Can Retirees Take Vacation?

I certainly hope so, as Pat and I did just that. We were in Minnesota September 19-27, prompted mainly by my need to attend a refresher course for flight instructors. (I passed and am now "legit" for another two years.)

Form Cedar Rapids, we went to the Twin Cities area. Pat enjoyed being with her sister while a was in school. Then from there, northward to Duluth where we enjoyed the hospitality of my cousin who lives about 40 miles south of Duluth.

We whizzed past Shoreview (Isn't that where Bill and Hazel live?) but didn't stop. I figured Bill would be out walkin Heidi anyway.

And then blew past Hugo, home of Tom and Julee. They were probably still at the lake, catching fish after fish after fish. But we needed to get to their neighboring town, Forest Lake, to catch Pat's brother before lunch. We didn't.

My cousin suggested that we take a harbor tour of Duluth harbor. It was interesting!


As a sidelight, nearly 50 years ago a spent a winter in Duluth. I was still in the USAF and was based there for nearly a year. One morning it was -42*, the coldest I've ever experienced.

Duluth has changed a lot in the last half-century. But it still gets very, very, cold there!

All of this is to attempt to give an excuse for the lateness in updating the blog, which I'm finally getting to today as the NASCAR race is in progress.