tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56099902209982118802024-03-12T20:50:18.704-05:00b52buffsgaragepetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-15944155956076706932023-12-21T15:16:00.001-06:002023-12-21T15:16:33.376-06:00Year end letter around Christmas 2023<p> Sooner or later, I know I need to get this epistle out of my head and onto the page, so to speak. It always seems that Christmas cannot possibly be just a few days away again, but here we are. Gift giving gets less and less prominent than when children and grandchildren were small, so gift cards and desired projects completed stand in for something pretty wrapped in decorative paper. This year it looks as if we may have a snow free Christmas at The Defors' new home in the Lakeville, Minnesota area- you did notice the address. I might as well cut to the chase and get started with January 2023.</p><p> As usual the weather in this part of the country always plays a large part in what is done and what gets done. I see that we started out with heavy snow which means work moving it etc. I was anticipating the arrival of our new Ducati Multistrada, my Christmas present for the next several years, hopefully. Jan, Eli, Leah and I drove up to Richfield to pick up the Duck on the 21st. We did get out to Eli and Lindsey's for football a couple of times, thank God the games were not quite so pathetic as this year. On the 24th I took Jan to Gen's in Rochester. Originally the girls, Jan, Gen and Rachel were going to fly to Savanah, Georgia for a few days get together, but Gen could not go along with Jan to Georgia. Jan had to make the flight to Savanah by herself, with a stop and bad weather in between. Jan met Rachel and granddaughter Annika- finally in Savanah after the flight from hell. They spent a couple days there and then drove to Burke and spent a few days there visiting. In the meantime I was batching at home, a new experience for me, usually it's Jan by herself while I have been traveling or for a training session, but that's not happening anymore. Our next door neighbor Dennis passed away towards the end of the month, that was Leona Shellum's second son to die in two consecutive years!</p><p> February. The 1st I was up to the Cities to the airport to pick up Jan after her return flight from DC. I think that we were both glad to see each other again. She's not real fond of flying, although she did fly out to San Jose to see me once when I was out there for training back in the 80s sometime. The big news on the 3rd was that Eli had passed his final test with the electrical training after five tough years of part time schooling and apprenticeship. We have a few birthdays in February, Annika on the 15th, and Steve and Eli both on the 23rd. The usual doctor appointments, heavy snow falls and working on the bikes, mainly the new Ducati. Lest I forget our anniversary on the 14th was the 52nd. I remember going to 50th anniversary parties for aunts and uncles and, man, they were old, or so it seemed at the time.</p><p> March. Had the taxes done in decent weather and it looks as if most of the rest of the month was cold and snowy with the birthdays of two of our Kuehl girls, Leah on the 9th and Lindsey on the 16th. I had a PGR mission to the new South Dakota Vets cemetery near Sioux Falls on the 24th, that and mounting several tires on Tony, Fritzy and Jack so I can add more miles this coming summer.</p><p> April. This month looks like the weather is trying to make up its mind, as we had some snow and 80 degree temps a few days apart. The conditions were good enough that I managed to get some miles on the bikes and start the break in on the fresh one. On Easter Sunday we had the whole gang minus the Defors meet in Mankato for lunch. The whole gang being, Gen, Sam and Gus Theobald, Eli, Lindsey, Leah and Aaron Kuehl and last but not least Jan and me. Other than Jan getting a new German vacuum cleaner on the 17th it was a slow month.</p><p> May. Out of the blue, Rachel called Jan to wish her happy Mother's Day and also mention that she was near the Cities on her way to the home they just bought in Lakeville!! To say we were shocked would be an understatement. After that the fact that there are several birthdays, on the 19th for Phil and Joe, on the 25th for me. Sadly the 4th would have been Pauls birthday. I had a good doctor's appointment at Mayo, PGR mission to Sioux Falls, Jan and I to Lakeville to check out the Defors' new home. It's in a wooded area on a few acres just off I-35. That baby grand is going to look great in her living room. We were getting pretty good rainfall at this time which turned out to be really needed later.</p><p> June. This month was fairly quiet, some rain, some riding, shopping for a new living room couch to fill in the space when the baby grand goes to Rachel's home. Eli, Leah and I drove up to Buffalo to a car show on the 11th.We did buy a couch at a store in Redwood Falls. It's kind of crowded with the piano still in the living room, but soon the piano will head up to Rachel's. Jan spent time toward the end of the month getting the trailer stocked for our yearly trip to Lanesboro and on the 29th we hitched up and headed down there for a few days.</p><p> July. The first few days of July were spent in Lanesboro camping- I do feel a little silly calling living in our trailer "camping". We had quite a crowd this year as the Defors are back in Minnesota, along with Eli, Lindsey, Leah, Aaron, Gen, Steve, Sam, Gus, Rachel, Joe, Annie, Will and Jan and me of course. Hans stayed home with their new puppy Mabel. Grilling burgers etc., and games prior to the fireworks, which were as big as always. I got to some PGR missions along with riding southeastern Minnesota roads during our time near Lanesboro. Aaron's birthday is on the 10th and Laura's is on the 23rd. That about sums up the month of July.</p><p> August. This month started out hot but with some rain, which has been arriving at beneficial times this Summer. Me biking to some PGR missions at assorted locations in this area, and Jan and I getting to some soccer games for the Theobald boys. Rachels' birthday on the 18th and attending the Butterfield Threshing Bee which usually falls at the same time. I did have a biopsy taken of a spot on my lip that was reported as non-malignant the first time. I also made a short run out to Wall with the new Ducati, Vince, just for an overnight stay and returned through the Bad Lands. I spent an evening with Eli, Leah and Aaron out at the Petroglyphs for a meteor shower. We did manage to see a few while lying on the sun warmed rocks after dark.</p><p> September. I hate to sound like a repeating record, but it was above 90 for several days here again. Leah got her motorcycle permit and Aaron got his drivers permit so now they're legal, kind of. Hans' birthday is on the 5th, Gen and Steve's anniversary on the 6th, and Eli and Lindsey's anniversary on the 9th, kind of a busy week there. I had some more tests done on the 14th and headed west to Murdo the next day in the afternoon. I headed back west through the Badlands in the morning. It must have been because of the time of the morning but it was really beautiful because of the light, I guess. I spent that night in Buffalo, Wyoming and did my Bighorn loop opposite from the route I usually take and again caught the light on the west side of the Bighorns at a special time. From Sheridan to Gillette on old 14, except for the crossroads of Ucross it's a lonely stretch of hiway, to Wall for the night. I was home the next day in the afternoon. Jan and I got to the Defors for football one Sunday and there are the usual shopping trips to New Ulm and Mankato. </p><p> October. I was having some physical therapy and another trip to the Gonda building in Rochester to a different doctor in dermatology for another biopsy on my lip, this time it's skin cancer. So I'm scheduled for Mohs surgery in the very near future. Anyhow, PGR missions, 4" of rain one day and William's birthday on the 14th, also Sam's on the 23rd along with Phil and Laura's anniversary on the same day. Oh, before I forget the closest one to me is Jan's birthday on the 22nd. The Mohs surgery on the 30 was unusual, they keep shaving slices off until they get to clean tissue. In between you sit and wait for pathology to clear you, with us about 45 minutes or so. I got to go home after 3 trips to the chair, not fun but I'm getting used to the outpatient side of things. The evening before my surgery Gus got his first buck with a bow a pretty good-sized prize. He also bagged a turkey this Spring, so he is the great white hunter of the group.</p><p> November. Jan's sister Paula's birthday is on the 4th and on the 8th, Eli bagged a 9- or 10-point buck in his own grove, also a good-sized prize. Both Gus and Eli's deer were their first, I wish I could claim the 4 or 5 that I have hit with the vehicles that I am driving. Now that Rachel and family are back in the state, we are making trips to Lakeville not just to visit the string of bike shops, but to their home. In addition, to Rochester for Mayo visits, sports events and the Theobald's for Thanksgiving again this year, it's always a special time. Of note, shortly before Thanksgiving Annie got her driving permit, leaving William as the only un-permitted grandchild. On one of our shopping trips to New Ulm, I had Buff backed into in the Hy Vee parking lot. It looks as if almost $7000 to fix what looks like a bad parking lot fender bender. The last date that needs flagging is Hans and Rachel's wedding anniversary, on the 29th.</p><p> December. Jan and I spent the first few days of the month in Wadena with Jan's sister Paula. They went thrift shopping and I finished off another book. I did manage to put some more miles on Vinny when the temperatures were not too bad. This has been a pretty temperate Fall so far. On the 9th we were up to Wooddale church in the Cities to hear their concert because this year Rachel and Annie are singing with the choir, along with Rachel's mother-in-law Donna Defor. As usual it was quite a production, with the choir, a full orchestra, and guest star performers on stage. The only downer to the evening was making my way, in the dark with snow, slippery roads and traffic. We were very glad to pull into the garage let me tell you. After that I had Vinny out and turned him over to 7000 miles, and it rained all day the next day! Jan has been making several return trips to New Ulm for various treatments for pain and now she's trying acupuncture with assorted results, hopefully there is relief somewhere down the road. I have one last birthday in the year, it's Marcy on the 30th.</p><p> So that does it for 2023, a mostly slanted viewpoint of the previous years' events by my records. I'm writing this on the first day of Winter and the ground is still bare and the temperature is not too bad. Frankly the idea that you need to be waist deep in snow to have a Merry Christmas is a myth, believe me there are folks in warmer climes that are not enjoying the season. Ducking for cover often moves the appreciation for the Christmas season to second place. I'm going to add here what our grandchildren are up to in the coming year. Josiah will be finishing his junior college, Annika and Leah will graduate from high school, Samuel will finish his junior year, August and Aaron will finish sophomore year, and last but not least William will finish eighth grade. Despite all of the depression and disappointment that run rampant this time of the year, we need to step back and remember what we are really celebrating at Christmas, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. So, Merry Christmas everyone and lets' hope for a good coming year 2024.</p><p> Peter S. Kuehl </p><p> 21 December 2023 </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-85466319314238467082022-12-23T20:09:00.000-06:002022-12-23T20:09:06.142-06:00 Our Christmas Letter 2022 part 2<p> If you have read my previous letter, you may have noticed that it stopped at the halfway point of the year the month of June. So, this part, logically will begin with July 2022.</p><p> July</p><p> On the first Jan and I took the trailer back to Lanesboro for a few days, continuing our tradition at Eagle Cliffs campground. Things took a downturn the next day, when we received word that my youngest brother, Paul had passed away in Duluth at 1545 in the afternoon. I did a blog before these Christmas letters with my feelings on his passing, so take a look at that blog for more detail. After that news we did our usual routine, with the fireworks at the campground with the Theobalds, me getting some riding and Jan relaxing with the trailer. We did leave the trailer with Eli, Lindsey, Leah and Aaron and they moved to another campground by Preston for a few more days in that area. Aarons' birthday was on the 10th, wow 14 already and moving up to MVL for his freshman year. The rest of the month was pretty regular summer stuff, although Jan spent some time pricing items for a garage sale for Paul and Marcy's things here at their home in St. James.</p><p> August</p><p> This was a fairly average month for us, with doctor appointments, Paul's estate sale and my almost annual Wyoming loop bike trip. Rachel also celebrated her birthday on the 18th while I was on the road somewhere in Wyoming, come to think of it. We had a wake for Paul at Bailey's in Ormsby on the 20th followed by scattering his ashes on the ball diamond in Odin. Jan and I did go to a few soccer games for Sam and Gus at various locations in eastern Minnesota. I see that I did start some maintenance work on our 94 Ducati, to get her out of cold storage and back on the road somewhat. Jan and I had lunch at the thrift store in Mountain Lake where our granddaughter, Leah, was working the lunch counter. Joe started college at NOVA and Annie and William headed to Robinson High School. So much for August.</p><p> September</p><p> More soccer for Sam and Gus, Hans' birthday on the 5th and a few doctors' visits and my longest ride of the year. I was going to head out to southern Utah but reconsidered while on the way, ending up in southwestern Colorado again. I rode a route from Grand Junction to Norwood, Colorado that was a scenic surprise that I am going to ride again. Heading east from Montrose on a 31 degree morning and the stretch from Sterling to home in one pass. Oh ya, there was a mouse in my room at Sterling, and a recall on the BMW at Sioux City later in the month. </p><p> October</p><p> October is a month with a few birthdays in our family, with William DeFor on the 14th, Jan Kuehl, my other half on the 22nd and Sam Theobald on the 23rd, I think that about covers it. Jan and I had grandparents' day at MVL with Leah and Aaron on the 13th and 14th, and more soccer games with Sam and Gus. I am also taking some tests to see if some of my health problems might be caused by my service in the USAF, time will tell, I guess. Towards the end of the month, I made a short run out to the Hills before the weather gets too cold for trips like that, also turned the BMW over to 70k miles along there. Earlier in the month we had a killing frost that froze the green leaves on the trees before they had a chance to fall off, kind of unusual to say the least. </p><p> November</p><p> It seems like a lot of November is getting ready for what comes next in this part of the world, just like death and taxes. I had a VA test at the hospital in Spirit Lake, Iowa on veterans' day of all days, after which Jan and I drove up to Mankato for the usual freebees. MVL also has a very nice veteran's day program every year that I have been to since Leah, and now Aaron attend high school there. I did some maintenance work on the Triumph, changed oil on the Mustang, which also got a fresh set of tires. Believe me 265/35/20s are not cheap! A nice touch was that the day after the pleasant weather tire change, we got 6 inches of snow, so the GT went into storage for the winter. Rachel and Hans celebrated their 20th anniversary, can't hardly believe it's been that long since that magical wedding ceremony at the Conservatory!</p><p> December</p><p> The 2nd of December was a big day. The new B-21 stealth bomber was revealed, Eli reaches the milestone of 8k hours in his quest to be allowed to test up to the next level as an electrician and I-we, ordered another Ducati Multi Strada. Jan and I had lunch at our bank in Ormsby. Mars, which has really been on display this fall slid behind the full moon on the 8th, quite a sight. We actually made the drive to Chatfield one Monday night to watch Sam and Gus play basketball, diving right from soccer to basketball. Hopefully the weather will cooperate the next few months and we'll be able to see some of their games good Lord willing. As I am writing this final installment, it is at a -41-degree wind chill with a blizzard warning until sometime on Saturday, the day before Christmas. This year we are to gather at Eli and Lindsey's home for Christmas, hopefully this weather moderates somewhat by then. Tonight, it is a day later and if anything, the weather is worse than last night! Jan and I pretty much stayed indoors and putzed with things, as the internet was down from the night before. You never know how much you depend on the internet this time of the year until it is not working. Things are looking somewhat murky with Christmas this year, with the weather being such a beast, I guess we will have to see what tomorrow brings. I find it kind of depressing, that so much time and effort are put into celebrating Christ's birthday. I imagine it would be somewhat unorthodox to maybe celebrate some other time of the year. After all we are celebrating His birth not just the day. The important thing is that He was born for us on a day sometime in the year. The actual date is really immaterial, we have just chosen the 25th of December to remember His birthday. So, with that I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, may our next trip around the sun be a good one.