The Whys and The Wheres of our Midwest trip

This trip is to rediscover midwest America which was our original home.

It is also to rediscover our lives now that so much has changed for us this past year.

25+ years ago we fulfilled one of our dreams  by buying a place in the Rocky Mountains when we bought a condo at The Ranch in Steamboat Springs Colorado.  At that time we could never have envisioned how Steamboat would come to shape, maybe even define, our lives; but that is what happened for 25 years.

At first we thought we would just use the condo as an escape in the summer. We both had flexible work schedules in the summer and it would be perfect to escape the Austin heat.  Then our kids began to come with us; later the grandkids all came and we all loved to be there more and more. Then we decided to try skiing again; it was so different in the mountains than it had been in Wisconsin & Minnesota! We were totally hooked summer & winter.  Then we discovered the joys of being in Steamboat during off-seasons in the fall and spring -- and the joys of being involved in that very special community with its many activities and  with people there who became good friends. 

Vic and Marie both became thoroughly involved in The Ranch -- serving on the Board and Enhancement Committee.  It was our home base for travel and exploration -- to Alaska, to Pebble Beach, to the San Juan Islands, a road trip through Canada to the Pacific Northwest. We became "experts" on the history of the area, especially Browns Park and the cowboy/cowgirl legends of northwest CO. We volunteered at civic and cultural events and took advantage of many local activities and classes. We loved sharing summers & winters (skiing, Winter Carnival) with friends from Austin and elsewhere who came to share #224 with us. Sometimes a big evening was just watching the fire in the fireplace and enjoying the view.

That is such a quick summary that it cannot possibly convey how much a special part of our lives that condo and community became because of the life we enjoyed there. A major part of that was sharing it all with our growing family.  And the family did grow over these years! The lives of each of our kids changed much during those years, including Diana, a delightful daughter-in-law addition. Through these years and changes Steamboat remained a welcome constant in all our lives, a place to relax and rejoice, a place of love and laughter.

And the lives of the grandkids changed dramatically.  All seven grandchildren spent much of their summer lives with us in Steamboat -- we were so blessed! We hiked, biked, fished, camped, explored, watched wildlife,  played tennis, swam, went tubing, rode the gondola, played with Chance, spent evenings playing games, cheered at the rodeo, ate ice cream at the Clark Store, met new people, watched the mountain, made memories and laughed with abandon. Sometimes they came alone, sometimes with cousins, sometimes with parents but it was always the same -- enjoy the sun, the mountain and, most importantly, being together!  Those seven youngsters grew into wonderful adults and added more special people to our family -- granddaughters-in-law, grandsons-in-law and four great grandchildren! We love spending time with each of them and love watching how they enjoy being together. They all came to Steamboat!  Ranch #224 walls are bursting with special memories!  It has been home!  These adults chose The Ranch for two family reunions which included getting to know 2nd & 3rd cousins, mountain activities, golf tournaments and raucous evenings!

So now we come to the present.  Vic & Marie keep aging (fighting it but it's a reality). We finally came to the painful conclusion that it was time to have just one place to call home and that should be our home in Austin.  We sold the Ranch condo early this summer. It was not, and is not, easy, but we are convinced it is right for us at this time in our lives. We haven't really left Steamboat, just changed things a bit. Leslie still lives there full time and Lori, Mike, Carrie & Diana jointly own #307 at The Ranch. We have very good friends who are there; we will be back often. But make no mistake, we know we have left a happy and special part of our lives when we left #224.

This may be a slow adjustment for us, but this spring and summer have been anything but slow!  We have gone through 25 years of accumulation and memories. Some things went to kids or grandkids, some to #307, much given elsewhere, and much-too-much packed up and moved to Austin (via U-Haul truck!!).  And this "stuff" is in spite of selling #224 fully furnished! Anyway we decided to ease into the adjustment a bit by giving ourselves some time away. So next  week we begin an almost-4-week excursion in and to the midwest, some places we know well and some we have not yet experienced.  

We begin in Steamboat! to finish up some dental work. Plan to make it a 3-day trip there, to El Paso in TX, through NM to Cortez CO and into Steamboat from the west. Then going to see cousins Mary & Jim Arnold in Minneapolis for a few days. We talk with them by phone but haven't seen them since the reunion. From Minneapolis we'll head east into Wisconsin, stopping at Cable WI for a few days at a stay-and-play golf resort (yes, taking golf clubs with us!).  Then north (way north!) to Bayfield WI on Lake Superior. We will do a boat tour in the Apostle Islands while there.

Then north again! as we head to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, staying in Copper Harbor (remember the Edmund Fitzgerald!) and going on to Harris MI to another stay-and-play golf resort, this one a casino on the Indian Reservation. By the time we leave there it will be Sept 1. We'll finally head south, spending the next three days seeing an area of Michigan we have heard so much about, northern Michigan on the eastern edge of Lake Michigan.  We're staying at Petrosky and Traverse City and will end up at a B&B in Ludington near Muskegon.

The next day we take the high speed ferry across Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Milwaukee. We'll have the day to explore Milwaukee a bit and that evening, Sept 4, we have tickets to see the Brewers take on the Saint Louis Cardinals!    The next day we head to Madison to stay a few days with good friends, Sandy & George Huber.  Then time to head home to Austin, probably through southwest WI so we can visit Shullsburg; or maybe by then we'll be anxious to get back here quickly.  

There are a few more places which no midwest trip of ours can miss -- specifically Rockford IL and Stoughton WI.  But we will be back to those places in October rather than part of this trip.

We will be adding to this blog often (I hope!).  This introduction is just to explain whys and wheres of  our upcoming trip.  We are about to enter yet another chapter of our lives. They have all been wonderful to date; we have great expectations this will be also. But, at the same time, we acknowledge the impact The Ranch and Steamboat have had on our lives. We are better for having had that experience!