Seniors Surfing through Sturgeon Bay

Sunday morning: rising with the Sun (or an hour or so thereafter), we climbed into our truck (name: Dually...all our vehicles have names. Don't yours? Why not?) for our trip up to Sturgeon Bay, WI. Relatives were awaiting us: Hubby's fabulous Aunt who is 93 years young and still keeping house by herself in a really cool cottage on Lake Michigan; Cousin J, who, in his later 50's , is getting married again! He's visiting his Mom in Sturgeon Bay from far away Massachusetts;and Cousin K, who is the artistic member of Auntie's family. We were looking forward to a couple of great days of family. Longer than that with family is probably too much, unless a lot of alcohol is consumed.

Before hitting the Highway, first things first. Stopping at Subway for a breakfast croissant and coffee would make the trip go MUCH better. Yum. And Yum again. Seniors like their food. Especially breakfast.

After becoming mired in Fond du Lac-which we blamed on Garmina (our Garmin. She has a name. Doesn't yours?) and her inability to foresee ROAD CONSTRUCTION and DETOURS- we rediscovered our route and made our way unerringly to Sturgeon Bay, WI.

As we pulled into the long, well-remembered driveway to Hubby's Aunt I's year-round cottage, a sense of peace settled over us like a cherished blanket. Okay...enough.

The nice thing about visiting relatives older than you is that they make you feel young again. They remember you when you were just a kid. Your cousins remember the 'growing up' days when they hated you. Now, of course, you all only remember the fun you all had. Ah...memories.

Sunday night was spent eating and talking. More eating. More talking. Computer slide shows of houses far away. More eating. More talking. Goodbyes to Cousin K., who had to be home to go to work (not old enough to be retired like us!).And, finally, sleep on the pull out sleeper sofa. Well, one of us slept. The other kept hogging the bed and the blanket. And Cousin J, in the adjacent bedroom, snored. Not softly. Nope. It was a long night.

Morning brought breakfast. Cousin J made banana bread. His ALWAYS is moist. Mine has a crust like lava. It was delicious. Hubby made coffee. Aunt I was regaled with good food and good coffees. Nice.

After a long walk down the nearly deserted road, I came back to the cottage to find that Cousin J had planned an outing on Lake Michigan. He had a kayak. I had a rowboat. Hubby had a camera. We were ready to ROCK! After testing my ability to row a boat, I headed back to shore and Hubby creaked into the boat. Cousin J launched his kayak, and the three cousins cruised along the Lake Michigan shore with the sun shining, the gulls diving and calling, and the light waves lapping at our respective crafts. It was an afternoon of delights.

Late afternoon was spent searching the stores of Sturgeon Bay for a sturgeon (this is not to be found IN ANY STORE IN STURGEON BAY) and looking for photographic barns ; we worked up a powerful hunger, so we all headed back to Aunt I's for a GREAT supper of homemade chili and homemade cherry pie. May we just say: Yum!

Tuesday was departure day for all. Cousin J: we dropped him off at the Green Bay airport. His fiancee was meeting him at the other end in Massachusetts. And he sure was antsy to get back there! After Green Bay, we just tooled on back to the Illinois River Valley, grateful for another family weekend with relatives.