Month: July 2025

Bob and I said our good-byes to my mom yesterday after a great belated birthday lunch for her from my aunt and her daughter.

On Sunday night, we had our first visit to a Wisconsin supper club when we had dinner at Frederick’s Supper Club in Milton, Wisconsin, with my godmother (and aunt) and her husband. In another life, the supper club was a different restaurant where Bob and I had our rehearsal dinner before our wedding 30+ years ago.

Today, Bob and I packed the car in the rain and left Janesville, to drive 7 hours (plus a loss of an hour) to Streetsboro, Ohio, which is a suburb of Cleveland. Our drive took us briefly through Wisconsin, since Janesville is so close to the border of Illinois, south and east of Chicago, before entering and driving across the width of Indiana, and then into Ohio, as far as the Cleveland area.

Tomorrow’s drive to Poughkeepsie, New York, seems like it will be rain-filled. We lucked out today and only had rain for the first 30 minutes and then briefly again at the end of our drive in Indiana.

There have been a number of visits with family while we’ve been in Janesville and even one family reunion. Most of the get-togethers have been with my family since they’re in Wisconsin, but we have seen some of Bob’s family as well. Sadly, we don’t always remember to take photos, but the following visits were photographically recorded.

My mom is the oldest of 13 children (12 still living), and I am the oldest grandchild — but only by a couple of months. Bob and I recently met up with my cousin who is closest in age to me for a celebration of both of our 60th birthdays.

On Friday, Bob and I drove 2.5 hours into Chicago to visit one of my aunts (my mom’s sister) and then see our nephew and his family.

We spent the night at Dee’s and then drove along Lake shore Avenue north to our nephew’s house. Some scenes from the drive.

Our nephew and his wife have a 2.5 year old son and a 1 month old daughter. The son had a baseball class that morning that we got to attend.

I had picked up a Janesville Public Art Trail brochure shortly after we arrived for this stay, and since it was a nice day and no other plans, Bob and I drove downtown to see some of the many public art pieces in the downtown area. We were happily surprised that some of them helped us learn more about the history of the town as well.

Bob, my mom, and I visited a local farm market on Saturday, as I read that their sweet corn season had begun. Woo Hoo! We do love sweet corn, along with watermelon, it seems to be the epitome of a Midwestern summer. While Bob and I were interested in the sweet corn and tomatoes, they also sell their own watermelon, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, peaches, and blueberries, and get other produce delivered. Happily, they make some lovely baked goods with their fruit as well.

Bob and I are in the state of Wisconsin, and specifically the city of Janesville, for the month of July. We are trying to avoid the governmental news as it continues to depress us, and we are on the other end of the political spectrum from most of my family, who we are now living near.

One of the downsides of our peripatetic lifestyle is that it is sometimes hard for our relatives to find us, so Bob and I were just recently reunited with a Christmas gift from Bob’s brother when we drove to Des Moines for the day for doctors appointments.

In Wisconsin, we’ve also been able to visit with extended family, including attending my great cousin’s first birthday on the 4th of July.

We visited a farmer’s market today with my mom and next week we’ll be back in Des Moines for a couple of days for a medical procedure for Bob.

More slow news to come on a sporadic basis until we start housesitting again in August.