</p><p> Pete Kuehl 2200 12-23-2022 </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-85937913341647351022022-12-13T17:31:00.000-06:002022-12-13T17:31:27.566-06:00The Christmas letter from my viewpoint 2022<p> It's that time of year again to look back and try to put down a reasonable facsimile of Pete and Jan's year in a blog format. I keep smaller and smaller records of what we have been up to during the year, so this epistle gets shorter every year. I will be laying out a month by month listing of weather and events in our lives, primarily from my viewpoint as the author. Someday Jan should be doing this as she has a blow-by-blow account of everything that has happened to us and our families a day at a time for years. So, now that I have that off of my chest, I will start off with the first month of the year. </p><p> January</p><p> This month starts and finishes pretty much like all of the rest of the January's I have been through in the upper Midwest- cold and snowy. In between Jan and I made do with some basketball games, trips to New Ulm, Mankato and Rochester for assorted reasons. Rach got her Mercedes "truck". My brother Paul ended up in Rochester with covid that was touch and go for quite a while, but he did make a miraculous recovery that time. See my previous blog about him and his struggle with ALS.</p><p> February</p><p> February was busy, judging from my notes, with doctor visits, basketball for Sam and Gus, moving snow etc. etc.. Jan and I did celebrate our 51st on Valentine's Day, also birthdays for Annika who turned 16, Eli and Steve (Scuba), so it's a pretty busy month. Things like these tend to keep my mind off the cold and snow that need to be dealt with, and the lack of warm enough weather that keeps me from riding at all. Due to that fact a lot of the maintenance gets accomplished this time of year. Paul remains in Rochester, so Jan and I are checking the mail and the home for them.</p><p> March </p><p> Kind of unique this month but all our girls' birthdays were on Tuesdays this month, with Leah turning 16, Lindsey a little more and Genevieve some more too. Typically, after complaining about the weather, I see that I had some bikes out for short runs toward the middle of the month. We had thunderstorms with snow and plain thunderstorms and snow, taxes, another stress test for me and dog sitting for the Theobalds while they took a spring break trip. Other than that, just another month off the old calendar.</p><p> April</p><p> April started off with bad news for our neighbor Leona, she got the news that her son Steve had passed away on her 95th birthday. Jan and I attended his funeral at Saint Olaf in rural Odin later in the month. St. Olaf is another local church that I have never visited along with Waverly, both nearby to Ormsby. Other than that, the rest of the month was cold alternating with winds and some rain and riding weather. The Theobald boys Sam and Gus are starting the soccer season already, with a game in Rochester at 30 degrees, burr. Aaron had his confirmation exam on the 24th and Gen ran a marathon in Cincinatti on the 29th. After the marathon she flew to Nashville to meet with Rachel, who was flying in from DC, which pretty much wraps this month up.</p><p> May</p><p> May is the big month for the boys in the family, with Paul on the 4th, Phil and Joe on the 19th and me on the 25th. Rachel and Gen spent the first few days of May in Nashville being tourists. After the 30-degree soccer game the end of April, Jan and I were back in Rochester on the 4th in sunny 65-degree weather. After some routine medical visits, I headed back to Wall for a couple of nights, so that I could ride into the airshow at Ellsworth and back and have a shorter ride home the following morning. A word of advice, if you should attend an airshow that has an F-22 demonstration, bring earplugs, it's extremely loud! Jan and I were back to Mayo for another follow up with my team there, things are still looking okay so far. I ran the Mustang up to Duluth to see Sam play in a soccer game and a short visit with Paul at the Solvay House in Duluth. Little did I know that would be the last time I would ever see him in this life. Our life went on pretty much like what passes for normal here, mowing the lawn, riding, maintenance on vehicles, and waiting for the frequent rain to let up. Aaron graduated from St. Paul's school here in town on the 26th, it hardly seems possible that he's gone through 9 years of schooling there starting with kindergarten. Jan worked with that class for several years as a teacher's assistant helping with subjects, so she got to know that gang pretty well over the years.</p><p> June</p><p> Number one grandson Joe graduated from high school and is furthering his education at NOVA, plus Gus is moving on to Lourdes, plus Eli finished his last year of electrician training. I started the month putting tires on the BMW GS and Jan and I went to Sherburn to see the new Top Gun movie, it was pretty good. I recall that we saw the first version of it in Rapid City and my mom was along, so it's been a while back. Of note, I hit a buzzard while riding near Waseca, not fun. A note, if you are riding on the upwind side of a road and approach buzzards or for that matter any large birds be careful, they will always take off into the wind, regardless of what hazard is coming down the road. Luckily, I managed to duck and I only lost my turn signal arm and cracked a trim piece, could have been a lot worse. I attended a funeral of a guy that had hit a flying turkey and been fatally injured by the strike in the head. Soccer game visits, more medical checkups and of course riding, including a spin on some local gravel roads with our granddaughter Leah on our bikes. Jan and I met Rachel who was in Minnesota for a business trip in Bloomington. We drove to Rochester and met Eli and Gen, and attended a soccer game among other things.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-39642388059316735032022-08-29T19:59:00.002-05:002022-08-29T19:59:54.171-05:00Paul<p> My brother Paul passed from this life to the next on July the 3rd at 3:45 pm in Duluth, Minnesota. Paul was born in Triumph, Minnesota on May 4th, 1953, and lived a majority of his life in this area. Due to the fact that Paul was nine years younger than me we did not spend a lot of time together until he was in his teens I guess. In the late sixties and early seventies, we spent some bike trips and camping time with each other. In 1974 Jan and I drove to California to give him a ride home from our sisters home in Oakdale. He had spent the winter working at the prison where she was employed. The route home took us to the Hearst Castle, Disney Land and the Grand Canyon. We decided then that we would return to hike to the bottom in 1975. The first part of August 1974, Paul and I were out in The Hills dirt biking when we got the call the Jan had gone into labor with our first, Rachel, we packed up and drove all night to get home only to find out it was a false alarm, Rachel did not arrive until the 18th. Spring 1975 found us arriving in a snowstorm and spending the night in the back of his Mustang before starting down the next morning on snowy trails. We spent a couple days in the canyon, had a few beers at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom, before swinging down to Mexico and back to Minnesota. Paul played fast pitch softball with Odin for several years and caught most of the time back in the days when lots of people showed up for the games and our mom worked the concession stand. We had a long history with softball because our dad both played with and managed the team in Ormsby, just a couple miles from Odin which were huge rivals back in the day. After Paul married Marcy in 1987, we went our separate ways so to speak with them moving to the Twin Cities area and then to Duluth.</p><p> This next part is going to be something I have been dreaming up on my bike trips, you have a lot of time to work on subjects while droning down the interstate. It is going to be my vision of his arrival at the next stop in his life cycle, Heaven.</p><p> Paul is riding in the passenger train of life when he arrives at his stop at 3:45 pm on July the 3rd 2022. His guardian angel says, "here's your stop Paul" and helps him off the train onto the platform at the station. When they step to the platform Paul finds that he is 25 and in perfect health again! His angel says, "well here you are, there are people to greet you, and I've got to go, there is one just being born, and they are going to need me". Paul turns and Jesus is there to welcome him home and show him off the platform and on to the welcoming committee. Mom and dad, Kathy and Howard plus several cousins too. The train carrying brothers Pete and Phil has left the station and continued on towards their stops in the future. Attached to the station is a wood shop that is fully equipped with every wood working tool known to man and in the distance, Paul can see green fields as far as the eye can see just waiting to be cultivated and harvested in their time. Beyond the corn fields far away are lights around a ball diamond that will need to be visited for sure, and maybe a nearby John Deere dealer too. It looks as if a person could spend an eternity here, and that's what he will do. </p><p> This is just my version of what a person's heaven will be like. Everyone that arrives there should have their own heaven within reason of course. This fictional tale is not biblical I'm sure, but just the author's optional reality. </p><p> </p><p> </p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-72810875543854321722021-12-19T11:54:00.002-06:002021-12-19T12:01:29.172-06:00Christmas in the year of our Lord 2021<p> It took me a while to figure out how to post a new blog after being out of practice since February. I think that they change the format just to prove that they can. This should be a rather abbreviated version of our year and as usual a lot of it is from my perspective since I'm writing it. So suffer along with me as I account for 2021.</p><p> January. I started on one of my Winter projects to keep me busy during the non riding months. This one involves wood paneling and fresh paint in the upstairs garret room. Luckily years back I purchased a power miter saw and a trim nailing gun which greatly simplified the project. Jan and I made the usual shopping trips to stores in the area and I made a preliminary visit to doctor Birkholtz about my upcoming cataract surgery. And it was probably cold and snowy. </p><p> February. I had several doctor appointments for check-ups and actual surgeries for both of my cataracts. I had both done for distance vision and the improvement was amazing but it leaves me still wearing glasses for reading etc., so sometimes I wonder if I made the correct choice, but that's just me. I see that we had a long string of below zero nights in February too. Oh yes, Jan and I celebrated our 50th on Valentines day. If you reference my previous blog you can see a more elaborate accounting of events so to speak. Several birthdays are also celebrated this month also, Annika on the 15th, Eli and Scuba on the 23rd and Gus on the 27th. </p><p> March. March dawned with some nice temperatures so I got some riding in along with bike maintenance. I did manage to get my first covid vaccination at the VA in Shakopee with a follow up later on. Jan and I made a drive to the Theobalds to see their new addition Maya, what a sweetheart. Also more birthdays this month, Leah on the 9th, Lindsey on the 16th and Genevieve on the 30th. Unusual they all fell on Tuesdays this year.</p><p> April. This time of the year we see the weather bouncing all over the place with teens one day and 80s a couple days later, so I got some riding in. I had a good check up with my EMT group at Mayo and Jan made a trip to the ER in New Ulm one night complaining about her heart, which led to a stress test later on in April that was okay. I see that one day we had some snow and I mowed the lawn, not sure in which order that occurred. Along here my brother Paul is looking at a townhome in St. James. He plans to move here from Duluth in the future so brother Phil and I have looked it over. After discovering a lot of water damage in our trailer that long term project got started out at Eli and Lindsey's farm. A section of the roof needed to be replaced and the whole front end sheet metal had to come off to get at the rotted wood underneath.</p><p> May. Pretty much working on the trailer, assorted maintenance of vehicles etc.. Jan had started quite a lot of plants for the expanded garden that was being planned and we got a lot of them in the ground at the farm, believe me the tomatoes were enjoyed much later this year. May is also a busy month for birthdays with Paul on the 4th, Phil and Joe on the 19th and mine on the 25th. </p><p> June. I am still working on the trailer water problem with an assist from Eli of course. We are making progress on the rot and leaking roof, luckily it has been indoors in one of the sheds at the farm, so it is staying dry in the meantime. June looks like Jan's medical month with a trip to the emergency room in New Ulm and a trip to Abbot in the Twin Cities to check on a growth in her lung. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Edina and used Uber to get back and forth from Abbot for the first time, it works pretty slick. Abbot is located in a rather sketchy part on Minneapolis and this was during the "mostly peaceful" riots just up the street from there. I had been getting in as much riding as possible and getting to a few Patriot Guard missions too.</p><p> July. July was pretty much Jan's month for medical visits, with a trip to the emergency room in New Ulm and a return visit to Abbot in the Cities. This time it was to remove the growth from her lung. The doctor, who looked about 19, said about the growth "you will probably die with it not from it" which is a good thing. Other than that I was getting some riding in and attending Patriot Guard missions in the area. Also Aaron's birthday on the 10th.</p><p> August. The usual assorted doctor visits for Jan and I. We did have both our son-in-law Hans home for a couple days and then Rachel for a few more. I did ride down into Iowa to look at how they have recovered from The Derecho storm that hit there in 2020. Still a mess in some places but making progress on a major storm that was practically unreported outside of the upper midwest. After I discovered that one of the B-52's that I had been on over Viet Nam in 1966 was a gate guard at Whiteman AFB in Missouri I made a visit on a warm day. I took the GT this time though. Jan and I drove to the Black Hills for a few days at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge, always a nice place to stay and dine right across the road at the Latchstring. The stay at the lodge and a gift certificate at the Common Grounds, a restaurant in Spearfish were 50th anniversary gifts from Rachel, Gen and Eli. So, thanks again you three. Rachel celebrated her birthday here on the 18th.</p><p> September. I must not have made any note of it but sometime this Summer I got rid of a couple of bikes and turned around and bought another BMW, so I'm down one. I had another good check-up with the ENT department at Mayo and headed out on a long bike ride that was going to Utah but ended up in southern Colorado. This was to be kind of an experiment on getting fed with no teeth while on the road. Actually it did not go too bad allowing for my toothless handicap. The ride went good compared with the ride last September when I got caught in cold temperatures and snow in the Hills while making my escape from Wyoming. Our son-in-law's Han's birthday was the 5th.</p><p> October. Jan and I did get to some soccer games this Fall and trips to the dermatologist more than once to various parts removed and repaired. Other than that it was a pretty quiet month with the two of us spending some time with Jan's sister at Wadena the end of October. Not that quiet though with birthdays for William on the 14th, Jan on the 22nd and Sam on the 23rd.</p><p> November. Started with Jan and I and the Theobalds to the State Soccer Tournament at the Viking's stadium in the Cities. Sam's team played under the lights. I rode to Sioux Falls one Saturday and the next it was cold and snowy so it's that time of year again. We had Thanksgiving at Gen and Steve's house again this year with a house full of people. It' good to be getting back to some semblance of normal. I put the Mustang away for the winter and did manage to get a bike out one last time, maybe.</p><p> December. What a month! 10 to 12 inches of snow on the 10th and rain and tornados on the 15th! These were the first recorded tornados in history in Minnesota in December. We are living in interesting times to be sure. Jan and I are getting to some basketball games now so that's fun. We will be attending a gathering in Edina for Christmas this year again after a break last year of course. Other than that I have been doing a couple projects around the house for Jan, just some shelves and adding some lighting in the basement. It looks like I may make it through this year without another cancer surgery after two last year, a record I do not want to repeat. So we finish out this year trying to remember what we are really celebrating amid all of the hustle and bustle, anxiety and depression is Christ's Birthday. Try and relax, count your blessings and love each other as easy or hard as that might be. With any luck we'll see you next year.