Linda's 69th Birthday

We had some visitors at our Bong State Park campsite in Wisconsin. Karen brought up Katherine and Ceci for the day. We went swimming.






Then Katherine stayed the night and we played poker. She loves this game and usually takes all our chips. But this time she had a streak of bad luck and went bankrupt.

We celebrated Linda's 69th Birthday with dinner out at BJ Wentker's in Burlington. She got a surprise present.





We've shared many things,
in the life we have had.
But wouldn't it be nice,
to have your own iPad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!

International Native American Flute Festival

We arrived in Eau Claire and located our campsite in Wissota State Park, north of town. Drove back to the Haas Music Center for the first of four nightly concerts with some of the world's top native american flute performers.




Linda discovered she had a bad bruise to her bottom from a fall at Jeannine's house. It was not healing as expected, probably due to the blood thinning medication she takes. She saw a doctor at the Marshfield clinic to make sure there were no broken bones. It appears that a full recovery will take up to three weeks. A real pain in the butt. No physical activity.

On Friday night, Rhonda Larson, a professional classical flutist who is breaking out into new forms of expression, including the native american flute, put on a remarkable performance. I had attended her class during the day on the "Art of the Performance," and she followed her own advice to the tee and won over the audience with grace and skill.




She began playing the flute at the age of 10 and she estimates she has spent half of her life in practice rooms. And it payed off -- she made it to Carnegie Hall. I bought her CD.

On Friday, I decided to bike the 32 miles on back roads to the campus. On the way, I met a fellow biker, Karen, who helped me find a bike path into the campus once close to town. She told me about the fabulous farmer's market which we visited today and bought fresh vegetables, cheese, and organic blueberries. Like Madison, Eau Claire is a bike friendly town with bike paths though out.





We visited the infamous Water Street which looks very nice these days. I'm sure both Karen and Jeannine remember it well from their college days here.

Back in Wisconsin

Just got back to Wisconsin after a 12 day visit with Jeannine's family in Baltimore. Got to know our two wonderful grandkids Owen and Laura a bit more. The Fay's took off for Australia for a few weeks just after we left.

Took three easy days coming back staying is state parks along the way. Today we are at Capitol Spring SP just 4 miles outside Madison. I went for a bike ride while Linda went to town to get a hair cut. Dinned out tonight a Bahn Thai for dinner -- a good meal.

Tomorrow we are off to Eau Claire and the International Native American Flute Festival. Be there until Sunday, then back to Book Club on Wednesday.

On my ride today, I ran into Daisy on the bike path in Madison. Ah cows and bikes, what could be better!!!!!

Norman Rockwell Exhibit in Washington DC

Today we braved the 105 degree heat to board the train for the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum in Washington DC and view “Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell From the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg."





Made up of 57 Rockwell paintings and drawings — 34 from Lucas’ collection and 23 from Spielberg’s — the exhibition offers Rockwell’s idealized view of America through a series of magazine covers in Saturday Evening Post and Look.

Of course we all remember many of the Saturday Evening Post's when they first arrived at home in the mail. The museum did a great job putting the collection of original works on display. There was also a 20 minute introduction from Spielberg and Lucas. Turns out that many of these pieces were inspirational to both film makers. Each cover told a story with a single frame -- something they both strived to do the same with more frames in film.

If you can't make it to Washington, here is the link to the exhibit to view online.

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2010/rockwell/

And my photo's for the day

http://picasaweb.google.com/dpiele/TripToWashingtonDCJuly62010#

4th of July in Baltimore

Spent the 4th in Baltimore with Michael, Jeannine, Laura and Owen.






Drums and bells and bugles
marching down the street,
pounding out the rhythm
for a hundred tired feet.

Here come the dancing girls
swaying to and fro,
costumes fitting snuggly
(with zero room to grow).

The old cars passing slowly,
proud drivers at the wheel;
they've spent a thousand hours
adding luster to old steel.

Here come the horses prancing
with saddles that amaze,
on top each horse's rider
in colors all ablaze.

Here come the politicians
looking for your vote;
they offer hugs and kisses,
throw candy off the float.

Then comes the corp of this parade,
marching down the street;
when at last the veterans pass,
all rise to their feet.

The sun shines brightly on the flag
bringing up the rear;
we left for home so thankful
for the parade again this year.


Photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/dpiele/4thOfJulyParadeInBaltimore

Patopsco Valley State Park

On the road ---

We found a park near Baltimore called Patapsco Valley State Park where we parked the RV for a few days. It has a warm, slow moving river for swimming where we took Laura and Owen Fay yesterday. Both grandkids knew how to float on their backs and let the current take them down stream. The weather this week is ideal -- 80+ degrees and no humidity. But looks like it may heat up by the 4th.

Here are the photos, best viewed as a slide show.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dpiele/PatapscoRiverMD#

Don

PS

A link that combines a couple of my favorite sports (tennis and verse)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/sports/tennis/01wimbledonpoet.html?src=mv