Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Sorry that I’ve been so long posting but we were so busy having fun that I got lazy. I did post on Facebook regularly though. We spent a wonderful 3 days visiting with our great friends, Shirley & Bill at their bed and breakfast www.brydenmanor,com in East Bay, Nova Scotia. They gave us the grand tour of the island and we loved every minute of our time with them. Unfortunately, Shirley broke her wrist
just before we arrived. She was amazing, even in her pain, she was the perfect hostess.
Jim and Bill in front of the world’s largest fiddle at the cruise port in Sydney,NS.
We also took a ride on the world’s shortest ferry ride in Cape Breton.
What a ride to the Celtic Lodge in north Cape Breton- awesome lodge. Bill told us that he took Shirley there after they met to “impress” her. I could see how it would definitely impress anyone. We had some “grizzly tracks” ice cream while we were there. As you have seen from previous posts- we both love ice cream.
Lincoln, Maine
Our cabin at Nita's in Lincoln,Me.What a fun time we had in Lincoln with our Maine friends who winter in Florida. We played cards, had a delicious Maine boiled dinner, toured the city, shopped at Marden's and traveled up the mountain to see the windmills.Nita even cut our hair. After a month, we were both getting a little shaggy. We love staying in the little cabin when we visit Joe & Nita. We were amazed to get up close and personal with some of the windmills just likeUs at the base of a windmill- we look & felt like antsthe ones we saw loaded on the SS Badger.They are truly awesome. The view from the mountain, looking down at the many lakes around Lincoln,Me. was just one more example of God's majesty in this world.A little bit of Nita's paradise in Lincoln,Me
Naples,Maine
Naples,Maine is always one our favorite places to visit with our friends Barb & Maury. Rosie (former owner of Rosie’s Clam Shack) & Carl just happened to be there too while on their 3 month journey sailing from St.Pete to Maine. What stories they had about the venture. We went swimming in their indoor pool and enjoyed Rosie’s stories while relaxing.
- Rosie on the right and Maury in the background
We even found Elvis one morning when Barb took us to Wyndam, Maine to Ricky’s Restaurant.
Oh, yes, we played a “wicked good” game of Back Door Bridge in which Barb & I “slayed” the boys.
Old Orchard Beach,Maine
What a great time we had visiting friends in Old Orchard Beach,Maine. Arlene & Ed had a sign made for us on their door.
The Brunswick-the largest patio on Old Orchard Beach
Had a fun time dancing to the Don Campbell Band.
We hadn’t ever seen anything quite like Orchard Beach- quite tourist oriented with a” carnival atmosphere.” I guess what really surpised us was the changing of the price to park to suit the weather- ranging from $5-25 a space. The day we were there wasn’t great so it was $10. It rained and the price went down to $5.
Concord, NH
Blueberry Picking in Concord, NH
A great night in Concord, New Hampshire and then I spotted this ad in the local paper and we decided to go pick blueberries. Jim wore a bucket around his neck to hold the blueberries. We picked about 4 lb. and ate several dozen as we picked. ( Well, now you know-they are good for you)
Jamestown,NY
Did you know that Lucille Ball was born in Jamestown? The town has numerous things named in honor of her. They also have many comedy celebrations in the town. We didn’t see any of them but her picture and Desi’s were displayed all over town.
The SS Badger -Ferry from Wisconsin to Michigan
We had a very interesting trip aboard the SS Badger from Manitowoc Wisconsin to Ludington,Michigan. The moon was full and it was a gorgeous evening to travel from 1 A.M. to 6 A.M.
The loading of 3 huge pieces of a windmill was the highlight of the trip. We were on an upper deck looking down at the trucks being backed in. It was an amazing process. Needless to say they drove them off a lot faster than they backed them in. Now when we see one of these put together and working in the country, we have a new appreciation to what was involved in getting it there.
the beginning of the back up of the windmill tower
starting to turn toward one side of the ferry
yes, there is still a truck cab in front of the 1/3 of the huge tower
almost in the ferry- only 2 more huge sections to go
Colorado Tours
Had a great time with tours and driving through the beautiful state of Colorado.
The first tour was Two Rivers Winery in Grand Junction, Co. There were many wines offered for free tasting. The Fun Finders page has an animoto video of the visit. I was unable to upload it to the blog.
After spending the night in Thornton,Co . (suberb of Denver) we took of for Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, Co. What a place and what a great tour of the company. It gave us a whole new appreciation for a tea bag. We tasted many flavors of hot and cold teas and even their new energy drinks.
The aroma of the teas was awesome when we walked into the tasting room.The plant also has a neat cafe and a great gift shop. The video on facebook shows the original teapots displayed in the tea tasting room.
With only enough travel time between the next tour, we headed a few miles to the Boulder Brewery. It was one of the first 42 breweries in the country. Now there are over 2000. The tour was quite interesting and beer tasting was offered in a special room. Even though beer isn’t my thing, to see the process that a product goes through to get to the consumer is amazing. The brewery also has a restaurant that was very busy.
Burnsville,Mn.
Having a little relaxation in Burnsville after the Friday all night drive to get to Sioux City, Iowa. (arrived at 4:30 A.M. ) so we just slept in the car a little bit. We’re all refreshed now and ready for a few other long days. We’ll be at Porter Creek Restaurant tomorrow before we head out so we can see the wonderful group who showed us such a good time in Burnsville last year on the Road Rally. We said we’d be back and we are. We’re also going to see our crabapple tree that we helped plant.
Checked out Toppers Pizza- new and just had grand opening last week. It was great. The Best Western Premier was equally as nice as last year and Mitch treated us quite well. Burger Jones was also yummy and the Chef even came out to welcome us back. 
Le Mars,Iowa- Ice Cream Capital of the World
This was a wonderful place to visit. Home to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Company. And to think that the company was started with a $250 investment. I loved a t-shirt that they had but it was only in child sizes- “Ice Cream makes me Smile”
Go to “the fun finders” facebook page to view the videos we did.