We both finished work at the same time, so I met Katie for a quick bite to eat on Friday night before heading south. I took the scenic route through wind turbine country to Oconomowoc, WI, and met up with DH who got a head start in order to set up for a weekend art fair there.
I knew the route I wanted to take and printed out a fairly detailed map that included all the highlights — namely, Farmersville, Mayville, and Iron Ridge. Turns out, I took a wrong turn and meandered my way through the Byrons, too. I think. I really need a Garmin for these scenic drives. It's officially on my Want List.
We were guests in a wonderful '50s-era home on beautiful Lac La Belle in Oconomowoc. Many locals host artists during the fair, also throwing a big dinner party on Saturday night, and DH has always stayed with the same couple. I've had an open invitation since the beginning, but kids, weddings, family reunions — something — always conspired to keep me away. Even this time, I was able to stay only one night.
We had a relaxing evening on Friday, making acquaintance over a bottle (or two) of wine and wonderful conversation. I started Saturday morning watching a sailboat race and taking a tour of the lake by boat.
By Saturday afternoon I was heading west to Annie's and a babysitting date with Mack and Addison. Turns out, Karen and her family were there to help my niece move into a new apartment, so I had my two older nephews as able babysitting assistants!
I had a photo shoot on Sunday morning (sneak peek is up) while everyone else arrived for brunch — Uncle Jim, Sharon, Mike & Judy, Mom & Joe, another nephew and his girlfriend. It didn't start out to be so huge, but sort of took on a life of its own. Annie sure knows how to do brunch! It was delicious and a good time was had by all.
Tomorrow morning, I'll be out the door at 5:00 a.m. — that's 10 minutes before my alarm usually goes off! I don't mind, though — Mom & Joe will pick me up for a day-trip to Madison and it's a great time to make that drive. Not sure yet whether I'll post ahead, take the laptop and post from the road, or wait 'til I'm back home… but I will post!
The hayfield and haybales are from the drive home yesterday. Will I ever tire of that scene?
(Probably not.)
The sky and hay bails make a nice composition. You know how to pack so much into a weekend!
Let me pass along my experience with a Garmin GPS. The style I wanted went way down in price — just over $150 which is still a chunk of change to me — so I bought it. Turns out you need to budget for an immediate map upgrade ($89) as well. It was a deal killer for me and I returned it. However, it was nice to be in a strange city and not have to be constantly vigilant about my location so I don’t want to discourage you from a GPS just giving you a headsup as far as Garmin. I believe other brands provide free upgrades.
Yeah, my experience with a Garmin wasn’t great either. Bought it at the EXORBITANT price of $500ish, and asked for an extended service plan. This was not Garmin’s fault, but the fault of the online store I bought it from in order to get the best price, I guess, but they sold me a service plan that I then had to register. Every time I called to register, the company recording said it was too busy and the wait was too long — call back another time. IMAGINE? And of course they wore me down and I forgot to try again after the dozenth time. So you know what happened — the Garmin just up and broke and I was out my $500 piece of crap. It helped us find some places when we were on college tours — nice of it — but it also took us to the most scary, remote places for miles and miles. (Ask Margene — she was with me on one of them. Horrid.)
It never occurred to me, thank goodness, that it might break on one of those trips, because I would have had a nervous breakdown. But anyway, it was not updated and there were a lot of things wrong, and lots of lefts that should have been rights, etc. And THEN as I say, it just broke. I shudder to think if it had broken when we were in the middle of deep woods in Maine or whatever, and having zero idea where to go.
But then I was in Staples this weekend and saw some GPSes for CHEAP, like a hundred bucks. Don’t know if I’m quite ready to get one after that experience, but I did love Paula’s Sony one that she used on our last trip together.
Am I rambling too much? Heh. Anyway, I personally would stay 2,000 miles away from a Garmin.
Loving the hay bale scenes and hoping you never tire of them!