</p><p> Pete Kuehl 19 December 2021</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-1247307982963827442021-02-14T13:19:00.000-06:002021-02-14T13:19:07.014-06:00To Jan from Pete on our 50th or the Girl With the Thunderbird Tattoo<p> I have been thinking a lot about how I would compose this note for some time now, for at one time I had no idea we would arrive at this point in time but here we are. 50 years married to each other, who would have thought? I think I may tell a little about our time together, how we met etc..</p><p> I first met Jan in Ormsby on a blind date lined up by some friends of mine that knew Jan from Jackson votech school. We had a get together at Bill Peterson's home in St. James that evening and I took Jan home to the family farm near Alpha. She was impressed by my 69 Mustang Mach 1 and my collection of 8 track tapes, going from Henry Mancini to Johnny Cash. We talked a lot, which is unusual for me, listened to a lot of music and rolled unto her farm about 4 am. From that beginning we dated through the Summer and Fall and I gave her a ring on Christmas Eve before church in Ormsby in 1970, to the decision to marry on Valentine's Day the next year. To us it was why wait, we love each other and want to spend as much time together as possible, so the date was set. February in Minnesota the weather can be iffy and the night before the big day, Saturday, was not nice and we had had a lot of snow to boot. Sunday dawned clear and warmer which we took as a good omen which has turned out to be prophetic. We were married at Trinity Lutheran church in Alpha Minnesota on February 14th 1971 in an afternoon service, to a reception in the basement, to a party at the farm, to the Holiday Inn in North Mankato. The next day it was to our apartment In Waconia and then to Duluth for a night in February no less. There is a lot of filler after that with a couple long bike trips with brothers and friends and weekends back home at the farm or Ormsby until we get to the start of our second chapter, our family.</p><p> From Jan throwing up in her popcorn at the drive in in Navarre, to Waconia Ridgeview later that night, to seeing Rachel for the first time shortly there after. Life really does change forever when you have children if you are paying attention. After Rachel was born in Waconia we moved to Saint James for a job transfer for me.</p><p>The three of us did do some traveling, camping at Nemo and visiting The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone when Rachel was a year or two old. Jan, in addition to her homemaker tasks worked a couple other jobs to stay busy. In 1978 we, pretty much she, produced Genevieve to add to our clutch of children, followed in 1980 by Eli completing that part of the saga. In addition to taking care of three children and an older individual, me, she started working at Watonwan county Human Services and working toward a degree from Mankato State part time. She graduated with honors in 2008. Jan is the family record keeper and shoulder to cry on, my confidant and lover, anchor in the storms of our lives and home decorator too. You have no idea how hard it is to try and condense 50 years together into a bunch of words on a page when the most important words are stuck in my heart and I find difficult to express with my limited vocabulary. I just want the world to know that I have been blessed with a life with a woman that I never expected would ever happen to me, blessed with seven terrific grandchildren and two sons and a daughter in law that are like our own. She has put up with a husband that likes to travel, has medical problems and is forgetful of important things but not trivia. This note is more or less random thoughts that I keep coming up with as you may have noticed. We did get to Japan twice and Germany once visiting Rachel and family with her Navy husband Hans, with many trips to the Black Hills and Colorado too. I got to thinking yesterday as we were returning from getting my covid shot, how we hold hands quite a lot while I'm driving so I get to explore her hand by feel. Silly things like that. Advice like, try not to go to bed mad at each other, watch what you say because it can't be unsaid. Today, the 14th it was -16 when I got up a little cooler than in 1971 when it was 60 degrees warmer. I think that said that this is the coldest Valentines day in history. So much for global warming. I started out trying to put down a history of our time together but there was so much packed into that 50 years that I couldn't do it justice. You just had to live it, the ups and downs, but mostly ups. Our answer is to love each other and be comfortable with one another. You only get one chance at this life so you should do your best to make your partner your main object in this time on God's green Earth. Hopefully I'll get to do this in 10 years but you never know. </p><p><br /></p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-32303154257748077062020-12-19T17:00:00.001-06:002020-12-19T17:00:20.927-06:00Christmas 2020 <p> This Christmas post will be shorter than previous years for sure, with assorted surgeries and the covid pandemic keeping us close to home for the most part. </p><p> January was pretty normal with Jan and I attending basketball games for Sam, Gus, Leah and Aaron and several medical appointments in New Ulm and Fairmont. Jan was getting a knee replaced and I had another sleep study. Also typically this time of the year there was lots of blowing snow and cold and for us things started to go down hill. I had a loose tooth pulled which led to another cancer surgery in March, in the mean time I helped some with the Falcon project.</p><p> February. Seems like a theme here, doctor appointments and basketball, heavy snow and moving snow from one location to another. I did get some pt for a sore leg muscle and a new cpap machine which was a huge improvement over the one I got years ago. Jan and I celebrated our 49th on the 14th and are looking forward to our 50th next February. Who'd a thought that was possible. Jan and I did kind of commute to Austin for Sam's basketball tournament for a couple of days. </p><p> March. I got to some more basketball games at Byron and Stewartville. On the 4th Jan had her left knee replaced at New Ulm by a doctor that looks like she could be in high school, that must be an effect of growing old, most of the doctors we see these days look like kids. Speaking of that, the doctor I'm looking at for cataract surgery has the same birthday as our youngest, Eli. Anyhow they had Jan up and walking the halls later on the day she had the replacement done. Just a couple days later I got to bring her home to stay. We were to Mayo in Rochester for a biopsy of the place where the tooth came out and it's cancer again, so I was looking at more cutting in my mouth. Eli got the Falcon painted a grey color with a black stripe, so that project is moving along. I was back to Rochester for some more tests, ct and pet scans and a meet with the surgeon. Looks like it should be an outpatient procedure so there is that. Anyhow Eli and I spent the night at Gen and Steve's so I could be at St. Mary's by zero dark 30. Took more teeth, part of the sinus, and a 20mm tumor out of my upper jaw and let me go home after noon. Had the 2 week recovery as usual, so both Jan and I are on the mend. Actually I managed to just get that done about the time that everything shut down for the covid panic. One bright spot, at least we had some nice weather intermittently in March, so there is that I guess.</p><p> April. We are still recovering from our surgeries, slowly and with care. Jan's knee seems to be coming along nicely and she is back vacuuming with her regular schedule. I managed to get the Mustang out of the garage and do some short bike rides, but in the middle of the month we had a regular blizzard with high wind and 10 inches of snow. I did a shelf project in the basement so Jan had some more room to store things. About a week after the snow storm it was 70 degrees so we drove down to Ormsby to pick up supper at Bailey's, then went out to the old ball diamond to eat in the truck. As a child I spent a lot of time there while my Dad played and managed for the Ormsby softball team, today the fences are gone and the infield is getting weedy but the shelter is still up. I finished up the month with some riding on some of the toys.</p><p> May. Jan and I on the way to New Ulm on the 4th saw the first corn sprouting which is about the earliest I can remember seeing this indicator of a good corn crop, assuming good conditions from now on. I trailered the GS to Sioux City for his Spring check up etc.. The next day we had everybody, excepting our east coast family, the DeFors, over for lunch, the first time we have been together since Christmas last year. Me back to Mayo for a covid test and back two days later to meet with the orthodontist after my March surgery for a check up. Why covid tests can't be done right here in town at the local Mayo facility is evidently above my pay grade. We got a lot of rain this month as is indicated by the frequency of the mowing of the lawn. In the last few days of May, after my 76th on the 25th, I rode my "Wyoming Loop" trip. I have done this almost every year lately. From home to Spearfish, to Buffalo, to Chamberlain and home the next day. I hit unusual weather in the Hills that trip, from Newcastle through Custer State Park it was very foggy and cold. </p><p> June. The first half of the month was pretty quiet, mowing lawn and running errands. Jan was mowing at the farm and I was mowing at home. I did take a run to New Mexico with the Mustang to visit some of the sites that the Longmire tv series was filmed at. I had intended to take a bike but a worn tire forced me to change my mode of travel. We had a lot more rain and Jan and I were out to the farm, with her mowing and me working on the Falcon wiring part of the project.</p><p> July. As usual we start the month with our yearly trip to Lanesboro with the trailer to "camp" and take in their fantastic fireworks show. I did manage to get to a PGR mission at the state veteran's cemetery right up the road at Preston, it was really hot that day. After we got back home, Eli, Lindsey and the kids took the trailer over to Lake Shetek for a few days. So at least it's getting some use. I took the Mustang to Mankato to replace the windshield that got cracked near Amarillo, Texas on my Longmire tour earlier this year. I think that we have replaced windshields in almost every vehicle we have owned in the last few years. We had some heavy rain toward the end of the month 4-5 inches with flooding in the area.</p><p> August. I made a short run out to the Hills to check out the Mickelson trail conditions. After Gen and her friends walked the whole 100 plus miles of the trail last year I was inspired to try and bicycle the distance in the future so I was curious about the surface conditions, also an excuse for another ride to the Hills. Jan and I were out to the farm a couple nights for meteor showers and planet viewing, that was fun with the gang. Jan has been out to the farm mowing grass a lot lately and I actually had my XR185 out some for the first time in years. I rode down to central Iowa to check out the storm damage from the derecho that roared through that area. It was unbelievable the amount of damage, corn fields flat for miles, grain bins in pieces scattered about and groves either flat, uprooted or tipped over. I've never seen anything that wide spread or violent looking ever! </p><p> September. Jan and I were to Rochester for Sam's soccer game and the next day I started packing for another bike trip, for a play by play look at my previous blog. It did not turn out so well. After I recovered from that fiasco Jan and I returned to Rochester for some more Sam and Gus's soccer games. I did make a swing down to the SAC Museum at Ashland, Nebraska with the intent of going farther west out of there, but I could not find a place to stay and ended up almost back in Sioux Falls. That's one thing this year lodging has not been too difficult but scaring up a meal indoors has not been easy. Spent several meals eating on the curb or picnic tables if they are available. Phil and Laura, Jan and I did a cemetery cruise on the 29th, which would have been our Mom's 100th. We visited Mom, Dad and Kathy's grave sites at Cedar Hill west of Trimont and Mom's parents at Welcome, and our grandparents at the Galena cemetery. It was a good day to check out headstones to try and figure out who is who and what happened at that point in time.</p><p> October. Jan and I drove up to Wadena to spend a couple days with her sister Paula. One day the girls went shopping in Alexandria and I went out to Aneta, North Dakota where I spend some time over 50 years ago inventorying the plant in that exchange and also in the West Northwood exchange which had maybe half a dozen lines at that time, it was pretty remote. Jan and I were out to the farm some, her mowing and pulling weeds, me helping with the Falcon project. Jan and I drove over to Waseca or Officer Matson's return home from months of rehab after being shot in the head in the line of duty. We visited my Mayo doctor Martin for another check and more biopsies in my mouth and another ct scan. We did move our trailer out to the farm to get it under cover for the winter, hopefully the mice will be deterred by the dryer sheets. It has been uncommonly cold during this period with high temps in the teens and snow. I got the bad news again while I was at a PGR mission near Meriden, it's cancer, no surprise anymore. This will be number 5 or 6 I'm losing track anymore. This time it's on the lower left side and will entail removing a portion of my jaw and all of my remaining teeth. Jan and I spent a day cruising Goodwill stores in St. Paul looking for a set of dishes she saw in one of her vlogs, with no luck, but we had fun. </p><p> November. The weather turned nice and warm with one day hitting 80 degrees. We were back to Mayo for more information on how this round will go and I'm not looking forward to this one either. We did have some regular things going on, I got the Triumph to 10,000 miles, Jan got a new phone and the GS to 50,000 miles so there is that. On the 10th I was over to Mayo for the required covid test and on the 12th it was back to St. Mary's for the surgery. After all that cutting and sawing and stitching my mouth back together they ran me out shortly after lunch. Doctor Martin said with the way the hospital was jammed up with covid cases I would be safer at home with my anti biotics and painkillers. To add insult to injury Jan had to drive me home on roads that were extremely slippery, like 40mph in falling snow, but we made it. When we got home we found the driveway blown out by Eli and Lindsey and company, that was a welcome sight. The next major obstacle is trying to figure out how to eat and speak with no teeth in your mouth. As it turns out eating is just a matter of choosing softer foods and making sure that they are mashed up. One thing that is hard for me to deal with is the idea that I will never eat popcorn, peanuts, chips etc. again, not so much the taste but the texture of these things. Speaking turns out was not that bad either not that I was some great orator to begin with, I don't think that the hands free phone calling in our vehicle knows me anymore though. I spent the rest of the month recovering. Jan and I did celebrate Thanksgiving by ourselves for the first time ever I think.</p><p> December. I have managed to whip up a couple of dishes that make good leftovers like 6 layer dinner, one of my Mom's favorites and chili in the crockpot. It seems like these always get better the more they are reheated and I can just shovel them in and swallow. I thought that I would be on this extended weight loss program but it's been exactly the opposite, probably indulging in ice cream frequently isn't helping. I have taken a few drives just to compensate for being cooped up and doing some bike maintenance to keep busy. I have to admit that up until my latest surgery the covid did not worry me too much but afterwards we have been staying pretty close to home for fear of picking something up while I'm recovering. I did go into Menards this week for the first time inside a business in almost 6 weeks. Jan and I will be home for Christmas too and who knows when our governor Kim Jun Walz will allow us out of homes, maybe by this time next year? Better not be. Well, it's been quite a year for sure, but this time in mid December finds our family separated but in good health and longing to be able to touch another person, not that I'm ever getting tired of holding Jan, but you know what I mean. Maybe without all of the hoopla surrounding this time of year normally we can a little more easily pay some attention to the real reason for Christmas and contemplate what His birth means for us all? So Merry Christmas and a Happy 2021 for us one and all. I hope that this time next year finds us all in a better place. Pete Kuehl 19 December 2020.</p><p>PS The end of this year finds those of us not retired gainfully employed: Hans at the Pentagon, Rachel with a new job in Lofton, VA, Scuba managing a golf course, Gen at Mayo, Eli in his fourth year of electrician apprenticeship, and Lindsey at Baileys and the City of Ormsby. All of the grandchildren, Josiah, Annika, William, Samuel, August, Leah and Aaron are hitting the books and for the most part actually in a classroom. We are blessed with a great Family!!