picnic by the lake

Last night Jan and I took a ride in the country after stopping by Subway. We rode the GS because it is pretty good on the gravel roads around here. First was a stop at a new campground on Kansas Lake. It has possibilities but needs to mature a little (little grass and no trees) before I would find it a good place to drag our toyhauler to. Although it is on the west shore of the lake. Then on to Odin and the north shore of Cedar Lake near Monterey ( for you old timers) . This is a county park and is quite nice, with room for a lot of campers both tent and trailer. We found a table on the east side and had our sanwiches while the sun sank lower over the lake. Fall is in the air and the evenings are getting cool. We stopped at a small cemetery near the park and looked it over. I think that the latest burial had been in about 1915. I am always curious as to why some of these little cemeteries seem to be just randomly located around the country. Maybe at one time there was a small church located across the road. On the way home the sun was at just the right height so that our shadow was projected on the corn fields along the hiway.

One of these days I will scan in some of my old slides to give you an idea of why I have been using the B52Buff moniker. It used to drive the kids crazy when I would go through my old slides, aircraft pictures by the dozens, I can't help it. Oh ya, on another subject, I am probably going to get another tooth pulled today, so wish me luck. I think that I will throw in a couple random pictures to brighten up this story.

The Rochester weekend

Jan and I spent the weekend in Rochester as you may surmise from the title of this blog. Gen was off in the wilds of Wisconsin running in a relay race from Lacrosse to the Cities. You can get a much more detailed brief from her blog, which I am sure most of you know. This picture is of Gussie after his bath which was administered by Gramma Jan. He is a real good eater and moving right along into rolling over and sitting up by himself and he is so good natured.

I may get the layout of the pictures figured out sooner or later but every time I add a picture it goes into the upper left corner and pushes the previous on to the right. Anyhow, I'll let you figure out which one I am talking about. One is Gen and Steve on the couch Saturday evening after supper just after her return from the race, she is bushed. One is Gen and Sam this morning after 8 or 9 hours of sleep, big difference. Then I'll throw in another of Gussie from this morning.

Saturday was also the Patriot Guard state rally in Stewartville and I wanted to pick up some items from the PGR store. I didn't get in on the ride around southeastern Minnesota but they had a big turnout. While in Stewartville I ran into Allan Peterson who I see at most missions in this area. I asked him how many bikes were on the ride and he said they were in the middle of the pack but could not see either end of the group on straight sections of road. Judging by the amount of bikes in the parking lot there must have been hundreds for sure. The last time I checked I think the there over 4300 members in Minnesota and well over 100,000 in the country. Well, I hope that sorting out the pictures won't be too difficult and take care and stay in touch.

Rachies' birthday

Not too much new here today, although we had Roadways over to build the pad for the toyhauler this afternoon. Shortly there after I retrieved said trailer from Eli and Lindseys' place and put it in our backyard. It is nice to have it this close to the house so that we can hook up the water and power. Now if we only could get the sewer hooked up we could rent it out and start getting some income off it. With the refrigerator running out there, at least I have a place to store my excess beer. Also last but far from least, today is our eldest ( I know she hates the term) daughter Rachel. If I remember correctly, Rachel means "beautiful woman" in Hebrew and time has born that out. We still can't figure out how we got such good looking children and grandchildren to boot. It must have been all of that clean living over the years. Lemme see here I think I will throw in a picture here that may show that. This blog picture is Rachel and Jan at the Stuttgart airport. Since this is her blog that will be the only picture this time. Take care and stay in touch.

Lucan warm welcom home

Today I returned to Lucan to participate in a welcome home mission for some National Guard troops. Primarily I wanted to meet Capt. Andrea Ourada who just got home from Iraq. She is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot who has flown plenty of combat sorties. I finally got to meet her at our staging location, asked for a picture and gave her a welcome home hug. I said "I never hugged a Captain before", so she said " then you get two". Andrea is about 5' 4" and maybe a buck ten, I have to get over the idea that you need to be this big muscular person to fly combat aircraft.

