We were so glad we had a stretch of warm, sunny weather. Not only did it allow Will to go over and cut a nice field of hay, but we had a special visitor come all the way from Texas! Carrolyn’s husband and her sister were sneaky and made arrangements to have her fly up to visit us for her 80th birthday as she is a huge fan. It was so much fun. Her daughter, Shelley, drove up from Madison, Wisconsin, to meet her at the Duluth airport. What Carrolyn didn’t know is that Will and I drove down to meet her there too, for a big surprise.
Well, the suspense built, then her husband texted us and said due to her plane leaving late from Austin, she missed her connecting flight in Minneapolis. She had originally been scheduled in, at Duluth, at 7: 12 PM, but had to get a later flight, arriving at 10: 45. Well, Will and I decided after driving 1½ hours to Duluth, and looking forward to surprising Carrolyn, we would just go with Shelley to grab a bite to eat and visit until the plane arrived. We had a great visit and the time flew by. Carrolyn’s plane arrived, and she was pretty surprised to see Will and I, making the whole trip very worth it. I love making people happy!
We had a great visit up at the homestead the next day, visiting the gardens and horses. We couldn’t find the cows, but we did get to drive around the whole place in our golf carts.
In the late afternoon, I took them up to the Vince Schute Bear Sanctuary, west of Orr, to see lots of black bears, up close and personal. These are wild black bears that come from all over, to enjoy safety and lots of food. We got lots of photos from the safe, raised platform, right among the bears.
The girls are gone now, and we’re back to homestead business, but have lots of wonderful memories! — Jackie
