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Published: August 18th 2010
Big Fish
I found a BIG fish in Baudette So--------We flew through Manitoba and decided to go south into the USA and take a little bit of a short cut on our way to London Ontario. We of course had to go through a border crossing to get into the USA. Now for years I have been telling Rene not to make small talk with these folks and just answer the questions simply and we will move through quickly. Well, this nice young border crossing guard started to chat with us and I very willingly it seemed, started to answer all his questions. The questions seemed innocent enough for a while and then suddenly they became more and more intrusive and pretty soon, quite uncomfortable even!!!. He eventually requested that we move forward, but not through customs, rather to the garage doors to be examined!! Me and my BIG mouth. Anyway, more questions ensued and we were put into a small room (I called it the detention room) while they checked out the bike. They were most concerned it appeared, with our laptop. Well, we had and have nothing to hide, so after about an hour, we were finally let out of detention and we allowed to continue on
Big Jerky
Rene found beef jerky ropes!!! 3.5 feet long YUCK!! our way. Yes I know---don't make small talk with the customs officers. Next time I WILL practice what I preach.
We stopped for the the night August 6, 2010 in Baudette Minnesota. Great little town and since it was Friday and Fridays for us at home is Beer and Wing night we decided to treat ourselves and go out. Found this great little Veterans pub and had our beer and wings. That night we decided we would sleep in the tent without the fly on. We laid in our tent and without the fly, could see the moon and stars. WOW!!!
Anyway-------------------
I have a sad story for you all. I appears that my husband of 26, (almost 27) years, now has a mistress. Yes it's true, he loves another. Let me tell you about her and their very strange but true affair. We have kept this mistress in the saddle bag until now, but it was time to let her out. Funny thing about her is ----I agreed to bring her along. Her name is Tom Tom our GPS. The woman's voice coming out of this little machine is not conducive to a Tom voice, but since I can't
Paul Bunyan and Babe
Babe is the ox, not rene (hee, hee) think of a better name just yet, Tom Tom it is. The reason I call her Rene's mistress is that now that he has her mounted on the speedometer, it appears he leans forward more to listen to her, than to lean back to listen to ME!!! She is a wonderfully helpful woman, but I think my nose is a little out of joint. And another thing!! She is terribly bossy. She is always telling Rene where to go and when to turn, and----- he listens to her.!!! (I don't think he listens that intently to me) Sometimes he thinks he doesn't have to listen and then she gets very upset and repeats herself over and over. HE TAKES IT FROM HER!!! and obeys her commands. (that's when I get to laugh) Not sure what I will do about this situation. If this affair continues I may just have to change her voice to a man's voice. I bet that will stop the leaning forward!!!!
August 07, 2010 we rode from Baudette to Becker Minnesota. For the last few months now we have been corresponding with Rene's sister Marg and her husband, Paul (one of my most long time
cheese curds
Deep fried cheese curds. Not fattening at all :) friends). They reside in Ontario and had planned to attend a wedding in Lacombe Alberta. They decided they were going to come to Alberta on their motorcycle. So during the last couple of months and especially the last couple of days, we connected and were able to make plans to meet in Becker on the 8th. So here it was for us the 7th and we were arriving at our destination a day early. We decided to camp close to Becker and have a relaxing day on the 8th and hook up with them when they arrived. Anyway it was very hot and humid out, and we could see that a storm was moving in. When we got to Becker we checked with the motel to make sure Paul and Marg were booked there the following night. They were and we were excited to see them. As it turned out, the storm was getting closer and closer and instead of camping, we checked into that same motel for 2 nights instead of camping. Well----- it was another God send that we had a room, because about an hour after we had unpacked all of our luggage, this storm hit and
message in a bottle
Hope we find this message again at the end of the Mississippi hit hard. We watched quite a impressive lightening storm and then the rain started. It didn't just rain, it POURED. The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was whipping trees and debree everywhere. We heard on the news later that tornados touched down in 5 different places that evening. Then just as quickly as it started, the rain and wind stopped and it remained a warm, humid night. I was SOOOOO thankful that we had a hard roof over our heads. Rene on the other hand felt cheated out of laying in the tent while this crazy storm raged above us. (I think he had too much sun in the last couple of days)
August 08.2010 we woke up to another cloudless day and decided we should check out a local church. I had scouted out the Becker Baptist Church the day before, so off we went to church. The people there were so friendly and inviting and we had a nice time. After church while we waited for Paul and Marg to arrive we decided to go to the beach for the day. Someone had told us we should check out Big Lake, which was
Anchor
Burgers in the Anchor Bar and Grill only 5 miles away. We spent the day at the beach laying and reading in the sun and jumping into the lake when we got to warm. Got back to the motel and Paul and Marg were there. It was so great to see them. We all went out for dinner and then went back to the motel to chat. Not too late though because we all had another big day ahead of us.
