Sarah has known her best friend, Laura, since third grade. Check out the video of our visit to her family!
Shasta took his responsibilities as a guest dog a bit too seriously, and hunted down a skunk in the back yard. Pepe LePew – watch out!
GEO-QUIZ: Nick-named the “Forest City” because early visitors literally had to scramble through woods to reach the settlement, the city still boasts over 200 parks! Where does Sarah’s BFF live?
Today, we are visiting with Dale and Margie (brother and sister-in-law). Dale had fun driving Mike for a trip down Nostalgia Lane! As Sarah’s older brother, he was actually old enough to remember driving the Lougheed van back in the 1970’s!
GEO-QUIZ: Last summer, this town suffered a devastating tornado and although Dale & Margie’s house is put back together now, the town is still reeling from the powerful effects of Mother Nature. Joe had a tour of the area while walking Shasta; Dale carried his dog, Jamis. (Apparently, Jamis does not like to walk far after supper, so Dale has to carry him on the walk! When it is time to return to the house, Jamis is ready to walk back…..) Joe learned all about grain elevators and salt mining. Where do Dale & Margie live?
Nephew Patrick came home for a night to do his laundry and visit with us! He is working this summer at the same camp that he has attended since he was six years old! Dedicated to developing a caring and healthy community by providing campers with the opportunity to achieve personal growth in spirit, mind, and body, this camp was founded in 1929.
GEO-QUIZ: Patrick’s camp is almost an island. What is the name of his camp?
The whole point of this crazy summer adventure was to show Mike to Sarah’s Dad. We arrived and Dad wasn’t even home – he had gone on a bus trip to celebrate the centennial of his city’s major park! Once he returned, Shasta moved right in (see the photo) and we had a great visit!
GEO-QUIZ: Where does Sarah’s Dad live? This small city was founded as a major port and rail lines also moved cargo. Now a center of tourism, farming (beef, apple, corn) is still integral to the region’s economy. A legendary hockey broadcaster was once sports director of the local AM radio station.
Shasta is an international traveler, now! We camped on the world’s largest freshwater island and Sarah even got Shasta to come in the water with her! The mosquitoes are not bad; the gizmo Joe bought makes a lot of smoke but we are not convinced it is keeping the bugs away. After sunset, we retired to the van to avoid the pesky insects!
GEO-QUIZ: Although Shasta was not allowed into the viewing area, Joe had a great time watching TWO ships go through these world-famous locks. Back in the early 1800’s, enterprising Canadians portaged large steamer ships around these rapids during the winter months by dragging the huge boats across the snow and ice. Americans began portaging in the 1830’s and built these locks twenty years later. Where did Joe watch the ships?
GEO-QUIZ: watch the video and guess by which lake we had dinner last night!
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
We took a detour to visit this place, in honor of one of Shasta’s friends, Michael Sweeney.
GEO-QUIZ: where are we?
We have gone viral…a photo of us in the 4th of July Parade ended up featured on an LSU blog! Joe is super-excited! Geaux tigers!
Below is a photo of our LSU dog snoring his way across America’s Dairyland. BTW, who knew there is a
Christopher Columbus Museum in the middle of Wisconsin???
Where in the world are the Gills? 