Month-Long Vacation, Day One

Hello, I am finally back to a computer and so I will catch you up on our travels and adventures thus far. We left Ann Arbor Wednesday, July 23rd, at 12 noon and drove to Kohler, Wisconsin, to visit my beloved friend LL. We arrived at her house almost exactly 7 hours after we left. She was out on her deck grilling us bratwurst, pinapple, and crook-neck squash. Esther was in heaven to be able to play with Javi & Andres, and to have free reign of the house and yard. Javi has a great climbing structure/ slide/ castle in his back yard that they enjoyed immensely. We had a wonderful meal together that also included grilled asparagus, baked beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, hamburgers, rolls, and a fresh strawberry pie. It was so great to see LL out of her tiny apartment and living in a nice big house with a lovely yard and a white picket fence.

We got the kids down for the night and then LL & I took little Mauri on a walk around the neighborhood. LL lives in the most picturesque, adorable neighborhood on the planet...it looks like a set from the movie Pleasantville. The streets are lined with big beautiful trees (which have not, by the way, been decimated by the Emerald Ash Borer as the trees in my neighborhood have). Each house is unique, with a neatly tended yard. The teenaged boys greet you pleasantly when they walk by, making eye contact and speaking intelligibly. The adults wave at you like you are old friends. The children of the entire Village attend one K-12 school, a beautiful brick structure with a pool and lighted tennis courts. There are several lovely parks. The only thing missing from LL's new home is me!

We had a great sleep and a delicious breakfast, and then hit the road for day two of our drive. Goal: Bismarck, North Dakota.