Peckish Travels

Bob and I had a nice walk today on the path that runs along the Menomonee River. Today, we walked on it away from downtown so were able to see both Lime Kiln Park and Rotary Park. We saw probably 6 or 7 other people out walking on the trail either by themselves or with their dogs.

We started the walk at the end of our street, which is in Lime Kiln Park. This is a 19 acre park on both sides of the Menomonee River from Main Street to Arthur Avenue. It is named after the Garwin Mace Lime Kilns which operated on this site in the late 19th century. The kilns were used to produce lime to be mixed with sand and water to make mortar for construction. Nothing like getting educated on a walk!

I was interested in the sign below, as our current homeowner is quite a bird lover. Bird City Wisconsin (per their website) is a nonprofit organization that provides public recognition to municipalities that understand that nature, including birds, is vital to healthy communities. The organization supports municipalities in their efforts to protect and manage green spaces, educate their citizens, build nesting structures, landscape with native plants, and reduce threats to birds. Bird City Wisconsin has 96 registered members.

Bob and I have officially landed in the village of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. It has a population of 39,000 and actually does have a falls (created by a dam). It is also the headquarters of the Kohl’s Department Stores.

We will be coexisting with two very cute but mostly human-averse cats, so mostly we’ll be putting out food and cleaning the litter box. The lighter colored one is Jupiter, and he is definitely the friendlier of the two. He has sat in the hallway and watched us and has let me put treats in his vicinity as long as I move away after that. The black one, Bruno Mars, has no need to be near us and I was thrilled to even be able to get the photo of him below. This is a 2 story house with a full basement, and Bruno spends much of his time in the basement ceiling — even for his owner.

Yesterday after we arrived, we mostly caught up on laundry and other items that we neglected over the holidays, but today we got out into the misty rain to check out a bit of the downtown and then head to Target for items for dinner and a new umbrella for Bob. it was an easy walk up our street onto a path along the Menomonee River into downtown.

*50 points if you know the reference. It’s likely something only my sister and I would get, but it’s dialogue from a tv show set in Milwaukee and has something to do with Tunisian camel jockeys. I am tempted to say this every time I hear the word Milwaukee.

Now, on with the blog. . .

Bob and I left Janesville at 9:00 am yesterday to make an 11:00 am meet-up with our next homeowner in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. We will be caring for two cats through January 4th. The walkthrough of the home and pet care needs went well and then we were off to The Trade Hotel in downtown Milwaukee for the evening before beginning the house sit after the homeowner’s departure the next day.

Bob enrolled us in the Marriott Hotel program which allows for free stays once you incur so many points. We used points for a free night at The Trade Hotel which is right next to the arena where the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team plays when they are in town. The area around the arena is known as the Deer District in honor of the Bucks.

The hotel was new and lovely with a good fitness room and lots of dining options. We had fun exploring the hotel as well as some of the area.

Bob and I had a busy but lovely holiday with my relatives in and around my hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. Since my mom lives in a one bedroom apartment, we rented a one bedroom house through Airbnb. We usually stay in a motel where we’re in Janesville, but this time we wanted the ability to cook.

One of the first items on the agenda was a baking day at my aunt and uncle’s house in my mom’s hometown of Albany, Wisconsin, about a 25 minute drive from Janesville. They have a lovely new home that they built with a spacious kitchen. We made 2 batches of cookies and 2 batches of bars and had a great time catching up.

Saturday, mom and I finished some last minute shopping while Bob made a salad to take to the Runaas (my mom’s family) holiday celebration on Christmas Eve afternoon. We do our Runaas Christmas at theAlbany’s Lion’s Club since there are too many of us for anyone’s house.

On Christmas Day, mom came over to our Airbnb for breakfast and opening gifts before we headed to my aunt and uncle’s house on my dad’s side. It was a much smaller gathering, but still good to be with family and catch up.