August 09, 2010, we got up, had some breaky and coffee together and started our day in the same direction. You see, Rene and I are going to see the whole Mississippi during this trip and I wanted to put a message in a bottle and see if I threw it in at the beginning of the river, I could find it at the end of the river. I forgot to put my message in the river yesterday, so I wrote a message with Marg and this morning together we dropped it into the river. (OK I know I'm not really going to find the bottle again at the other end, but it was kinda fun and it's neat to say I did it and
really neat to say that Marg and I did it together). So we left Paul and Marg and continued on our journey and they on thiers. Safe travels dear family!!!! Have a great time at the wedding and see you back in Ontario on the 22nd ish for the Hoekstra family reunion. We rode hard all day in the heat and humidity. It was 34 Celcius and with the humidity it felt even hotter. Great day to just keep travelling with the wind blowing in our hair, keeping us cool. Rode through the rest of Minnesota and through the northern route of Wisconsin.
Another thing we want to do n this trip is check out some "Diners, Driveins and Dives". Again, a T.V show that we watch periodically on the Food Network. It is a show where this great host named Guy stops at all these different eating establishments and checks out their menu(usually something that is unique to their place) and has a great time with the staff. It is a fun show. We certainly don't have the time or the inclination to check out all the places he goes, but if there is one on our way we
Sunset
Beautiful sunset on Lake Michigan are planning to stop and check it out. So in Superior Wisconsin we stopped at our first diner, called the Anchor Bar and Grill. They specialize in burgers, so Rene had a Jalepeno Burger and I had an Olive Burger. They were YUMMY and cheap too. $3.00 for each burger. We stopped to camp for the night in northern Michigan
August 10, we woke up and the dew was so heavy that everything was soaking wet. I mean soaking wet. Disgusting!!!! The day started out foggy and moist, but within an hour, the sun was shinning yet again. We rode through Michigan, along a beautiful ride that took us along the shores of Lake Michigan. Very beautiful. Camped that night is Benzonia Michigan, which is on the shores of the lake. We went for a walk on the beach and this great pier and watched the sun set. The night was warm and cozy and the view of the sun setting was stunning. Before settling for the night I called my cousin Elaine in Hamilton Michigan to see if she and her hubby Jim were going to be home the following night and if they would like some dinner
Sunset
beautiful sunset on Lake Michigan and over night company. They were going to be home and said they would be delighted to have us visit. I was so excited. I have seen Elaine a few times over the course of our lives and we have always had some great times together, but I have never been to her family home and have never met her hubby Jim and her 3 boys, so I was looking forward to meeting them. We arrived at their home at about 5:00 and they drove in the yard at about 5:30. Good timing eh? We had a great evening together, had a wonderful dinner and then they took us for ice cream. Mmmmm. Jim had to leave early for work, so he was gone by the time we got up. Got up with Elaine, had a quick breaky and then we were off again and she was off to work. What a great time we had with them. We laughed and laughed and throughly enjoyed each other. So many miles and so much time can seperate us, but we get together and it's like we have been hanging out for forever. SO nice. Love you Elaine and now you too
Ivy
Ivy growing on the silo. Jim!!!
We are heading back to Canada next and equally excited to see more family and friends there.
And so we remain----- In The Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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carla
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Brad Pitt
You know you can get your GPS to sound like Brad......