, swimming, and more fishing.

Rusty, Di and Steve, enjoying lunch break.

One day we found muscles and added them to our supper menu.

Reece used Papaw's lure to catch one of the biggest Northerns I've ever seen!

Using the monocular to watch the eagle.

Pierce liked everything about being outdoors.  He also provided us with four walleye!

Papaw and GiGi take a relaxing paddle.

Everyone works getting things ready for supper.

And then someone has to do dishes.

Couldn't be happier!

Steve knew of a special place where it was safe for us to go cliff-jumping.  We each had a turn.  I never thought I'd be brave enough to try it, but it was a ton of fun!

Pierce in flight.

The boys tried their hand at paddling the canoe by themselves.

On the last day for fishing, the boys made an awesome haul.  Pierce caught a huge northern.

Reece caught a very big bass.

Apparently there was a lot of excitement in the boat as both fish were on the line at the same time!

Fishing doesn't get any better than this.

Steve cleaned the fish and we had plenty to eat.

I picked a water lily for my hair.

Our last lunch was back at the sandy beach.

It was warm enough that the boys caught frogs and we got in some swimming.

I don't think Pierce and Reece will every have such a successful fishing trip again!





I'm still doing a fair amount of biking.  I completed a century in mid-July.  Rusty was thoughtful and had a cold beer ready for me at the end.

Average speed = 16.2 mph counting 5 stops.

One of my training routes has a turn-around at what I call "farmhouse hill."  This is the view of Lincoln from the top of the hill.

Pretty, huh?