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-20344669088196109582020-09-11T13:29:00.001-05:002020-09-11T13:29:53.867-05:00The Bucket list ride from Hell<p> This is one of those motorcycle trips that turn out to be a whole lot more entertaining in the middle of the Winter when they are retold. I had been planning this longer trip for most of the Summer, mostly figuring that it would be cooler in the Fall, boy was it ever! This was going to be a long loop across Wyoming over the Uintas, across Utah to ride the Moki Dugway, to hit northern New Mexico to revisit another Longmire site that I couldn't get to earlier this year. After New Mexico, the plan was to head up through central Colorado and back home by one route or another. I spent some time watching the weather and things looked good for the areas I was heading to, just a little cool in the mountains. The first day was home to Hot Springs, South Dakota and it was 106 degrees from Rapid City south. Next day was Wyoming, with Casper hazy with smoke and busy too with the Labor Day weekend, to Rawlins and I 80 to Evanston for the night. Evanston was jumping with the first rodeo of the year. Riding by the arena it looked like the state fair was on. Oh ya did I mention that I had forgotten my cooler and it's contents in Hot Springs which kind of made the whole trip kind of a bummer? I headed back East the following morning with lots of trucks and the Union Pacific for company with a tail wind to boot. I stopped in Wheatland for lunch and fuel at a station that has a sign on the door that says "This is Wyoming assume that everyone is armed", I love that one. Anyhow headed north toward Lusk I noticed a cloud bank in the north west and the wind was coming up and the temperature was dropping off. Now I started to believe the information signs along the interstate that were warning of high winds and heavy snow the next day, when it was 85 90 degrees when I first saw them! North of Lusk when I made the turn toward Edgemont it started to rain and it kept it up all the way back to Hot Springs. I got checked in and dried off and asked if I needed to could I stay another day, because I could see that the next day would be iffy, with snow in the Hills etc.. Well it rained most of the night and when I checked the Weather channel they told me about the eight inches of snow in Custer, which is right up the road but a higher elevation than Hot Springs which did give me some hope. After a couple of hours doing some soul searching I made the choice to try for home, luckily or call it foresight, I had virtually every item of cold weather gear along, which I struggled into before I made my break for home and hearth and Jan of course. I have ridden in cold temperatures before but nothing like this cold and distance. Going up to Rapid City it was 34 degrees with snow on the shoulder of the highway and the Hills were white. I didn't worry too much about slippery road conditions as I figured with 100 plus temps just a day or two earlier the pavement would still be warm enough. From Rapid East I cranked Fritzy up to 80 and set the cruise and motored on home, with a few stops along the way, arriving about 8 pm. Looking back, if I had gone on from Evanston I would have been stuck in high winds, cold temps etc., etc., and would have had to swing as far south as Mexico to get around that front that roared in out of Canada. I look at weather today and the plains are having plenty of rain now too, I guess that I am lucky that I left that cooler in Hot Springs ultimately, because I came back for it and got out of the west before the record setting cold and snow rolled in. A post script here too, I 80 in central Wyoming was closed due to heavy blowing snow and I had just cruised that section the day before in nice weather. And another thing, I was surprised to see lots of bikes heading west on I 90 as I was heading home, maybe they aren't paying attention to the weather either. Hopefully they did not plan on going west of the Hills as I am sure I 90 in Wyoming was not good. Anyhow I made it home in one piece vowing to never try that again but knowing that by later this Winter I'll be dreaming up another adventure and Jan will be urging me to check off another road on my bucket list rides.</p><p><br /></p>petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-48401601709764963002020-02-14T15:41:00.001-06:002020-02-14T15:41:51.133-06:00For my Valentine on our 49th This will be just a short post instead of a card for my girl. Knowing what a procrastinator I am I have waited until the day of to peck this out. So anyway, here goes.<br />
I wish that I could think of something more impressive than "Wow 49 years, who would have thought it possible!" So it has been a great 49 years of my life that I never expected to happen to me all of those years ago. I go through several scenarios and wonder what would my life have been like? More than likely not as good as this one that we have put together. With that I believe that I will sign on for one more year and make it a nice round 50. Thanks for the good life you have given me.<br />
Love Petepetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-23675358716018850262019-12-25T16:33:00.001-06:002019-12-25T16:33:06.624-06:00Christmas 2019 post script Our Christmas get together in Edina at the Homewood Suites has come to an end for this year. I think that we all agree that it went very well all in all, with plenty to do and an unusually nice string of above average weather. Everybody on Jan and my side of the family was here including my brothers and spouses. Hans, Rachel, Josiah, Annika and William from Burke, Virginia. Steve, Gen, Sam and Gus from Rochester, Minnesota. Eli, Lindsey, Leah and Aaron from St. James. My brother Phil and wife Laura, brother Paul and wife Marcy spent some time with us. One morning I drove my beautiful daughters around to some Goodwills and a book store. It was fun with little traffic and a used book store that I scored at, I think they did okay at Goodwill. That afternoon the kids all went skating somewhere not too far away. Monday night was football and typically the Vikings looked lost against the Packers, at home to boot. We were in the main area at the motel and had a fairly wild time and picked up a guy from London that joined in for a beer and some of Marcy's chili. He had a very interesting history, born in Angola, scuba dives for fun and looks like he may be a corporate head hunter. Yesterday was nice in the morning and sad too with everybody heading out in different directions at once, Hans and Rachel and their gang back to the airport to drop the rental and hop the flight back to Virginia, Steve and Gen and theirs to Rochester, Eli headed off to Hancock to pick up some coal at Laura's family farm, Lindsey and theirs to St. James. Paul and Marcy off to Hector and Fairmont, Phil to Hancock, Laura to her Mom's and Jan and I to the bike shops in Lakeville and home to St. James. Our three, Gen, Rachel and Eli.<br />
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petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-53531669337912436852019-12-20T17:13:00.000-06:002019-12-20T17:13:04.135-06:002019 Letter at Christmas time part 2 Following convention July should follow June where I come from. So here we go with the second half at my attempt to bore you readers to tears. I had to rebuild the clutch slave cylinder on my 94 Ducati, probably spending entirely too much time in the garage doesn't help with age problems even for motorcycles. Jan and I headed down to Lanesboro with the trailer and a bike after spending that morning early, running to New Ulm Menards for sump pump parts. Our time down there is usually fun with one of the best fireworks shows we have seen, and I get a little riding in, heading over to Wisconsin for their back roads. Jan had a cousin pass away shortly after we got home so we had a funeral to attend in Jackson. At our age it seems like funerals are getting more common and are the only time we see a lot of people. I suppose that if we can hang on a while longer grand children will be getting married and start having families, so the cycle continues. I managed to get to some more PGR missions in the area, and Jan and I putzed around on some projects out at the farm. Even though it seems like yesterday, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing this year. Looking back now with what I have learned over the years, that was a incredible achievement that we would be hard pressed to duplicate today. I did my annual Big Horn mountain loop over to Wyoming later on with the new Triumph Tiger.<br />
August finds me catching up on some homestead projects, doing some maintenance on our deck and hitting a few PGR missions. Jan had a go around with that medical procedure that everybody hates, it turned out okay. We got caught in the heaviest rainfall I have ever attempted to drive in, while the radio warned us of a tornado near Bingham Lake which happened to be the town we were driving by. We wanted to do some shopping in Windom but all the stores were shut down due to the tornado in the area. We live such an exciting life I can hardly stand it. Jan and I drove up to the Cities to make our reservations at the hotel that we are going to celebrate Christmas at with the whole family in just a few days from now- December 19-. I actually got the bicycle out of the garage and put on some miles before we headed for Ridgway, Colorado for a few days. Jan gets to hang around the motel, which has just gone through a big remodel in the lobby, cruise the thrift shops and I go riding in the San Juan mountains. We got home in time for Labor Day, but that's another month.<br />
September, now we are getting to Vikings football and Leah playing volleyball with the St. Pauls team. Thunderstorms are making several appearances along with a tornado in Sioux Falls. Also Gus and Sam are busy with Fall soccer games at many different locations. Jan and I traded our Escape for a new Edge, mainly because we wanted a better riding vehicle with heated seats and steering wheel. One thing that I have noticed is that we can have a conversation while driving down the road without raising our voices much. The end of the month I tried heading down to New Mexico to try and find some sites that were used in the series "Longmire". The weather was kind of chilly and regardless of how warmly you dress, after a while you get cold, discouraged I headed home from near Cheyenne, maybe next year. I am working on putting a new wiring harness in Elis' 64 Falcon a bit at a time, so far the testing has been coming out good, so wish me luck.<br />
October starts with more heavy rain, it's been a wet year so far. After an online course at the University of U-tube I replaced the rear brakes and rotors on Jan's car. Next up is the fronts, maybe next Spring. A couple days later I hit another deer, that makes four, and I hope that it's the last. Jan and I flew out to Washington to visit with the DeFor family for a few days. Rachel's job with a local contractor has her running all over the area moving supplies etc. around and I rode along a couple of days, I had a good time flying around northern Virginia- I think, most of the time I had no idea where we were. One of the stops in Arlington had us close to the Air Force Memorial so I kind of know where that is. Jan and I flew home on the 16th and we had a 70th birthday get together at the Schells Brewery on the 19th for the tour, imagine our surprise when Rachel and Gen showed up! They had orchestrated the whole thing, our three children Rachel, Genevieve and Steve and their two boys Sam and Gus and Eli and Lindsey and Leah and Aaron, Jan's sister Paula, my brothers Phil and Paul and their wives Laura and Marcy. I don't think that I missed anybody, but it was quite a day for Jan and I.<br />
We had supper in New Ulm and cocktails later. The next day was Vikings football here and it was nice enough to put the tv out on the deck which has always been a great way to enjoy a Fall afternoon. Routine things kind of filled the rest of the month, but it had been a great one getting to celebrate the 70th birthday of the woman I love.<br />
November where Fall goes to die and Winter really begins. Jan went up to Wadena to spend some time with her sister Paula and a couple days later I went there too and we came home together to find four inches of new snow on the ground at home, and so it begins. Leah and Aaron's school had a nice veterans day program that I attended. Got the Mustang's oil changed and put it away for the winter in a corner of the garage, now Jan's car gets to be indoors till Spring. We had an assortment of doctors appointments, one a pre-op for me for that unmentionable procedure and one at Mayo with my guy. As long as we keep getting good reports from him it's always a pleasant visit with doctor Eli and nurse Dawn, even if it's not good check up we still chit chat about things like the sky dive in May and how the riding is going among other things. We put snow stoppers on the roof the day before we got another 8 to 10 inches of wet snow, so the timing worked out that time for me. Thanksgiving was at the Theobalds in Rochester again this year. During the pre dinner festivities I had the thought that occurred to me before in of all places the Target in Burke "I'm really going to miss this when it's over". Life I'm pretty sure what I meant. I was also making some progress on the Falcon wiring project, so there is that.<br />
So December begins with the ugly the bad and the good. Colonoscopy prep, actual procedure and the news that a small polyp was okay, and now for the good part, at my advanced age I don't need another one-ever! Then a weekend of basketball with Leah and Aaron at Redwood Falls and Sam and Gus at Northfield. A lot of driving but I have never complained about driving unless the weather is totally impossible. Jan says I'm like a black lab, just mention going somewhere and I'm out in the car waiting. About this time the temperatures took a turn for the basement with daytime highs at or below zero with snow and high winds. We had three National Guardsmen killed in a helicopter crash near St. Cloud, one of whom was a St. James graduate. I did make one of their funerals at St. Johns abbey. This funeral was almost like the Killed in Action funerals that I have attended in the past. Lots of military, tears, ceremonies, flag presentations to his family ending with a dual helicopter flyover. I shook a lot of hands after that including our governor Walz. And that about brings us up to date. I have been putzing around with the bikes but I have to save myself for the depths of Winter when I will really need something to do besides read. Jan and I will be heading up to the Cities to spend a few days with our family in a hotel near Southdale. Sometimes a person has to take some time and sit back and consider what the root cause of all of the hustling and bustling, depression, fear of not having everything exactly right, need I go on? Remember Christ is the reason for the season. That sounds a little trite, or still minimizing the real part of that slogan...Christ. I'll leave you all, or the couple that actually read this, with that.<br />
Pete Kuehl 20 December 2019petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-53529077932253351002019-12-13T16:31:00.004-06:002019-12-13T16:31:58.293-06:00The 2019 Letter at Christmas Time part 1 I find myself less interested in putting out this letter every year, call it what you will but from my point of view it's really only interesting to us. So there, I have that out in the open. Maybe it is the weather system that just literally just blew in this morning. Jan and I were heading up to New Ulm at 6am for a doctors appointment and the visibility in blowing snow and falling temperatures forced us back to town for breakfast at the Home Town. Wait, this is supposed to be the Christmas letter so I better get back on subject.<br />
January like most Januarys in this part of the world was cold and mostly nasty, snow, cleaning out after, more snow, digging out ad infinitum. Jan and I did manage to get to follow the Theobald boys basketball season. I spent a lot of time re reading a couple series of books in order and we watched a lot of tv series on dvds. I also had a few projects to keep me busy in the garage and doing some finishing work in the basement. Really bitter cold by the end of the month, -26 at night and high temperature of -16 oof da.<br />
February starts out with me and a cold that got worse as time went by, eventually Jan got it too. Jan and I were down to Ormsby to the bank to finish up some paperwork to get my Mom's bank accounts closed out finally. She had her ducks in a row financially thank goodness, not like my sister who had not until my brother Paul and wife Marcy got a lot of it in line a few years ago. Jan and I celebrated our 48th anniversary at Bailey's in Ormsby when they had a special for Valentine's Day, our anniversary date. In checking my notes I see that we got 5-6 inches of snow about every few days with a blizzard with 50 mph winds thrown in, somehow we did manage to make a couple of routine doctor appointments.<br />
