We enjoyed a “Mother’s Day Eve” dinner at the Hillside Fish House in Wisconsin. A favorite for batter fried Walleye!

Mother’s Day Brunch was served with beautiful (and edible) orchid blooms!

We visited the old family cemetery and found the gravestone of the family patriarch, Wessel Louw. He survived a cross country trip from upstate New York to the wilds of Wisconsin on which his only siblings, 2 brothers, died. He helped his parents establish a farm and eventually saw his own son William off to the Civil War. William survived and with his wife Mary Jane raised a large family. He helped many of his children with home purchases around Winona, MN. One of his sons was my grandfather. On our scenic drive back to Winona we stopped to take in a view and Mavrik met a new friend. Mavrik wasn’t too impressed though, the canine was rather stiff, like cement!

We have a bucolic campsite on the banks of the Mississippi River (actually a slough off the main channel, so we don’t see the barges chugging by). I heard a bald eagle and saw a Baltimore oriole this morning!

We headed north to Minnesota and saw the ‘X’ in the sky just across the border into MN. Same place in Dec. 2010 when we were heading south! Check it out; X Marks the Spot

A chance to exercise my inner design & craft diva! Sand and clean up the chairs and table, spray paint a vibrant red (until I got a blister on my finger and decided the chairs could stay black), cut out new seats and upholster with a colorful floral print! Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the finished product, but I’ve been told they look great!