More Casey Travels!

Wow, it seems like we've been all around the USA this year! How lucky we are to be able to travel, see new things, and hang out with relatives we wish we could see more often. (And ... play a few holes of golf on the way!) We began our trip this summer by heading to Michigan to see my aunt Anne, and got to go out for dinner with my cousin Barb and her husband Greg, plus have lunch with my cousin Willie and his kids Jenica and Billy.

Anne took us to the Meier Sculpture Gardens and we had a field day taking pictures of cool things.

Wish we had more time, but we made the most of a few hours.

These pictures don't do it justice.
We thought this sculpture was especially apt, since we love to listen to books on CD as we drive. This sculpture is called "Listening to History" and we listened to 10 CD's with the John Adams story last year, and 8 CD's for another book by the same author this year called "1776."
Watch out, Paulee!
We headed to Hershey, PA on Thursday morning and really enjoyed a museum about Milton Hershey's life - but, sorry, no pictures. (Gasp!)

We arrived in New York on Saturday and spent the night at Christie's. After church on Sunday we were able to connect with Alison for lunch, do the tourist thing in Lake Placid, get dinner where Alison works, and do some hiking around the lake to wear off the dinner! We headed to Vermont on Monday morning to spend the week in the Green Mountains. Christie was able to get a few days off to join us there.
To get to Vermont, you have to take a ferry across Lake Champlain!
We had a very smooth crossing.

This is the condo we rented at Smuggler's Notch, a really well-known ski area near Stowe.
It was really a great place, with several restaurants, pools, tennis, disc golf, hiking, canoeing, and ... you could rent Segways! I really regret not taking the lessons and scooting around the complex or into the trails on one of those things. Maybe next year!



Signs on the roads promised moose or bear, but all we saw were friendly groundhogs in the hills around our place.
The chairlift went right past our place. This one wasn't running during the summer, but over in Stowe we could have paid to ride to the top. Nah. We had much more interesting things to do!

There IS a road over Smuggler's Notch, but it won't allow trucks, and it is closed during the winter. We went over the Notch several times over the next few days, and kind of got used to it. The first time is a bit scary, since it is a one lane road around big boulders and has lots of switchbacks where you have no idea what is coming at you!

It is very scenic in Vermont - this is one of the only surviving covered railroad bridges left in the country.
We experienced a Cider Mill, glass blowing artists, Ben and Jerry's Factory (yum...), Cabot's Cheese (World's Best Cheddar) ... see all the cheese curds? The man in the picture has a hairnet on his BEARD!
Then we took a tour of the Rock of Ages Granite quarry. It was amazing - they've been working this quarry since the 1830's and provided the rock tfor the Vermont Sate buildings.
I wanted a piece of granite to take home, but this one wouldn't fit in the car.

We stopped for a few pictures of the Trap Family Lodge - the hills were alive with the sound of music (So Okay - I had to hum a few bars)

Back at the ranch there was a beautiful sunset that I was able to capture as we took a stroll down to the Ben and Jerry's at the main lodge.
On Wednesday we played 18 holes of disc golf on the mountain course. It was a bit muddy, as Christie can testify to.
We had a bit of trouble throwing our frisbees straight. It seemed like there was a ravine with a magnet that pulled my disc off course on a regular basis! The course was laid out on the cross country ski trail - plenty of hills, and all woods... but beautiful.
I found it!
Actually, you rent three discs - a driver, mid-range, and putter!
See, aren't the mountain flowers pretty? We really appreciated God's creation every day.
After the disc golf, we drove Christie back to the ferry because she had to work on Thursday back in New York. We stopped for a late lunch in Burlington and ate outside on the Church Street Mall. Lot's of good people-watching there, and the food was really great.

Paul and I golfed the next two days at two different mountain courses. I was able to pick up my first ever case of poison ivy on Friday while hunting for Paul's ball in the woods (OK, it MIGHT have been my ball, I'm not really sure.)

This beautiful sky was back in New York at Christie's favorite ice cream place - Donnelly's on Sunday night after spending Father's Day with Christie at church and then at a very funny play about American History that had a cast of only 3 guys. They really brought those founding fathers to life in a new way!

We didn't get to spend as much time with Alison, since she had to work a lot, but ... she will be home in August for good!
Finally, on the way home we got to meet Tom and Kim's new little one - Amariah - for the first time. She is only 3 weeks old and a real sweetie. I, of course, couldn't hold her because of the poison ivy all over my right arm, but I could take pictures!
Here's the whole family, including the dog and one of the cats. I think Griffin was on his way to get the other one as I snapped the picture. Amariah was taking a snooze - finally - after a cranky, hot day. We really had a fun time - the kids gave me a tour of all their rooms and hideouts, then we went out for dinner while Amariah continued to sleep!

