Trip to Sheboygan, WI

We had a long drive to my parents house for a visit this past weekend. We left work early afternoon on Wednesday so we could start our drive. We finished packing the car and made a few stops and managed to get off around 3:30pm. We drove to a campgrounds around Webwood which is about 45 min to an hour west of Sudbury. We got there just before dark, set up and pretty much went to bed to escape the mosquitos. The next morning we got up and packed and were headed to the highway by 8am. We got to Sault Stainte Marie around 11:30 and sat on the bridge for about an hour waiting to get thru customs. We finally pulled into Sheboygan around 6:30, central time - in time for dinner. We didn't do too much the rest of the evening but catch up with my parents.

Friday, I got up early and took Hayde for a short run along the lakefront pathway. She saw all the water and really wanted to go jump in. I did let her get her feet wet at the boat ramp. Afterwards, we went out for breakfast at a place my parents frequent for strawberry pancakes. Ummm... We then had plans to meet my friend, Christine, at the state park on the south side of town. She drove up from Chicago to meet us for the morning. We had Hayde with us and went for a stroll along the boardwalk amongst the sand doons. We made our way to the beach for a while and let Hayde run around and splash in the water. We walked along the beach for a while before making our way back to the car and headed to a restaurant looking for ice cream. We had lunch and chatted for a bit longer before Christine had to head back home.

We went back for a bit and then headed out to do some shopping....yes, that's shopping and yes, that's Jeremy shopping!! We lack so many stores where we live so we have to get all our shopping done when we come back. We had lots of success of course hitting up Gander Mountain and Kohls! We made it back to have some time before Bob's mom, MaryAnn arrived. A bit later, Dina, Bob and Jack arrived and the house was full! They all arrived in time for dinner outside on the picnic table.

Saturday, I got up early and headed out with Hayde for my 1st of 3 five-mile runs. Upoon my finish, I dropped Hayde back off at the house, then ran down to the YMCA with my race number to pick up my chip. I was signed up for the 5 mile freedom run and was hoping to met and run with my friend from high school, Heather. My parents and sister were signed up for the 2 mile run and I was able to meet them all before the race too. Heather and I had a good run and were able to chat a bit and catch up while we ran (to get our minds off of running!) and still managed it in ~45 minutes. The gang was able to cheer us on at the bottom of the steps by my parents house that leads to the beach. After we finished, we said good-bye and I ran back to the house, picked Hayde up and headed out for the last of my 15 mile run (by this time I had 4 miles to go!). We finished up feeling pretty good, and Jeremy and my mom waited for me to eat and clean up before we headed down the road to the parade, with Hayde. Dina, Bob, Jack and MaryAnn were at the parade already and my dad had headed to the parade start with the "bus", his '67 Vanagon camper he's restored as he was driving it in the parade along with the others in the VW Club. Both Jack and Hayde were quite amuzed and had a good time watching the parade. It's about a 2 hour parade and they both did really well sitting for all that time. After the parade, we went back to the house to relax for a bit, have lunch and get ready/nap for the big picnic at my parents house later that evening. Turns out about 50+ people planned to show up! We weren't sure how well behaved Hayde would be, but thanks to some girls across the road for coming over to play with her, she was pretty tired out by the time people came. Of course, she had lots of energy to go up and meet/lick everyone as they arrived and had fun running around regreeting people and checking for any dropped food. She still did a great job of behaving. After stuffing ourselves with brats, hamburgers(veggie burgers) and all sorts of other good dishes, we chatted with people until night set in and the fireworks started. Poor Cherise, my sister's dog, wasn't thrilled with the bangs. She climbed into my lab and tried to hide her head under my arms. I eventually let her inside. Hayde, on the other hand was quite thrilled and interested in the fire works. She ran right up to the edge of the bank and sat down, ears perked watching them. Sunday was much more relaxing. After a leisure breakfast and hanging out, I took Hayde for a short run. Later in the afternoon, Jeremy and I headed back out to the stores just to check some things out. We only found a couple of small items and headed back. We had one more nice dinner out on the picnic table. After things were cleaned up and dishes done, I was pretty tired. Jeremy and I ended up heading to bed around 10pm. Monday, I got up and took Hayde for a run and then we started to collect our belongings and get them all packed. We had another leisure breakfast, said good-bye to Mary Ann and went outside to take a few more pictures before Jeremy and I started our trip back. We managed to get on the road just around 10am, central time.

"Where's your belly-button?"

Cherise

We made it to Sault Sainte Marie sometime around dinner time. We continued on just after 8pm and found a campgrounds on the highway with a nice grassy, treelined area by a river. We put the tent up and then took Hayde for a quick walk up to the office where they had running water so I could take my contacts out. I headed into the tent to set it up and lay down with Hayde while Jeremy at in the car listening to his radio show for a bit before he came in. I must have been tired since I had trouble keeping my eyes open. We ended up sleeping until 7:30am and got up and packed and were on the road around 8:20am. The drive went much quicker on the way back, maybe because I was less anxious and there was less traffic. We pulled into the car rental place around lunchtime and transferred our belongings into the red jeep (I had left it there when I picked up the rental). We also made a quick stop at the chip truck in town to grab something to eat and we headed the last little bit home. Somehow between our stop just outside North Bay and getting home, it had gotten really hot. It was in the 90s!

So, it appears Jeremy didn't have to get back early today to make it to his meeting in Ottawa tomorrow morning. He was going to drive with his manager this evening, but his manager is no longer going and they couldn't find a hotel or car for him so he will take the red jeep and leave in the morning tomorrow. He has to be there by 9am so at least he won't have to leave super early and he's been able to relax tonight without having to unpack, pack and travel some more today.

I'll have to finish uploading all my pictures tomorrow as it's 10pm and I have to get to bed so I can get up early to run before work(especially since it's soooo hot out). FINALLY - I got some of the good pictures uploaded!

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Thursday -

Jeremy made it to Ottawa Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday evening. Turns out his manager didn't end up going (he was supposed to drive with him) and they couldn't find a rental car for him and had trouble getting a hotel even. He ended up taking the red jeep and suffered in the heat since the air is no longer very cool (possible leak). He did survive the hot trip though and it's finally turned a few degrees cooler tonight and is no longer in the 90s with humidity. Thankfully we have central air so we can sleep at least and the animals don't overheat. Everyone/thing was doing pretty well upon our return. The corn is getting much bigger, I have more green tomatoes, peppers and there are some peas that are ready to be picked. More lilies have bloomed and the blueberries are ripening. We did find a dead chipmunk in Hayde's pool. Apparently, Chelsea had found one too that she took out. She also got bombarded by Kitty when she came in to check on the cats. She hissed and growled at her and tried slapping her. Poor Chelsea - we're going to have to have her and Brad(she did drag him along the second time for back-up) over for dinner as an extra "thank you" for looking after things!