Catching Up and Future Plans

Time

Before I retired, I thought retirement would mean I had more time to pursue my own projects. In some ways that is true. I can now spend my time doing what I want to not what a "boss" tells me to. Still, I never have enough time to do everything I want to do.

This blog is a good example. I have had the best intentions about keeping it up and making regular entries. Obviously, that hasn't worked out for me. A big part of the reason is that I have five web sites to maintain. What that means for me is that none of them get the attention they deserve.

​Because I think Winging It is the most important of my web sites, I am going to concentrate on this one and eliminate the rest of them.

As the other sites expire, I will not be renewing the domain registration on them. For my genealogy and 3d printing sites, I will post my activities in those hobbies on this blog. I will also keep my Facebook pages devoted to those hobbies.

My marketing web sites will just go away. I am retired after all and I don't choose to keep promoting those sites.

So, here is a brief report on what I have been up to lately. Sort of a "how I spent my summer" report.

​Summer ​Catch Up

Max at Carnival

Our Grandson Max still stays with us two days a week and we love having him visit. We had several outings to carnivals and events with him this summer. He is four years old now and really keeps us going when he is here!

SS Badger

​In late June and early July, we took a road trip to Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. We were celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary with this get-away.

We started out by driving north to Door County Wisconsin where we spent three days sight-seeing, shopping and eating out. We had to go to a fish boil and visit Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant.

From Door County, we drove to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to catch the SS Badger car ferry across Lake Michigan. ​In the ​more than twenty five years we have been going to Michigan, we had never gone by ferry so we wanted this experience. It is a four hour trip but a relaxing way to travel. We arrived in Ludington, Michigan in the evening and spent one night there.

​The next morning we drove north to Arcadia and checked into the Pleasant Valley Resort Motel. This place is a family tradition. Georgia stayed there several times as a child and her and I stay there every time we go to the area. It was our base for the next few days.

From Arcadia, we made day trips to ​Glen Lake, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Maple City (where Georgia's family is from), and generally exploring the area​. On one rainy day we even visited a casino.

On the 4th of July, we made our longest drive of the trip from Arcadia to Shipshewana​ in Indiana's Amish country. We stayed at the Farmstead Inn across from the huge Shipshewana Flea Market grounds.

The next day we went to the flea market for a day of shopping and lunch. That night we had dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant.

​The next day was spent shopping in downtown Shipshewana and visiting some of the countryside. We had dinner at a local spot a friend recommended.

That night, we both got ill with what we assumed was food poisoning. In the morning, Georgia was feeling better but I was still pretty sick. We just stayed in the hotel all day while Georgia did some laundry from the trip. That night, Georgia was feeling sick again too.

​Out last destination of the trip was going to be Fort Wayne to do some genealogy research at the Allen County Library. Since we were both still sick, we debated about going there or going back home. In the end, we decided to go to Fort Wayne since it was a short drive. If we felt better we would go on with the research. If we didn't feel good, we could rest in the hotel. We were both sure we would be better soon.

We made a stop at the library but Georgia was getting pretty sick again and I was still feeling bad myself. We called the hotel and asked if we could check in early. They said it was OK so we did that.

The next morning, I was still feeling a little bad but I was OK to drive home. Georgia was still pretty sick. That drive back to Wauconda seemed like it would never end!

The day after we returned, I was doing a lot better but Georgia wasn't. Her doctor told her she should go to the emergency room so we went. She ended up being admitted to the hospital and was there for almost two weeks.

To top it all off, we learned that our credit card number had been stolen and several thousand dollars charged to it. MasterCard caught the fraud and, in the end, we didn't have to pay any of the charges. Still, it took ​almost two months to the investigation completed and a new card issued.

So, what started out as a great trip ended up a with a horrible last couple of days.

Oldest family members

​​My Grandmother's maiden name was Dearhamer and this summer, the Dearhamer family held a reunion ​in Bruce, Wisconsin. Georgia and I just had to go up there for it.

In preparation for the event, I put together two genealogy books for my great grandparents Charles Dearhamer and Chloe Weller​ who were married in 1904.

The reunion was held at Trails End Youth Camp in Bruce and was very well attended. It was great to see so many aunts, uncles and cousins gathered together.

We were only able to stay in Bruce for a couple days but it was a very nice visit.

​Besides these special events, we have made a couple short trips to Wisconsin Dells over the summer and one other trip to Michigan.

Georgia is on a planning committee for her 50th high school reunion which is coming up next year. We made the trip to Michigan so she could attend a committee meeting in person. For most of them, she is on a net meeting.

We took a couple extra days while we were there so we could visit family and friends in the area.

Now that summer is over, we are starting to make our fall and winter plans. I am going to try to stay up to date with this blog. Eliminating my other sites will be a big help I am sure.

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