March started with what else but more snow and wind and below zero temperatures. Jan, Leah, Aaron and I did manage to get to Rochester to watch Sam and Gus play basketball in a tournament on a day between storms. We did spend some time in Menards finally getting a gun safe and a really nice electric fireplace that Jan, showing some of her Jewish dna, got it for about half the regular price. Actually toward the end of the month I managed to get a couple bikes out for a run, so things are starting to moderate some. Also the Mustang came out of cold storage for the Summer and I did manage to get to some PGR missions in locations in southern Minnesota.<br />
April, I have got to think of a better start to a month than using a variation of the word start. Anyhow, I managed to get the BMW in for it's Spring checkup at the dealer in Sioux City before the next round of nasty weather hit. Jan and I did trade in the Triumph Bonneville in for another Triumph Tiger, the 2012 Tiger was purchased by Eli. Jan and I were to the Theobalds in Rochester for Easter and it was 85 degrees that day, and 45 the next with rain, wow only in Minnesota. We did keep an eye on Leah and Aaron while Eli and Lindsey made a run to The Hills.<br />
May. I had a PGR mission down to the new state veteran cemetery at Preston and mowed the lawn at the beginning of the month. Jan and I were up to Sleepy Eye to watch Leah and Aaron participate in the track meet for all of the Lutheran schools in the area. It's really fun to see all of those young people, Lutherans all, by the hundreds I think pretty much having a good time. I replaced the stool in one bathroom with a new Kohler super dooper model recommended by a close expert. And the soccer season starts with trips to assorted fields in southern Minnesota and a check up with my doctor at Rochester Mayo. Got a clean bill of health again PTL. Made a bread run to Sioux City and one to MSP to pick up Rachel who had come home for my 75th birthday-Memorial Day festivities. May 25th was an extremely big day for me and our family, We had our usual get together at a park in Owatonna and Eli and my first ever parachute jump. The weather was great, we had brothers Paul and Phil with their wives Marcy and Laura, children Rachel, Gen and Eli with their spouses Steve, boys Sam and Gus, Lindsey children Leah and Aaron. Rachel was here by herself as the rest of the family was home in the D.C. area. One at a time to 10,000 feet a little free fall with at least 10 minutes under the canopy. For me I guess it was more of a check off on my bucket list but Eli loved it. I got to thank my wife Jan for coming up with it, lining it up and for the kiddos for chipping in. Quite a day all in all. I looked out the kitchen window one day after a heavy rain and saw a buzzard sitting on the back of a chair on the deck right outside. It was there all afternoon and eventually flew off. I think it got caught in that heavy rain and got too soaked to fly. Weird looking up close but unique.<br />
June. I finally made it all the way to Elko, Nevada after a couple of aborted trips in past years. Last year it was smoke so thick it was hard to see more than a mile or two. This year the weather was nice, a little warm around Salt Lake and the salt flats and breezy out there. Elko was kind of surprising in that it is a busy growing place in what looks like the high plains. I spent some time touring around the Ruby mountains. Got stopped by snow banks going up the Lamoille Canyon and then made a long circuit to Ely. The run from Ely to Beaver, Utah was a pleasant surprise, green- this time of year- rolling valleys between mountain ranges when I expected dry desert type terrain judging by the maps I had been studying. From there it was a run through northern Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and home. So I have that one checked off the bucket list. Having no desire to head east on a bike I do have some other destinations to look to in the future. In the middle of June the DeFor clan stopped by on their way home, so to speak. They had had a good trip west as far as Craters of the Moon in Idaho. We had Rachel home over my birthday the last of May and now she and Hans, Joe, Annie and Will spent a couple more days here. Jan and I were making some soccer games for our grand kids, out to the farm on projects and doctor appointments. The 20th there was a tornado east of town that hit the airport and the turkey barns along hiway 60, it was quite a mess. The turkey barn still is missing most of its roof and the hanger destroyed has not been replaced. I managed to attend several PGR missions during June, so it's been a pretty busy month. I will post this half and finish the rest a little later.<br />
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petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-35717057487287704322018-12-31T21:18:00.000-06:002018-12-31T21:18:46.932-06:002018 The Final Chapter Since this is the last day of 2018 I guess that it would be appropriate to end this string of renditions of our lives. I believe that I ended with November so December it is. What else? The 1st we got 8-10 inches of snow that needed moving and it was not powder. It is winter and I can't ride so I have to think of something else. The last couple of years it was models. This year I have started to read all of my John Sanford novels, in order mind you. Over the years I have read them randomly as I picked them up, so I got the bright idea to arrange them in order and start over. They do run in order so that now I can see different characters develop. Anyhow that 's how I am staying busy so far. I do have a project going in the garage starting with new lighting and a coat of fresh paint in my shop. Next up is a rewire of the north garage that I really did not do robustly enough. I think that earlier I mentioned that Laura's Dad had passed away, so Jan and I were up to Morris for his visitation and funeral in Hancock the next day. This was in a long string of above average weather luckily enough, so there were no travel problems, which could have been a problem in these parts this time of the year. Speaking of funerals, I don't think that I mentioned it earlier, but in January Jan and I were to Austin for Steve Defor, Han's Dad's visitation and funeral. The weather at that time was also unusually nice for January, funny thing our wedding day in February 1971 was beautiful after a spell of nasty winter weather. Must be the good Lord looking after us. Me, I have no idea why I'm so lucky, but other people deserve it. Jan and I have hosted a couple of Viking football games, some terrific, some pathetic. I have spent some time dealing with the sale, finally, of Mom's home, which believe it or not was closed today and I have my third in the bank already. Christmas was celebrated at Eli and Lindsey's farm near St. James with the whole gang minus sadly, the Defors who thought that a weekend near their home in Virginia was preferable to a slog home 1300 miles one way. Christmas eve Jan and I drove up to Sleepy Eye for their light show at a park on the north side of the lake. It was fantastic! Trees all covered with different colored lights that dance in time with music and change colors according to the tunes. I think that it rivals the display at Sibley Park in Mankato that gets all of the publicity. So 2018 stagers to the end of a string of days with too many funerals, family members and veterans too. I am hoping that the promise of Christ's birth will see us through the coming year and see us all in reasonably good health next year at this time. Signing off at 2135 on 31 December, 2018.<br />
An addendum here. Thinking back to Han's Dad Steve, he would have been so proud to see his son Hans promoted to Captain at the National Archives in Washington D.C.. Hans' Mom Donna and Rachel, Josiah, Annika and William did get to see him get his Eagles. They have worked very hard and sacrificed to reach this point. For you non Navy types that's a full Colonel rank. I'm sure that I have missed other things, but as you can see it has run to 5 parts this year. I always swear that I am not going to do this anymore, because as near as I can tell only two people read these tales of blood sweat and tears, not counting Jan who kind of proof reads.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-39476843938945647292018-12-21T14:56:00.000-06:002018-12-21T14:56:49.477-06:00Pre Christmas Post part 4 Our July started with the traditional trip to Lanesboro for the 4th. The day that we got there we had heavy rain and wind but it was nice the rest of the time we were there. I had a bike along and did manage to get over into Wisconsin and explore west of LaCrescent. As usual the fireworks were unbelievable, again. It was hot and humid for days on end, while we did the mundane things around the house and yard. I was getting paperwork organized to start finishing up Mom's paperwork by getting signatures from all of us involved. I did some bike maintenance like oil changes and a tire on the 650 among other things. I made a short run out to Wyoming again with the idea of going farther west but lost interest by the time I got to Mule Creek Junction, so I circled around and went home, one of these days I will make it to Nevada. We spent time at the farm, Jan mowing grass and chasing the goats around, me I must have been putzing with other projects out there. Jan and I did spend a beautiful evening in North Mankato at the Blues on Belgrade event. There were several bands, lots of people, cold beer, the usual. I did manage to get to a PGR mission in Jackson along with doctor appointments for Jan.<br />
August dawned with a visit from our east coast branch flying in from Burke, Virginia.They spent a couple days here, and then we all went up to St. Paul to spend some time together at the Hyatt for the weekend. We spent a fun couple of days together then everybody split up and went home. Jan and I brought home a ton of wood pellets, and stain for the house painting project which started a few days later. Jan and I met Donna DeFor at Jordan to bring Annika to our home for a weeks stay. The painting project was completed in just two days by two guys spraying and brushing groves in the siding. About that time our cement guy did the lip for the trailer slab, which should have been done when it was built in the first place. I took another 3 day trip on the bike to the SAC museum at Ashland, Nebraska, up across Nebraska to the Badlands and home. I holed up in Murdo for a bad squall the last night and cruised home the following morning. This has been a summer when any rain less than a couple inches is just a shower. We broke down and got an electric start mower for Jan's farm mowing hobby, but after trying it, found it was not too good to use, so we took it back.<br />
September. My cell phone crapped out for me and needed to be replaced. I ended up with a new I phone which I am still trying to get used to, the phone that failed me was an Android and worked a lot differently. Oh well, technology marched on and it has left me in the dust. Jan and I loaded my dirt bike up and headed back out to Ridgway, Colorado for some riding for me and some down time for her. We went out through Hot Springs and Craig, Colorado, pretty much a nice drive all the way. I got part of the way up Imogene Pass and dropped the bike again, I've got to admit it was wet and I was not in shape for that pass. So I went over Corkscrew and down to Silverton and back to Ridgway. The next day we just went for a drive down to Delores and Durango, more beautiful scenery to take in. Our return route home took us across eastern Colorado and Nebraska, so not so scenic. Jan and I are getting to soccer games for all of our local grandkiddos in this area, and I'm spending some time on vehicle care. I was on my way down to Sioux City to get some work done on the GS and ran into another couple with a GS from Argentina that were on their way back from Alaska!! It just goes to show that you never know what you can run across when you are riding a bike. On the 22nd our daughter Genevieve was inducted into the St. James High School Hall of Fame for her exploits in 3 sports at a function at the VFW. It was nice to see her get some recognition for a lot of hard work. Jan and I started getting our affairs in order by meeting with a lawyer to get as many bases covered as we can, so to make it easier for survivors. We have been getting an education on the importance of getting things taken care of as early as possible, because the last few years have been eye opening about the subject.<br />
October. It seems early but we are spending time getting ready for the winter that is waiting in the wings, putting bikes away, cleaning garages and paying Mom's property taxes again. Jan's sister Paula came down from Wadena to spend some time here. We were back to Rochester for a checkup for me for a change and things are doing fine. I go back every 6 months now just to keep an eye on things, hopefully 3 times is the charm, but I won't bet on it. Around the middle of the month we loaded up and started out for Virginia. After driving by the AMA museum in Ohio several times we did manage to stop and spend some time and purchase the obligatory t shirt for proof that I had been there. Han's defense department job requires him to fly out to the Islands occasionally and Rachel could go along if we could watch the gang, which is the reason, well one of the reasons we went out. Jan and I had not seen their new home which was not too far from the previous home in Burke. It is very nice in a good neighborhood where home prices make a rural Minnesota guy like me, choke a little. Anyhow we ran Joe, Annie and Will to and from parochial school every day. Here we are just outside Washington, DC and we usually get to the local Target for entertainment. Did get locked out one morning returning from school, which entailed a trip to Home Depot for a new lockset, it was needed anyhow. After an uneventful trip home the calendar changes to-<br />
November where the weather started to go into the dumper, high temps in the teens and snow and rain etc, etc.. Activities are slowing down some, a trip to Rochester for Sam and Gus' VIP day at Holy Spirit and cleaning up leaves. Jan did get some landscaping done around the house so that does cut down on the amount of lawn to take care of and it looks nice too. Jan spotted a special at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge so we drove out for a couple of days to take advantage of that. It was so beautiful and quiet in the Hills that time of year, and the canyon in the morning, wow. I got the news when we returned that Mom's house, which had been on the market for over a year, had finally sold for a lot less than was originally asked. Frankly we were glad to get that part behind us, and I won't miss making sure that it is okay and insured among other things. A return trip to Rochester for basketball games, home for a couple days with a return for Thanksgiving at the Theobalds. I can't wait until they finish, or even put it in the plans, to finish highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center. I did manage to get the Mustang tucked away in the garage for the winter before the month ran out. I will do December in a week or so just so it will be more accurate.<br />
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<br />petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-54704287343873676812018-12-17T15:49:00.000-06:002018-12-17T15:49:21.624-06:00Pre Christmas part 3 May started with warm temperatures for a change, so things got moving around our house and out at the farm. A couple years back I spent some time restoring a 1979 Honda that really had not been running very well. I got a cheap carb for it and it started first kick, so that project is done as far as I can go. Jan and I are running around southern Minnesota following our grand kids track and soccer events. We got the news that Mom had been selected to be the queen at Pleasant View this year, we were all surprised to say the least. It was a short lived reign as she passed away on the 20th barely a week later. You can refer back to my first post this Christmas for more details. Prior to that time, Jan and I drove to Dayton, Ohio to visit the Air Force Museum. The Memphis Belle, a WWII B-17 had been totally restored and was being unveiled to the public at the time I was there. I am sure that she did not look that good the day she rolled off of the assembly line. After the 20th we were spending a lot of time getting ready for Mom's funeral by making arrangements with the funeral director, checking with the bank in Ormsby and cleaning out her room at the rest home. The day of the funeral it managed to get above 90 degrees, so there was not a lot of lingering at the cemetery. The next day I was over to Preston State Cemetery on a PGR mission and it was over 100 so that was pretty brutal too. The hot weather brought in bad storms, so Jan and I helped at the farm picking up debris.<br />
June, I am almost half way through. I took a run out to Wyoming that was haunted by extreme hail storms that I, for the most part avoided. I spent some time sitting east of New Underwood waiting for a storm that had baseball sized hail to pass off to the north-east, but I did hit heavy rain and some hail passing through Sturgis. The next morning I rode west into Wyoming, one of my favorite rides, early morning west from Spearfish to Buffalo, clear and fresh. West of Gillette seeing the snow in the Big Horns come into view. I did the loop up to Dayton, over the mountains, back to Ten Sleep, and Buffalo for the night. Another morning ride to Kaycee and Wright, to Newcastle and Rapid City for the night, and sweat out another bad storm. While I was gone they had almost 5 inches of rain around home. I did make the airshow at Granite Falls again. What a boost for a WWII aircraft enthusiast, several P-51 Mustangs, P-38, P-40s, etc., all flying. We had lots of rain and warm temps, and trips to assorted locations to see the Theobald boys soccer games. I had another PGR mission to Preston again, and a check of Mom's empty house revealed a bad sump pump, so I ended up replacing that and had Phil bring a de-humidifier along when he came down. It was so damp in the basement that the doors wouldn't close. By the end of the month we rolled the trailer out and towed it down to Lanesboro for the 4th weekend. That pretty much sums up that month.<br />