Well, that's it ... the short version. I wonder where we'll go next????

Spring Busy-ness

The first Saturday in May the Waterbrooke youth had a busy day - we went bowling, out for pizza, and wound up at Feed My Starving Children to pack food for two hours.

First they give you instructions and demonstrate how to make each package the right weight and combination of ingredients.

Then we picked out jobs. Some are warehouse workers who replenish the ingredients when the packers run out of product.

Some stick instruction stickers on the plastic bags that hold enough food for six meals. We got to taste the food - it reminds me of a chicken rice casserole, with no chicken! It's really not bad, and a great improvement on grass, rocks, and dirt that some children eat around the world.

We packed enough food to feed over 7,000 children. I wonder where they will send it this time?

The second Saturday in May was Waterbrooke Spring Cleanup Day. Joe (in the golf cart) is the boss and put us all to work at various tasks. Paul is getting his assignment.

You've got to be kidding me - move these rocks?

Oh ... RAKE the rocks that the snow plow pushed into the grass back into the parking lot. Hopefully by next summer that will be an obsolete task. Raising $20,000 to pay for tarring the lot is a bit of a challenge.

Of course, there are plenty of weeds in the gardens to dig out as well as hostas and things to plant.

Everyone pitched in, from four year olds to senior citizens!

Okay, Anna mostly watched, but she was a big encouragement.


Carl wielded a mean weed whipper, so the younger ones had better stay out of his way.

A popular choice in jobs for the older boys was cutting dead wood for the fire pit, and manning the fire to get rid of dead branches.

The little guys would have preferred making s'mores.


The third Saturday in May Paul and I played and sang at a wedding. Would you believe the bride and her sister were named Jane and Joyce????

Today (another Saturday) I am blogging, exercising, and cleaning to get ready for a Casey invasion on Monday - Memorial Day. The brothers (plus me) will hit the links at 8:00 am.m and then were having a brat bonanza back at the ranch. I'd better go get to work.

Easter Update

I am a little behind in the family blogging entries - you've probably already seen the Catlin/Bracken/Casey/Perry pictures on Jane and Heidi's blogs, but I have to add my two cents worth, you know! We had a great day at Ted and Pat's after a wonderful morning at church. Spending time with family is the best way to celebrate, and we are thankful to have so many close by. We do miss Christie and Alison, Tom, Kim ,Katie and Griffin - but just think of it this way - we have a great excuse to go on another vacation!Here's Matthew, Phebe, and Maddox getting ready to hunt for their own special colored eggs out in the back yard. I think we had just as much fun following them around and snapping the pictures!

Maddox has quite a collection there.
Phebe and I had fun playing ball after the hunt was over. She is going to be quite the athlete - she hit it over my head and made me run! Nothing like a little exercise to wear off those jelly beans!
Matthew prefers to push the 4 wheeler this spring. Maybe by fall he will let the engine do the work.
It was a nice day out on the deck, but the guys soon moved into the basement to watch the Masters. OK, OK ... a few of us gals were interested, too.
I know you're wondering - who is watching the kids???
The little kids had a ball with Summer - Pat's sister Pam's granddaughter. It is great to have extended family, the more the merrier! The kids make every gathering a entertaining event. They are a joy to watch grow and develop their own special personalities.

Well, that's all for now, folks. We stay busy with church activities - yesterday we organized a youth group outing - bowling (Paul took top honors with a 147), pizza at Joey Nova's, and then spent two hours at the Feed My Starving Children organization in Chanhassen packing a food product specially designed for kids dying of malnutrition. We packed 7,344 meals that will save the lives of 20 children! If you ever get a chance to participate in a day there, you will be blessed! Golf season is upon us, only one month of school left, and then ...?

Spring Break 2009

We had a fantastic week long adventure in Arizona and New Mexico with our friends, Joan and Tim. Joan is the speech therapist at my school, and her husband Tim is the art teacher at the high school. We go way back to 1978 when I arrived at St. Michael-Albertville a year after they did!. We have enjoyed many trips to their cabin up north, and now hit the road to the south.