Also there was her cousin, who could have been her sister, who just got back from Afghanistan. After a parade into town behind the firetrucks there was a program next to the bank. On the way in the street was lined ( at least 2 blocks) with citizens waving flags and cheering, wow!! After the program we had a short tour of the brewery and some samples. Very tasty that Brau Brew. They are also growing their own hops due to the high cost of hops nowadays. The next event was a drive out to the Ourada farm for lunch. The usual southern Minnesota fare of ham and barbecued pork sandwiches, all the fixings, salads, assorted things to drink and mementos of Andreas' time in Iraq. I have to tell you it was positively worth it to return today. It is fun to hang around with people that are all moving or thinking in the same direction. I'll add some pictures here but you will have to sort them out as I haven't figured out how to label individual pictures.

a day early

I am sorry to get you all thinking about the mission for today but there was a small change. after hustling over to Lucan to meet fellow PGR members for todays big event, I realized that I was the only bike in town. Where the hell is everybody, I asked myself? I was sure that I had the time correct. After a quick peak at the printout I figured out what the deal was. It's tomorrow, you dummy. Oh well, the weather was terrific and the Deuce was running good so I putted on home via Redwood Falls and other small localities. I have ridden farther for less reason than that. Bye.

The yearly Alex run

Today Mom and I made our annual drive to Alexandria to meet with her relatives, I guess that they would be mine also. We also celebrate her aunt Almas' 104th birthday, I think, it is either 104 or 103, anyhow, at a restaurant in Alexandria. It was a "sunny day" ( Annie would like that observation), the roads were quiet and it was cool. After lunch we all went over to one of Moms' cousins' apartment for more talk and some lemonade. Boy those women sure can talk a lot and loud too. I got a couple of pictures to verify that I actually was there, so I will include them here. The right one in Mom and aunt Alma. Alma is as sharp as a tack and gets around pretty good. The upper left photo is of all the inlaws and outlaws. I always take a different route coming home, but you know, all you see on this route is more corn, soy beans and wheat. Some cows and the usual road kill. It does seem as if there is a lot more wheat than in years gone by but after 325 miles I really don't care anymore. Tomorrow the PGR has a welcome home celebratio in Lucan, Mn for some National Guard troops and a lady Blackhawk pilot just back from the Sandbox. I'll let you know how it goes. Good Night and Good Luck.

I'm starting to get the hang of this.

After fooling around for a couple of days, I broke down and watched the tutorial video. I think that now I should be able to add pictures! Shazam.

This picture to the left is of me on Eli and my trip to the Hills in June. It was taken Oakoma, SD. As usual, while working on the computer, the clock runs in fast forward while I watch videos on Military.com and clear out all of the junk mail that has misteriously started to appear there. I must have given out our adress to the wrong location. Rats. We have a PGR mission on Saturday in Lucan, Mn for returning National Guards ( is people correct now?) men. One of which is a female Blackhawk pilot who has been serving in Iraq ( the sandbox). The return missions are always a lot of fun and Lucan has a micro-brewery taht has some tasty brews according to rumors. Take care.

It's Tuesday

Nothing much new today. I ran up to Lake Crystal this morning to check on a recall on the GS, it turns out that there are three on this machine so it will be a couple hour process. One is just software, one is on a brake line routing but the third is gonna be fun. A component in the ignition key sensing unit is going bad and needs to be replaced. Naturally due to the steps taken to thwart thieves it is damn near impossible to remove and replace this item. I wish them good luck. Ron, the shop owner just got back from Sturgis and said attendance was way off this year. Maybe due to fuel costs for the big motorhomes that some drive from all over the country. Also went on to Mankato to price out times for the Focus, 28,000 miles and the original tires are toast. Will run up tomorrow to change. I need to get back to Francesca the 94 Ducati 900 and try some fresh fuel in the tank to see if I can get her to run like she used to. I really don't want to have to take her in the shop as no one works on Ducks for fun. Bye

first post

This site is under construction. I need to get together the items to fill in this page. Today I was on a Patriot Guard mission to East Chain, Mn, to honor a WWll veteran of D-Day and 5 campaigns in Europe. He was awarded both a bronze and a silver star, so we can assume that he did his share. After the war he was a large farmer in the East Chain area according to people that knew him. His wife of 62 years died a couple years ago, so they are back together again. we have a mission tomorrow at Camp Ripley at Little Falls for a vet that just lost his battle with a brain tumor but it sounds like rain and it is a long drive. I try but I just can't get to them all. Sometimes you have to take care of the living also, like my wife, kids and grandchildren. As soon as I figure out how to add content to this page I will be back with more mundane drivel.