.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-19380524312256566602018-12-12T16:41:00.000-06:002018-12-12T16:41:14.212-06:00Pre Christmas Post part 2 I have been busy out in my shop the last week or so, getting about four coats of paint on the ceiling and changing out all of the lighting. The fixtures that I took down were salvaged from the central office at the phone company when we went to a digital switch back in 1990. Anyhow it has been a project, all of the things that a person accumulates over the past 30 years plus the bikes had to come out of there plus covering the carpet with plastic, lets us just say, I'm glad it's almost done. Anyhow, now I can get back to putting the rest of the year down on paper, so to speak.<br />
March was next. Things were pretty quiet until the 5th, when we had rain, snow, hail and lightning in the same storm. one of those wet snows that are like trying to move wet cement with a scoop shovel. I was working on the carbs on 94 Ducati and helping Eli with his 64 Falcon project. Jan and I were attending basketball games for Sam and Gus at assorted locations in southern Minnesota, and Leah's 12th birthday party. It looks as if the temperatures hung just above freezing most of the month, so on the 24th we got another dump of 8 to 10 inches of the wet stuff again. I may have waited for warmer weather on that one. On almost the last day of the month it got up to 48 degrees, the warmest day of 2018 so far. Only a few years ago I rode to the Black Hills in the middle of March. Just to show how much it can vary around here.<br />
April started out with more snow and cold temps. I have been getting out to the rest home to visit with Mom and look at her mail. I needed to pay bills and things for her and with brother Phil's help get her to doctor appointments. Not to change the subject, but we just received news that Phil's father-in-law and Laura's father just passed away. This must be a bad time of the year for deaths to occur for more than one reason, it's the Christmas season for starters and in the back of your mind you knew this would happen sooner or later, it's just that it wasn't supposed to happen now. About a year ago now our brother-in-law Steve Johnson passed away after fighting health problems for some time. I covered that last year December I believe. Anyhow back to April. I actually got a couple bikes out of the garage on the 12th,it was 50 degrees!! Almost the next day we had a two day snow that dumped 18 inches of the wet stuff again. Between snowstorms Jan and I managed to get out to the farm, me helping with the Falcon, and Jan with the goats, and doctor appointments for the both of us. We ran to Rochester for the boys basketball, got the Mustang out of the garage, and took the GS to Sioux City for servicing. Eli and I went to a parts expo at Sherburn hoping to find some new old parts for his Falcon, but no luck on that front. At that time I headed south for my first bike trip and ended up in Osceola Iowa with the idea that I was going farther south and then east. One look at the weather channel the next day threw cold water on that idea, so I went over to Council Bluffs and home again. It seems that trips to the south early in the year will usually run into bad weather of some kind. Last year I did manage to get as far as Louisiana and back up through Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The weather turned on me from that point until I reached home in 35 degree temps. Oh did I mention by this time we did have a 70 degree day?<br />
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.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-26414620957633958342018-11-28T21:14:00.002-06:002018-11-28T21:14:34.666-06:002018 Pre-Christmas post I have really been slow on getting out any kind of posts this year. I think that being on Facebook has kind of taken away some of the fun in putting things out there for "fans" to read, plus the fact I actually have to sit down and peck out the words on the keyboard. So anyhow, I have been on a few bike trips this year, not as long as I have gone on and not as many Patriot Guard missions to ride to either, which is not a bad thing come to think of it. As far as photos go, I have found over the last few years that I am not Ansel Adams when it comes to landscape photography, so I just don't shoot many any more.<br />
The last few years have seen the departure of three women in our family. My sister Kathy in 2015, my Mother-in-law Bernice in 2017 and my Mom this May 20th. I have long been thinking about a blog about my Mom's passing and have not gotten around to it till now. I got a call from the rest home here in town in the evening, that Mom was unresponsive with no blood pressure or pulse. She had returned to her room after having supper. They asked if I wanted her taken to the ER or not. I was a little taken aback by the casualness, but I guess they handle these situations a lot out there. I said I suppose she should be taken out to the ER, so I drove out to see what was going on. By the time she got to the ER she was back with us, talking to the doctor etc.. Next the helicopter dropped in. I never did find out why that was called for as she has a do not resuscitate directive, but we never got a bill for it. I called Jan to come out to keep me company while they were running some more tests, but it looked as if she was doing better all of the time. After a while it looked as if they would be keeping her overnight for observation, so Jan headed home, but before Jan got out of the parking lot the doctor was back saying that suddenly she was fading fast, so Jan came back and we moved Mom into a different room to keep her company while she was making the transition from this life to the next stage. Death is not so hard to witness when you know that they are ready and have been for some time, and Mom made the jump to the next stage late in the evening of May 20th at the age of 97. Jan and I were both touching her at the time, I put my hand on her forehead and said the Benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you, that one. So I have been with both of my parents when they are passing on, and actually I recommend the experience as it really brings home the reality of death. Jan has been with both of her parents too, so we are aware of it and are trying to get all of our ducks in a row so to speak for our kids. Our Moms both had things pretty well taken care of years ago, and with my sister Kathy's death a couple years ago we wanted to leave little legal work undone. Mom was as sharp as a tack right up until the end and we would talk politics or whatever was on her mind. I have been somewhat surprised by how much I think about her now that she is gone. I guess it is the idea that someone that has always been there, isn't anymore. Anyone that had known her might not be surprised at one of her last words, "whatever". So those were the last few hours of Bernita C. Kuehl, the first woman that I ever loved. The funeral was at the Trimont Covenant church on a date that saw farmers rushing to get crops into the ground after a cold damp spring, so attendance was a little low. She was interred next to my Dad and sister Kathy at Cedar Hill cemetery west of Trimont.<br />
As I am writing this her home has finally been sold after being on sale for over a year. The fact that the street has been torn up since last Spring with a major construction project did not help. So pretty soon we will be able to wrap this up and move on with things more pleasant.<br />
I suppose that I should get back to the usual Christmas letter format, so I'll start with January first. The weather ranged from a -24 to a +45 during the month and some of the time within days of each other. Jan and I did managed to get out between snow storms and cold snaps to Rochester for doctor appointments, family get togethers and assorted locations for basketball games for the Sam and Gus. Other than that nothing out of the ordinary.<br />
February pretty much more of the same, although paging through my notebook I notice a trend that has been growing over the years- a lot more doctors appointments to be met and traveled to. Jan and I helping Eli and Lindsey while he has been recovering from a torn shoulder among our visits. The weather, always a subject in this part of the world, was somewhat more cooperative, so that we could make a couple basketball tournaments. Later that month Jan had back surgery in Maple Grove to help with back pain that had bothered for some time. That turned into a three day stay at the hospital. I did spent the nights curled up on a kind of couch in her room. Funny thing , I slept better there than I usually do at home in our king size bed. Maybe it 's the humanitarian in me, keeping her company in a strange room. We eased on home and she went right back to bed for a while. That was a lot more painful than she and I expected. I've also been running out to the rest home to see Mom once in a while, plus a care conference here and there. Jan and I did pick out a love seat for her at Hanska furniture for her room that was a hit at the home, the aids all wanted to try it out. I also have been fooling around with bike maintenance and Eli's 64 Falcon project car.<br />
I'm going to stop here and pick it up with March in the near future before this blog gets too long, so stay tuned.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-33370327699220390062018-01-01T14:11:00.000-06:002018-01-01T14:11:20.131-06:002017 Christmas letter part II Well I am back to finish off this years report on our activities. It is after Christmas and almost New Years as I peck away at this while it is snowing outdoors and near zero to boot. Tomorrow Jan and I will be traveling to Wadena to the funeral of our brother-in-law Steve Johnson, assuming the roads are not too bad. Jan plans on staying with her sister Paula for a few days while I return home for a check up in Rochester next week. Winter in this part of the country is always filled with uncertainties when plans are made in advance. Actually this is more of an audit of our lives during the year as opposed to an actual Christmas letter.<br />
I believe that I left off before in June so July would be next. We were still in Lanesboro with the trailer. I had brought along our new Bonneville and managed to get some riding in over in Wisconsin and the local area. Did I mention the goats before? Jan is out at Eli and Lindsey's farm looking after them most days, her younger goats as opposed to the older one at home. We did get to a soccer game, a check up at Mayo, and me to a PGR mission. Jan was called over to the home to sit with her Mom who was now on hospice care. Jan spent the day and night with her as she made the transition from this life of joy and pain to the next one that promises to be much better. Bernice Emma Thielhorn joins her husband Fred Leroy who passed away in 2000. She was 92 years old and had been in failing health for the last few years. She left behind her daughters, my wife Jan and Paula Johnson. A man could not have asked for better in laws than Fritz and Bernice. I don't think that I will ever forget church in Alpha and "dinner" at her place afterwards with fried chicken, sweet corn, milk gravy and boiled potatoes, you get the picture? Anyhow, pretty much a life well lived for a farm girl from rural Minnesota that married her sweetheart when he returned from The War, raised two daughters, accepted two sons-in-law welcomed five grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Our daughter Rachel flew home for her funeral and later in the month we picked up her daughter Annika, who came for a week long stay. On a subject that everybody our age starts to get accustomed to are doctor visits for our selves and our parents assuming they are still with us. Thank goodness that does it for July. The first part of August found us driving to the Cities to meet the rest of Annika's family, home from Washington, D.C.. I did spend some time putzing with assorted bikes during this time too. My brother Phil and I took our Mom to the doctor one morning for a check up, she has been falling a lot lately, and by noon she was a resident at the rest home here in town. She is there to this day. In the interim I sold her car, and Jan and I cleaned out her house and got it on the market. It would be nice if it sold soon so that problem would be out of our hair, so to speak. On the 21st Jan and I drove down to the former Fairmont Army Air Field outside Fairmont, Nebraska along with half the drivers in the upper Midwest I think. From Omaha west it was bumper to bumper creeping down I-80. I was afraid that we would not get to the site I wanted to set up in and have to get off and head south trying to get into the path of totality. We did make it to the Air Field in time and parked next to some serious watchers with lots of gear. This is an experience that never fails to awe anyone that sees it. The two that I have seen before, we were the only people visible in any direction but not this time! Anything else that month was anti-climactic. So on to September. After Labor Day I rode west again with the GS out across Wyoming into northern Utah with idea of going as far as eastern Nevada, but the smoke from forest fires was so bad the visibility was under a mile in places and it was getting warm. From Logan south to Salt Lake City you couldn't even see the lake, so I detoured into northern Colorado and made my way home. The grandkids are keeping us running to soccer and volleyball games, and Jan and I are cleaning up Mom's house and taking care of her goats too. Football has started so we hosted a game at our place on a warm and sunny Sunday. Jan and I drove up to Wadena to spend a night with Paula and Steve and stopped at Leah's soccer game in Gibbon on the way home. My two brothers Phil and Paul and I took our Mom out for lunch for her birthday on the 29th, she's 97. October started with a lot of rain and cooling temperatures. I was helping Eli with some power trouble for the shop and he scored a 351 and transmission for the 64 Falcon he got from a friend, it's a work in progress. About that time Jan and I headed east for the DeFors house in Burke, Virginia. It's always about a two and a half day trip going out due to the fact I don't want to end a long day on the road in that kind of traffic on a two day trip, coming home showing up here tired is not such a big deal. Rachel, Jan and I did get down to the Vietnam Wall one day. I have been there several times but it never fails to impress, as I know a couple of names on the Wall. We stayed about a week and went home to more cleaning at Mom's house and a birthday party for Sam at his house in Rochester. We had some of our cedar siding replaced on the east and west ends of the house as it was looking tough in a few spots. I guess that is not bad life for the product which is 5/8 inch rough sawn cedar plywood that was first put up in 1975. I did get my Mom's car sold about as soon as I put it out in the driveway with a for sale sign, one less thing to think about. Jan and I were back and forth to the farm, Jan with goat trouble and me helping out with things. We are into November now and the weather cooled off naturally. We are still following our grandkiddos around to assorted activities, luckily gas is staying down somewhat. I did have a couple bikes out when there was a small window of nice weather. Jan has been seeing doctors at New Ulm for assorted pains, and we were to Rochester for Thanksgiving at the Theobalds. It did stay nice enough to be able to vacuum up leaves yet. December saw us moving Mom's stuff into a storage unit that I lined up the end of November. The house is essentially empty now and ready to put on the market. which I did a week later. I did make it to a couple of PGR missions after that. One in Fairmont for a USAF pilot who had flown B-52s, B-57s in VN among several types during his career. Jan and I were back to Rochester for Sam and Gus' Christmas program and I caught a PGR mission in Byron the next day. I spent some time in Eli's shop trying to get that old Falcon apart, with some success. On the 22nd we received word that our brother in law Steve Johnson had passed away. Christmas eve found us at St. Pauls' for Leah and Aaron's program. We had Christmas on Christmas day at the farm with both of my brothers and their wives, two of our children and their families. Just missing the DeFors this year as they stayed in the D.C. area. I don't blame them the weather has really turned brutally cold and some snow now too. Jan and I drove up to Wadena for Steve's funeral on Saturday in below zero temperatures. The entire funeral was indoors at their church and he was cremated so no burial is planned. They are going to spread his ashes at his golf course from an "urn" that looks like a red and white fishing bobber. We all got together at their house with the bobber in the middle of the table and it is very cool how not uncomfortable it was to have him right there. Anyhow, the next morning I did manage to get the truck started at -27, dropped Jan off at her sister's house and headed home. So that pretty much ties things up on this end. I know that I have probably skipped over a lot of details in this edition but there is a limit on how much detail I want on the web. I know that you all will just be dying to see the next chapter sometime in the new year. Have a happy New Year.<br />
