Days 6 and 7

Well we've had quite an adventure since leaving Barrington, Il. Mom rustled us up early last Thursday since the trip to Lacrosse, Wisc, would be our longest trek, over 400 miles. The drive through Wisconsin was really pretty, lots of corn fields and lakes. We arrived in Lacrosse about 4:00 PM on Thursday afternoon. We stayed with Connie Arneson who is Pat's aunt. Connie was married to Marc Arneson, one of several brothers of Pat's Dad. Marc passed away several years ago, and Connie now lives in a beautiful house they built about ten years ago near downtown Lacrosse. Friday morning, Pat's cousin Katie Arneson drove us out to their incredible log cabin house across the river in Minnesota. I had a terrific romp with Kate's 5 dogs, spanning several goldens, and other breeds. We had a blast romping in the huge meadow in front of Kate's house. That afternoon, Connie, Mom and Dad visited a Catholic shrine on top of a hill dedicated to a famous Spanish saint. Connie led Mom and Dad up this beautiful trail to the church at the top of the hill. Connie then led Mom and Dad to the sand sculpture contest in the main riverside park in Lacrosse. (see pics) They also visited a flower garder that represents several foreign countries which have built out a garden in honor of their homeland. Friday evening, Connie cooked up a traditional Wisconsin dinner of Bratwursts and Sourkraut.
I, of course, settled for the ever popular Eukaneba.

This morning we drove out to Sarah Peltier's place which is the family farm some 30 miles south east of Lacrosse. Connie and Marc Arneson purchased the farm some 10 years ago and built this wonderful sylvan retreat complete with several barns, a modern vacation house and "spring house," sort of a wonderful gazebo like structure next to the main house. The spring house was built on the original foundation of the structure used by the original tobacco farm to store milk. Sarah cooked up a wonderful breakfast and then we toured the corn fields where I and "Rex," Sarah's rambuncious male dog romped through the corn fields and wild watercress groves. Rex and I really mixed it up, while Sarah's other little dog, "Chance," tried to keep up. I loved diving into the water hole by the spring house and then rolling around in the deep grass. Sarah said that her husband Larry Peltier was digging a new spring pond but would need the services of a backhoe to finish the job.

We departed the farm about 10:00 AM this morning and rolled into Mary Aspnes' place In Minneapolis about 3:30 PM this afternoon. Mary is Pat's cousin, a daughter to one of the Arneson brothers. (Pat's Dad was one of the brothers)

Well, we plan to drive up to Clitherall Lake tomorrow to visit with Pam and Dave Arnerson. (Dave is another of Pat's cousins) The lake is about 3 hours from Minneapolis. This will be the furthest leg of our trek north. We then turn south on Tuesday to head back to Dataw.

What a trip!