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2000 Wisconsin
Here’s the story of our trip to Wisconsin this summer of
2000.
The trip started on August 14th when Stan,
Viki, Kathryn and I (Tim) took the ferry to Vancouver and spent a
frustrating hour waiting to cross the border. Then we drove to Everett where we parked the car on the street.
We arrived in Portage on the 14th and Don (Duke) Freiberg
picked us up. We stayed that night
in Tomahawk and there was a tornado watch and severe lightning storms. After we thought the storm was over, we drove downtown and had lightning
strike about a block away. We
stayed with Duke the 14th through the 16th.
On the 17th we headed to the Island, without
Stan. Transportation was by pontoon
boat, as the old powerboat gave up the ghost.
The Island lost seven trees in the storm on the 14th.
The green cabin and the log cabin took trees on the roof, with the log
cabin also losing its chimney. The
Island was also littered with trees from the year before, when 60 trees were
lost in a storm. (There are lots of trees still standing though.)
Tom went out of his way to arrange for Kathryn to swim with visitors from
Milwaukee (Breta, Anna and Johan). Tom
also invited Kathryn to play Michigan Rummy with second cousins Leah and Rachel.
Kathryn swam many times and also went kayaking by herself.
The bald eagles on the Island had two young.
My sailboat was spared in all the storms.
On the 18th we returned to Don’s cabin, but Stan had already
gone to Clintonville.
The night of the 18th Stan phoned to warn
that you couldn’t get through to the Cottage from Shawano and indicated I
should ignore your instructions, whatever they were.
His description of the best route went as follows:
Stan - Take 22 to Embarrass and, after the town,
continue on CC.
Tim - So, I
turn off 22?
Stan - No, continue straight on CC.
Tim - So, I stay on 22?
Stan - No, continue straight on CC.
22 goes off to the left.
Tim - So, I turn off 22?
Stan - No, …
This conversation was repeated about four times, like
the Abbott and Costello “Who’s on First” routine.
It was very entertaining.
We went through Clintonville instead of Shawano and I
visited the Speckhard grave site, which I easily found by intuition. At the Cottage in the late afternoon, we were greeted by Stan, Jerry, Lu,
Judy and Katie. Jim, Joy and Lynn arrived from Milwaukee shortly thereafter.
When Jim complained that it was very difficult to find the Cottage, Stan
indicated it was in the phone book. Viki
said it’s listed under “Cottage, The”. The Speckhards enjoyed the humor and it’s now listed that way in our
personal directory. It also became
a standing joke that no one arrived with any food. Finally Katie, Kathryn, Viki and I bought groceries in Shawano for
supper.
Many thanks are due to Jerry for entertaining us,
especially Kathryn, during our stay. Jerry
and Kathryn played Jotto and made up word games.
Jerry also took us on a tour of the lake in the pontoon boat and Kathryn
went for a swim right in the middle. In
the evening we taught Jerry to play Big Two and he taught us Dominoes, Cottage
style. We enjoyed this so much that
we bought a set to take home with us. The
next morning Jerry took Viki and me to see cheese being made in Belle Plaine.
We stopped in Merrill on the way back up “North” and
visited relatives. We also had a
group of 9 at Don’s for the big Survivor finale on TV, which was a lot of fun.
On the 25th Duke drove us to the train.
The train trip was a very long 42 hours.
Highlights included Kathryn succeeding in getting ice cream at Havre, a
lovely evening stop in Whitefish and a waiter who sat next to Viki at breakfast
and pretended to join us for triple flapjacks.
The Canadian border crossing line up was approximately a 5 second wait,
while the other direction, cars were lined up about a mile to get into the
States. The 2 hour ferry concluded
an excellent holiday. 
Kathryn, Don, Jeane, Stan, Wayne, Viki
Tim, Kathryn, Grace, Vera, Phil
Kathryn, Edith, Viki, Stan
Kathryn, Evelyn
Gerry, Stan, Viki, Kathryn, Judy, Katie, Lou, Lynn, Jim, Joy
Stan, Gerry,
Kathryn, Tim, Viki, Lou
Tim, Viki, Stan
Tom, Leah, Rachel, Carol, Kathryn,
Viki, Tim
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