Pete 1-1-18 <br />
<br />petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-91877353138551329292017-12-12T14:26:00.000-06:002017-12-12T14:26:29.262-06:002017 Kuehl's Christmas letter part 1 I have spent the last several months trying to get up the ambition to do some blogs since my last one in June. I think that I put another 5000 miles on the GS since that note but who's counting. So this will start my usual rambling narrative of the past year, although I am going to cut back on the rambling some. January, what can I say but the weather was on and off nasty, freezing rain, snow and cold, and bad roads. Jan and I were following Sam around for his basketball games in the Rochester area and also Leah and Aaron for their basketball games. Jan has been out at the farm helping out as I have at times also. I also started on a model of a Ducati Panigale 1199. I spent a lot of time on this one and if you look back in my blogs you can see the end result. I may include a photo. Jan also runs over to Windom to visit her Mom at the home on a regular basis. A trip to the dentist made another trip to Rochester required, he found a suspicious spot, so I had another biopsy done at Rochester. It must have been ok because I don't see any other notes. February started out with Jan and I on the road east bound again headed for Burke, Virginia. Hans' work has been taking him to Hawaii and this time he was taking Rachel along, so we were watching their gang for the coming week. We did some touring in that area, which is rich with Civil war sites among other things. We did manage to see Josiah play some basketball too, thank God for gps, I don't know how you navigate in that part of the world without it. Actually, the only place that I do use gps is in cities that I am unfamiliar with. About the time we returned home we had a spell of 60 degree weather followed by 4or 5 inches of snow one day. Mother Nature is such a teaser. Almost the whole gang met at a goat farm in Lakeville to look at goats, naturally Jan bought one and Lindsey got one too, so begins another story line. We spent some time out at the farm getting the goat shed ready for occupancy, with some lights that Eli scored from an acquaintance of his, also working on getting some wiring done in his shop. The last day of the month I was back in a doctor's office getting ready for some heart imaging and a stress test. March was more time out at the farm doing some more wiring and fixing some of the wiring and working on the Panigale model in the evenings. We were back to Rochester for basketball over the weekend and work at the farm getting ready for the goats arrival. The weather was teasing again so I did get a bike or two out of the garage for some exercise. The 6th saw 70 degree start with a finish of rain, hail, a couple tornados and snow, for crying in the soup! It must have been the year for it but I replaced batteries in Jan's car and 4 motorcycles in March. We spent the next weekend in Buffalo watching Sam's 4th grade team take the state title, they were undefeated for the season. And Jan and I drove home in snow that got worse the closer we got to St. James. I had an echocardiogram later in the month to finish up the latest round of tests, and finally got the all clear results, PTL. Brother Phil and I made the run to Rush City to Dennis Kirk for parts and a stop at Cambridge for burgers again. We think we have been making the trip up there for maybe 30 years. April began with a dead battery on the GS, it turned out an accessory I mounted over the winter had a very low current flow that sucked the battery down over several days. I found a lead that is only hot when the engine is running and fixed that one. Eli, Lindsey, Leah, Jan and I drove up to Lakeville to pick up the girls two goats. While we were gone the little goat Lindsey had gotten from the neighbors died somehow, very, very sad. Rachel, Joe and Annie drove here from Burke to spend a couple days. Jan's goat got sick and needed to go to the vets sitting on her lap wrapped in a blanket. Several injections later she recovered. I drove my Mom to an eye doctor appointment in Mankato, she is getting injections in one eye to help with macular degeneration. I traded our R1200RT of on a new Triumph Bonneville at Belle Plain just before taking off on another bucket list trip. This time I am trying to complete a trip south that I have attempted twice before. Eventually I did make it to Louisiana, jump the Mississippi into Mississippi and head north through Memphis, Kentucky and Illinois before the bad weather caught up with me, but then if you scroll back through my blogs you can read about that trip in detail. May started with a long bus trip to the Cities with my granddaughter Leah. It was pretty fun with stops around the capitol and a Twins game, that they won with 7 home runs. I brought our new Bonneville home and got busy breaking it in. We got the trailer out and loaded up for a weekend at Jackson of all places with a group of Jan's ex job friends. I managed to repair my 25 year old Honda mower that fell apart while mowing. Thank God for You tube videos on repair procedures. Also, Jan and I are following grandkids various activities in the area. In the meantime Jan is spending quite some time with her young goats as opposed to me, her old goat. Around my birthday I headed out on another bucket list ride, heading for Arizona ultimately. Down through Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and to Kayenta, Arizona, which is south of Monument Valley. For the most part the weather co operated this time with fair skies and moderate temperatures. The return trip was up through Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. So now I have ridden in every state west of the Mississippi and a few east of it too. June began with more doctor appointments, for Jan this time, one of her knees is giving her trouble. The main drawback to getting older, that body that you have been taking for granted is now looking for some payback and repair work. And now that grandkids are into soccer too. So more road trips in the area, and this includes some Patriot Guard missions too. Jan and I have doing some paneling in the basement to finish another area that has been hanging fire for an extended length of time. We have been spending more time out at the farm our family of children and grand children, and prior to the mosquito invasion we had some good times there. Jan's goat who was born with some identity issues had some surgery and is now officially Olivia. It seems as if the summer just keeps getting more busy all of the time, luckily the price of gas is staying down so it is not such a drag on our enthusiasm to run here and there. By the end of June I was getting our trailer out for our run to Lanesboro for the 4th of July campout. So I will take a break here and finish up with the last half of 2017 later on, as who knows what the rest of this year might bring? What with two finger typing and having to run upstairs and ask Jan how to spell some words,<br />
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it takes awhile to grind this out. It seems odd that the computer will flag misspelled words but not give you a list of possible correct spelling, must be windows 10.<br />
<br />petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-16799662214194253192017-06-11T16:02:00.000-05:002017-06-11T16:02:19.636-05:00Another Bucket List Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, folks I am at it again. With my latest bike trip I managed to check off the last state west of the Mississippi that I had not ridden in. This Spring I have managed to get to the last two states I needed to get to, Louisiana and Arizona, so I can die happy, so to speak. The first night was in Salina, Kansas. The ride south and west of there that morning was so beautiful, clear skies, green foliage, and one town that impressed me with it's cleanliness and order. The town was Lindsborg, home of a small Lutheran college, very pleasant area. Later on the slog west across the high plains I passed through a small town and caught a historical marker calling out Burdett, Kansas as the discoverer of Pluto's home town, Clyde Tombaugh. At that point I followed a string of parked coal cars on an abandoned rail line next to the highway. This went on for 15 miles to the next town with breaks for road crossings etc.. I have seen parked rail cars like this all over the country, kind of an indicator of the rail business and the economy in general. Eastern Colorado was next, and this is not the part of Colorado that most people visualize when they think of Colorado, like the John Denver vision. Trinidad for the second night is right next to the real mountains and the next morning I went west and north out of there on Colorado highway 12. That was the reason I had headed to that part of the state in the first place. It turned out that it was a good choice, quiet roads and little traffic in the morning and the mountains were snow covered. The third photo from the top is of West Spanish Peak. Over into the San Luis Valley to Antonito, home of the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railway. Jan and I rode that one a couple years ago and spent two nights in Antonito, a narrow gauge rail ride well worth the price of admission. Anyhow, to Chama, New Mexico for lunch and Bloomfield for the night. I missed a turn in Shiprock the next morning that took me out of town quite a ways, but I did get a shot of Shiprock which is the bottom photo. To my surprise the weather stayed so nice and cool and quiet all of the way to Kayenta, Arizona, where I stopped for lunch at MacDonalds. Kayenta is just south of Monument Valley and this stop was filled with Europeans, mostly French I think. I can only imagine their horror at those disgusting American eating places. I don't know but that was the cleanest MacDonalds that I have been in in a long time. All native workers because you are on a Navaho reservation there. Out to the north towards Utah and Monument Valley next. I did mount my GoPro and record my ride through the area, the bottom photo is from there. I tried to upload some video to this blog but it won't take it, says it is too big. There are not too many parts of Utah that are not scenic and the ride up to Monticello fit the bill. Then back across south western Colorado to Delores, up passed Ophir, Telluride, to Ridgeway for the night. The second photo is from the back yard of the motel in Ridgeway taken the next morning. Jan and I have stayed there a couple of times, and Phil and Eli and I have spent time there too. It's always been a great place to hang your hat. Get home-itus was setting in the next day as I wound through some of the best roads around. Up to Delta, over McClure pass, Glenwood Canyon and north Towards Steamboat Springs. I stopped for gas and some lunch in Yampa, a big slice of pizza and a coke on a picnic table in the yard. A young lady spotted my Minnesota plate and asked me where I was from, said around 40 miles south west of Mankato, she had gone to MSU. I asked where she was from, and she was from Waconia! Small world, Jan and I had spent several years there when we were first married. I know that I have mentioned this before, but when you are on a bike people just want to talk to you, something that almost never happens in a car. Up until this point I had not seen a drop of rain, but near Steamboat it got really black and I saw some lightning. Turning east over Rabbit Ears pass I thought that I might escape my wet fate, but it looked nasty to the north so I stopped and struggled into my rain gear. Just north of Walden I did run into some rain, but all the way to Laramie the rain had already passed by. After riding my favorite Wyoming 34 over to Wheatland I called it a night. The last day was a long- 700 mile run- home with lunch at Rapid City and the long haul down I-90. I got talking to a couple of brothers from out west and he saw the USAF hat I was wearing and we did the usual, where, when, which bases, which aircraft etc.. When I told him Electronic warfare and B-52Ds he was really surprised, as that was his career field too. We compared AFSCs, and both agreed that neither one of us had ever run across another ECM troop before, and I have been out over 50 years. We stood around in the lot at Murdo and talked B-52s ecm gear etc., etc. until his brother called a halt. If you have ever been around a couple of B-52 freaks before you would know this could go on for hours, kind of like my brother and I with muscle cars. These two brothers had been on the road all over the USA for most of the month of May. I was home by 8:30 or so ready to call it a long day. I turned the GS over to 20,000 miles out in South Dakota somewhere, so I am having a good riding year so far. A lot of the time I feel like I am running out of time, like we all are, and riding is one of the skill sets that needs be sharp if you want to live to ripe old age. So, as usual, leave a note if you will and we'll meet in the future somewhere.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-55268798926353345122017-05-20T19:03:00.000-05:002017-05-20T19:03:03.700-05:00The ongoing Bucket LIst quest <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few weeks ago I saw a window in the weather to the south and took a chance that I could beat the odds and dodge the bad stuff again. I loaded up and headed south again for destinations I have tried to reach before, like Arkansas and Louisiana. It was a nice ride through Iowa with clear skies and a tail wind to Indianola for the night. Day two was spent crossing Missouri from north to south on some off the interstate highways. A lot of small towns in that state are in pretty bad shape, with lots of homes in such bad shape it was hard to tell if they were occupied or not, not the town I would like to call home I guess. The ride was nice though through pretty country down to Springfield and around Branson to Harrison, Arkansas. For some reason once you get into southern Missouri and Arkansas things look more prosperous and better cared for. I can see why retirees sometimes head down to Arkansas. It was in the 80s and sunny, beautiful countryside and roads especially, at least the couple of days I was there. Shortly after I made the round trip things got real ugly in that area, with heavy rains with washed out roads, and interstates under water. It seems like I heard that Branson was talking about evacuating, and I had just been there. I ran a road up through the Ozarks with my GoPro recording about an hours worth of riding. Anyhow, a really nice ride down to the Little Rock area, and then the grind down to the Louisiana state line. I had driven down that same road in 1963, 54 years ago on my way home from tech school in Biloxi, with several guys headed home too. From there I headed over into Mississippi and up to Clarksdale for the night. That area really is the Mississippi delta country and it is flat with a lot of agriculture. The next morning was up to Memphis. I have been trying to download one of my GoPro segments, but it is evidently to large, so if anyone needs to see it you need to be in front of the laptop. Man, do I hate Windows 10!! So anyhow Memphis was kind of a traffic snarl especially when you are trying to read a map in 3 or 4 lanes of traffic at 60 per. Amazingly enough I got through the whole city without getting lost once! I did see a sign for Graceland but ignored it. I had been watching the weather every day and could see that the crap was on the way from the west, so I kept hitting the road as much as I could. Western Tennessee was a lot like parts of Arkansas, flat and then wooded. I managed to clip the end of Kentucky to add another state to my list and rolled over the Ohio river into Cairo, Illinois. Wow, is the city in bad, bad shape, the miles long main street did not have more than a few open businesses, so I was glad to make my way out of that area and head north into Illinois. About this time I started to get a little moisture coming down, and called it a day in Marion, lucky for me it absolutely poured that night while I holed up in the motel. I left there the next morning with every stitch of clothing that I had along on me. The crap from the west was arriving to be sure. From then on up to Springfield, over to Hannibal, Missouri and up to Iowa City, fighting the cold and a stiff head wind. I spent that night in Iowa City and cruised home the next day in 4 or 5 hours. Oh ya it was like 35 above most of the last day. So I added 3 more states to my list, and with Louisiana I only have more to visit to have every state west of the Mississippi, which I plan on trying to get to in the next week or two. That would be Arizona. Since I returned, Jan and I had our trailer out last weekend, it was beautiful, this weekend not so much. It is 45 degrees here and has rained all day. My lawn is going wild and it's too wet to mow, gonna need a sickle mower soon. Oh ya, I traded our R1200 RT BMW in on a new t120Triumph Bonneville on the 4th. So no pictures this time.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-89966915022696124532017-04-03T12:49:00.001-05:002017-04-03T12:49:22.608-05:00Spring Follow Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I finally finished that model of a Ducati 1199 Panigalle and here are a few photos of the finished product. I cannot imagine tackling something this detailed again. Parts that are so small a tweezers was too large to grip them properly. I have to admit it took a month to get it done, what with painting parts one day and attaching them to the growing bike the next. Did I mention that Jan and I made a trip to Rapid City to a large model shop that I have been visiting for more than 50 years, knowing that they would have the correct colors that are called for in the directions. Well, that was the excuse for a cruise to the Hills again. I actually picked up another color paint at a shop in Fairfax, Virginia when we were out there in February. So I have quite a collection of Tamiya paints. The color on the body panels is Italian red with a couple coats of clear coat on top to make it nice and shiny and cover the decals, which were affixed with a lot of oaths.<br />