Last Wednesday, Bob and I left Bob’s sister’s house where we had been staying since our last sit to meet up with our new homeowners in Waukee, Iowa (suburb of Des Moines) for a walk through, dinner, and a stay overnight before their early morning departure for Oregon. We had a great visit, met the adorable Bebe, and learned the ins and outs of the home will be staying in until 12/20/23.

We had some time to kill before we met the homeowners on the 13th, so we stopped at the local library and found a photo op for Bob.

Most of our time in Des Moines has been spent on errands and catching up on doctor visits. However, the other day we made a brief visit to drake University where my sister had gone to law school.

Today, Saturday, we drove back to Bob’s sister’s house to spend a couple of hours with her family, including our nephews and their partners (one wife, one new fiancé), and our great nephew, and we do think he is pretty great.

We drove about 30 minutes from the Hotel Pattee in Perry to a house sit in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, called Urbandale. This will be one of our shorter sits at just three nights. After which, we’ll stay with my (Bob’s) sister in Grimes, also a suburb of Des Moines.

The house we’re sitting in seems to be in a fairly newer development. We’re caring for three dogs, two are pretty tiny, Olive, a Maltese, and Lyla, a Chihuahua, and Ralph, a pretty good sized Golden Doodle.

On Saturday, Bob and I drove 4 hours from Minneapolis to Storm Lake, Iowa for a visit with Bob’s mom. It was a good visit, and she had her house fully decorated for the holidays.

From Storm Lake, we drove 2 hours to Perry, Iowa, to check out Hotel Pattee and the small community, both of which are new to us. The Hotel Pattee is a cute boutique hotel done in the Prairie Style, made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright. It has 40 themed rooms, a bowling alley, a restaurant and lounge, and a library. One of the best parts of the hotel, which we didn’t get a photo of is the adorable Lopso, the hotel’s resident (3 legged) dog.

Perry, Iowa, is a small town of just under 8,000 people in Dallas County, Iowa. The hotel lies in the heart of the small downtown area, which has a great biking trail, lots of public art, and a number of downtown buildings that are listed on the National Historic Register.

Bob and I had a great last evening in PalmSprings on Thursday night. They had free entrance to their art museum from 5-8pm, so we took the opportunity to explore their exhibits.

After we were done at the art museum, we went up to the top (floor 7) of the Rowan Hotel for dinner and drinks and to check out the view of downtown Palm Springs from above. Seven floors up is about as high as it gets in Palm Springs.

We then walked through the festive Villagefest that was also being held that night.

We flew out a little after noon on Friday and arrived back into Minneapolis about 7:30 pm. Our bags were unloaded quickly (almost never happens) and then we had an easy ride on the blue line rail line from our terminal and a one block walk to the hotel from the Mall of America stop. Very convenient!

When researching different hikes to do near Palm Springs, we learned that there were hikes in desert oasis areas. That was of interest to us, as it seemed like it would provide views of different types of vegetation. So today, we headed about 30 minutes north of Palm Springs to Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Our pre-trip research showed that parts of some trails were closed due to Tropical Storm Hillary that went through in August, but enough were open to allow for a couple of hours of easy hiking in varied scenery.

One of the things to do in Palm Springs is admire the modern desert architecture of many of the homes as well as some hotels and other commercial buildings. There are tours to be had, but they cost $189 per person. That seemed a bit steep for us, and we weren’t sure we wanted to spend a few hours driving around with others in a van. Our answer was to purchase a $5 map from the visitors center and do our own driving and walking tour of some homes and neighborhoods.

The downside is we don’t know any more about architecture than we did when we started out this morning, but we did get to see some lovely homes, walk around great neighborhoods with beautiful mountains in their backyards, and admire what we chose to admire based on our personal taste.

This is what our map tells us of Desert Modernism, which arose in the middle years of the 20th Century. ‘It is notable for its use of glass, deep overhangs, natural and manmade materials, and indoor/outdoor spaces.’ The indoor/outdoor building is big here with lots of patios that flow inside and vice versa. The airport is even indoor/outdoor in the main concourse. The homes are very much understated in comparison to the high end homes of today.