Here is our condo - not much to look at, what? Just kidding - we had a beautiful place in the White Mountains with tall Ponderosa pines all around us. This picture was taken on the way to the Petrified Forest on Sunday, March 22. We had to take a road trip to get to any destination worth seeing (and taking pictures of).
The day was incredibly windy - gusts to 70 mph. In fact, we broke the car door on the rental car when the wind blew the door right out of Tim's hand. Once we got it closed, we couldn't open it any more. It was the front passenger side, and it was a real chore for six foot tall Tim to climb over the steering wheel to get in after every photo op! (Did I mention the Tim is an incredible photographer? He teaches a class and does weddings, graduation pictures, and prom stuff, too!)
Some people call this area of Arizona the Badlands, just like in North Dakota!
On the way back to our condo, we saw the sunset through all the sand blowing. It was something else!
The next morning I took this picture through the trees right off our deck. It was a little chilly to sit out there for breakfast. We didn't pick a hot spot for our spring break, but it sure was beautiful!
On Monday we drove to Flagstaff to trade in the car, and stopped at the Riordan Mansion for a tour. It was built for two brothers in the early 1900's who ran a lumbering business - and they connected two houses that were mirror images of each other for their families. There was the original, gorgeous grand piano and the tour guide asked if anyone played. Of course, I offered Paul's services and he wowed the crowd!
We drove south from Flagstaff down the Oak Creek Canyon to see the Red Rocks of Sedona. Eveyone said we should drive up to the airport (on the top of a mesa overlooking the town) to see the sunset, so we did. There were probably 50-75 other people with the same idea, all with camera in hand. It was well worth it!
We stayed overnight in Sedona, and got up the next morning to visit a few rock formations recommended by our waitress from the night before. Below you see Cathedral Rock. The path goes all the way up, but we only had time to hike partway because we had a list of other places to go. We'll just have to come back, I guess.
Bell Rock was the next stop, and again, we just hiked partway for some cool pictures.
We drove about 20 miles south of Sedona to see Montezuma's Castle, a pueblo built in the 12th-13th century. The Sinagua Indians had to carry all their building supplies on their backs up ladders 46 feet above the level of the creek! One of the guides we talked to said he gets to spend one hour a year actually up in the dwelling.
Next stop - the Grand Canyon, AFTER a detour to the Flagstaff Hospital for Tim to get a stitch in his tongue! He bit it while eating a burger and it wouldn't stop bleeding because of some medication he is on. Ouch! We got to the canyon in time for more sunset pictures. Words and pictures CANNOT describe the amazing grandeur of God's creation.
We got up at 5:15 to go on a sunrise tour from our resort. It was an incredible 17 degrees above zero! Did I mention we didn't chose a hot spot to go on spring break? But it was well worth it! Our tour took us to six or seven great vistas, and our guide had great stories to tell.
The colors at sunrise are so different from sunset. I'm glad we got up to see it.
This is the Hopi House, one of the early tourist buildings built by the railroad back in the early 1900s when the Grand Canyon became a vacation destination. It still is - 6-7 MILLION people come every year. Luckily, we were there in the off season, and it was still pelnty busy. This building is a Native American Arts and Crafts store now.
The same architect, Mary Coulter, designed this tower at the east end of the South Rim Drive. We stopped there on our way out. It is called the Watchtower and is a recreation of prehistoric towers built by the ancient peoples of the canyon.
A well known Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie, painted the inside of the tower walls and ceiling with characters from legends.
On Thursday, the plan was to go golfing. However, it was VERY windy again, so we took another roadtrip to see a local ski area, and Apache Forst, and ended up going down the Salt River Canyon to see Roosevelt Lake and Dam. We noticed some dark clouds over the hills to the east, but only commented on them because they made such beautiful pictures.
Every see cactus growing in water?
I love the colors in the one!
When we got back to Pinetop, our home in the mountains, there was 4-6 inches of snow! Did I mention how HOT it was on our spring break away from COLD Minnesota?
On Friday we drove to Albuquerque to stay over night because our flight back to Minnesota left pretty early on Saturday. It was a 5 hour drive from Pinetop. We had heard from many friends that we had to go see Santa Fe, so we hopped in the car to drive about an hour north on I25. There were some very old churches, missions and chapels to see, a town square that dates back to the Spanish conquistadores, and a WONDERFUL Mexican restaurant!
Above is the oldest church in New Mexico, and below is a shot from inside St. Francis Basilica.
I almost hopped on the train at the Santa Fe station to recreate my childhood trip to California in 1957! This station was right across the parking lot from our restaurant. The sofapillas were marvelous - I think I'd go back just for another taste.
Albuquerque is known for their Hot Air Balloon Festival every October. Some of the ballooners were out at 8:30 on a Saturday morning as we were taking off to head home. It was a bit hazy, but I can imagine the sky full of hundreds of balloons against a clear blue backdrop. You can see forever.
Well, that's it. Hopefully, you read all the way to the end. This is just a sample of the pictures I took - multiply this by about 20! We had a wonderful time, and want to go back again someday ... maybe retirement??? Who knows!