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Here is the photo of the first resident of Eli and Lindsey's goat farm. Jan and Lindsey are going up to Lakeville this coming weekend to pick up a couple more so this one won't be lonely. Charlotte is this one's name and she was pretty little when they got her. Hopefully they will earn their keep by keeping the grass and weeds trimmed. We shall see.<br />
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Lastly, I had several tests done in the last couple weeks to make sure that the old ticker isn't about to fall out on the street. A nuclear stress test- not fun- was first on the agenda followed by an echo cardiogram here in St. James. I have had both of these done before so I was not too surprised at the procedures. A few days later we met with the doctor and I was afraid that open heart surgery was in my future, but PTL everything was fine. He suggested that maybe the reason I don't have the energy I used to have is because I ain't as young as I used to be, imagine that. So I am back planning bike trips for the coming year and chasing after grandkids activities. I will leave you with my usual request, leave a message if you please.petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-7396485166454059212017-03-15T14:14:00.000-05:002017-03-15T14:14:04.726-05:00Another State Tournament Jan and I spent a weekend in Buffalo, Minnesota attending our Grandson Sam's fourth grade basketball teams domination of their division. They ended the season undefeated and took the championship with determination and hard intelligent play. Their team shows the benefit of good players, good coaching, and a close group of kids who want to work hard at their craft. To have seen them last year and this, the improvement and co-ordination of the players was absolutely amazing. My brother Phil and his wife Laura had not seen them this year before last Saturday and were wowed by the level of play. One thing that I can't quite get over, is watching them play to the level that they do, running plays, passing the ball and fast breaks, to, when they are off the court being a bunch of not so regular 10 and 11 year olds. Jan and I were sitting with Gen and some parents and fans between games, and what were the members up to? Lying on the floor working math problems! Anyhow we spent Saturday night at Phil and Laura's house, which is a ten minute drive from the games' site at the Buffalo Senior High School. I think that the school had 8 basketball courts, and it looks as if more are under construction. Sam plays for the Lourdes team out of Rochester and probably will continue right on up through High school. I don't know if it is karma or what but it was Lourdes that beat Gen's St, James team for the State Championship in 1994 and now her sons will probably play for them. Our other Theobald grandson, Gus and I were watching one of the games and I pointed out Sam and his teammates on the floor and said "that's you next year", he wasn't so sure, but we'll see. One thing that helps is that their main coach, Scuba and Tom Week also coach, is the Lourdes high school coach too, so they could play together right through high school.<br />
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I have thrown in a few photos from the games. I shot a lot of frames over the 2 days, but for some reason the sport setting on my camera evidently is not working, as it should have stopped action but did not, so most of the half way good ones that I got were when nobody was moving. Being around this group of young men the last couple of years has somewhat restored my faith in the future. In the top photo, Scouba is in the upper right, and Sam, his son, is right below him. After the games Jan and I headed home in a snow storm that steadily got worse the closer we got to home. The last 35 miles were white knuckles at maybe 30 miles per hour. On Monday I had to get the trusty snow blower out to move 6-8 inches of snow out of the way. </div>
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On another note. Rachel e-mailed wondering if I had any photos of Joe playing basketball from when we were out there in Burke. I do, but the photo to e-mail procedure has changed again so I finally gave up trying to attach photos to an e-mail. Let's see if I can get lucky now? I actually got a short video to down load. Here are a couple of photos of grandson number one, Josiah DeFor, he's number 22. In the photos above, Sam Theobald is 23. So that about does it, although I have been working on a model of a Ducati Panigali 1199. This is the most intricate plastic model I have ever tried to assemble bar none. I figure, rather that coughing up huge dough for the real thing I would build the model and park it on the baby grand in the living room. Our 94 900 SSCR spent the first winter in our bedroom in front of the patio door. It was nice to look at the first thing in the morning, you know, bright red in the morning sun. So that about does it for now. Lemme know if you read this OK?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Needless to say it ain't done yet. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-81400987870252708902017-02-17T11:20:00.001-06:002017-02-17T11:20:29.518-06:00To Burke and Back Jan and I just returned from our Navy family in Burke, Virginia. Hans was going back to the Barking Sands test range in Hawaii for a week, and if we could run out there, to Burke, Rachel could go along for a nice vacation. Hans is working on a project for the Navy, so when he was off they could spend some time together. We checked the weather forecasts and checked airline schedules and decided to drive out. With gas prices as low as they are now the fuel costs were not that bad. I did see $1.99 in Ohio, I think. It is a couple of days out and back of pretty hard driving. The truck traffic just seems to get worse all of the time, any more and they will almost be bumper to bumper on some of the interstates. We spent around 10 days at their place. Got to spend some time with the kiddos, watch Josiah play basketball a couple of times, and run to Target, and the grocery store more than once. Hans got home early Sunday morning and Rachel arrived later in the afternoon. They were not on the same flights, obviously, and in a kind of macabre sense, if one of the planes had been lost we wouldn't have lost both of them. I hate to think like that but sometimes thoughts run away with you. Anyhow, Jan and I spent our Anniversary driving down the interstate highway system on Tuesday wishing each other Happy Valentines Day too. Wow, it can't be 46 years already can it? I want the world to slow down a little, for us anyway. It seems as if things are accelerating with the grand kids, and Summer coming on, and getting bikes out for a run. I have a hunch that this coming year will not see me putting another 19,000 miles on like I did last year, but then who knows? Just for St. Jan, the last 46 years have been so good that I am going to wish for another 46. Know that I love you more now than that day in February 1971, OK? And last but not least it was Annika's Birthday on the 15th. She just turned 11. We got to see her at the hospital in Japan just hours after her arrival. So that is about it for now. <br />
Love Petepetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609990220998211880.post-87697205211899214622016-12-23T17:36:00.000-06:002016-12-23T17:36:31.275-06:00It's Christmas in Minnesota the second part of the puzzle<div>
July follows June on the calendars that we use around here, so Jan and I took the trailer over to Lanesboro for the 4th. They have a terrific fireworks show, that must be better than a lot of larger towns. We did some riding in the area while we were there. when we returned home I started on removing our old counter tops as we are getting new Cambria counters. We are getting some heavy rains every couple of days, so all of the low spots are showing up in the fields, with the crops under water, some of which were replanted more than once before the farmer gave up. It was Aaron's birthday party at the farm on the 10th, and Eli got the 650 #1 running again, I had given up after 3 rebuilds. Jan and I made another run to Mayo in Rochester again, and they biopsied the other side of my tongue. It must have been OK because I did not have to go back for more carving me up. Also hauled a ton of wood pellets into the basement for our pellet stove, don't think that we will freeze this year anyway. I got in a couple of PGR missions along here, one for a WWII paratrooper who jumped into Normandy on D Day. I was 12 days old at the time so I don't recollect that event. Eli, Lindsey, Jan and I drove back to Rochester, again, to pick up a bar that she found on Craig's list for our basement, it came in handy for the first few Viking games.<br />
August. St. Jan visits with her Mom in Windom in the rest home, some times it is tough, sometimes not so bad. Jan takes care of her paperwork and bills and that's a big job. So far she has managed to burn through a 120 acre farm in expenses. I did a little work on the deck, modifying a railing so that snow can be removed more easily, cause you know there will be snow in the future, sure as death and taxes. We headed out to stay in Spearfish to hang out with the Theobalds. Gen was going to run the Deadwood Marathon which runs from the Deadwood country club down Spearfish canyon, and finishes in a city park in Spearfish. Except for the pitch dark start at the country club the route down the canyon was as beautiful as ever. We first saw her at Savoy, then leap frogged ahead to bridle Veil Falls and then on to the park in Spearfish. She did manage her 2nd best time and everybody had a fun weekend in the Hills, again. Eli and I drove over to the Westbrook area one night to get a different skid loader, which has turned out to have a few problems. A PGR mission to South Dakota and lawn mowing just about finish out the month. On the last day, Eli and I headed out on a short bike trip, he had our Triumph and I rode the GS, down through Iowa and south western Wisconsin. We hit as many back roads as we could and spent the night in Fennimore.<br />
September started with Eli and I hitting more back roads in the direction of Wabasha, Minnesota. We stopped in Galesville at a small restaurant called the "Garden of Eatin", and it was good. I knew that riding with Eli was going to be good eating as he very seldom dines in a fast food joint, and I was not disappointed. Also I don't think I could have taken more than 2 days trying to keep up with him, anyhow we had a great time. Jan and I drove to the Cities to pick up two of our grand kiddos at their other Gramma's home. They were back in Minnesota with their Dad Hans. They came home with us for a couple days in the "country". The hard rains kept coming and coming keeping low spots under water for most of the Summer. I think after some spots were re-flooded and re-planted more than two or three times most farmers just gave up. We got the trailer out again and loaded up and headed over to Oakdale, Wisconsin for our semi annual trip over there. On the way we shredded a tire in Austin and got it replaced, luckily I had just checked the spare and checked for proper lug wrenches for the first time before leaving home. We had some great riding but the weather turned on us before leaving, We had over 4 inches of rain the night before we left for home, plus heavy rain on the way home. After getting home I packed the GS and rode west again for my Big Horn loop. Out around the Hills, to north of Sheridan, over the Big Horns to Greybull, down to Ten Sleep and back to Buffalo. From there to Kaycee, and Wright in the coal fields, to Rapid City and home, with a detour to Redwood Falls to watch Leah and Aaron's kickball games. And that is pretty much it for September.<br />
October. Started with more heavy rains and putting the trailer up and getting it winterized, and filled up with deck furniture. Spent time getting things moved out of the kitchen in preparation for the new floor covering, kind of a pain getting the fridge through the door to the dining room, and all of the trim off and labeled for re-installation. I drove to Miller, South Dakota for a PGR mission for a missing WWII P-51 pilot shot down over what became east Germany. His remains were just identified. The South Dakota Air National Guard did the "missing man" fly over with their F-16s. The flight lead breaks from the finger four formation, and pulls almost vertical in full afterburner until almost out of sight. Then to cap it off Fagen out of Granite Falls did a low pass with one of their P-51s. We were back in Rochester to visit our doctors for a follow up. We are getting on a first name basis with most of the personal there, anyhow it turned out fine. Just to safe I took the other three wheels off of the trailer and had those tires replaced also at the same shop in Austin. Also got the kitchen repainted after the counter tops and new floor covering, and returned to where else but Rochester, but for Sam's birthday party this time. Jan's birthday is the 22nd so a couple days later we drove out to the Hills again for stay at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge, and down at Hot Springs. It is nice to be out there after the tourists have gone home. We had the Mustang GT and ran up the middle of the Hills, great fun on the Iron Mountain road. I ended the month with the usual Fall drudgery of cleaning up all of the leaves and getting rid of them.<br />
November. The weather has been unusually pleasant with temps in the 60 and 70s, needless to say I was riding as much as possible. And then we have the Vikings, after their 5-0 start they started to reverse that trend, oh well next year. I had a PGR mission to Iowa to stand for a police officer ambushed near Des Moines. It was one of the biggest missions that I have been on lately, and not the first ambushed officer either. Brother Phil and I ran up to Rush City to pick up some bike parts and have a burger in Cambridge, kind of a pilgrimage we do at least once a year. We were trying to decide how many years we had been doing that, and came up with at least 30 years. I did help Eli with a project putting some used steel roofing on one of his sheds that he is turning into a shop, also helped with a "tree" house he is building in the grove for the kids. And just like that Indian Summer ends, with 30 degree temps and snow, not that that is that unusual here this time of the year. Thanksgiving was in Rochester as is the norm with all of the gang from this part of the country at least. We also have been shuffling beds around, our bed out to Leah, upstairs bed to our room, awaiting the new King size. With the King size, the upstairs bed went back upstairs. And that finishes out November.<br />
December. Jan and I drove out to Sioux Falls one day to shop and get out of the house I guess. She did come home with some bedding for the new bed. I also had another PGR mission to Jordan and started in wrapping presents. We were down to Ormsby for the bank's yearly lunch, it's always good sandwiches, scalloped potatoes, etc.. I wonder how many big city banks do these sort of appreciation feeds? Very rural Midwest sort of thing I think. Now the temps have turned cooler, like the teens above and the snow needs to be blown and shoveled out of the way. Then it got really cold, -24 with a -39 wind chill, two days later it was in the mid thirty's, a 60 degree rise. I am about ready to wrap this up, after loosing my first draft mysteriously I had to re-type it all again. The lesson being, watch where you put your fingers on the keyboard!! All in all Jan and I have had a good year, praise the Lord, everybody reasonably healthy, or as I tell people that ask "how are doing", my answer usually is "upright and taking nourishment". So from Jan and I, I want to wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a happy New Year. As I write this epistle our Daughter Rachel, with her husband Hans and their gang, Josiah, Annika and William are on the road coming home from Virginia. Thanks to cell phones we can get a play by play of the trip complete with photos. So they should be in the area by tomorrow and the whole family will be out to Eli and Lindsey's for our Christmas. So I hope that you find my second part of the puzzle informative, and leave a comment if the spirit moves you. <br />
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petehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15641051091206141184noreply@blogger.com5