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Hello again Blog fans! Our May Video is now available for your viewing pleasure on Youtube at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k505zHOWBTY Alternatively search WT - May in Youtube at your leisure.
We took a plane from Miami (MIA) to Minneapolis, St.Paul Airport which lasted just over 3 and a half hours, without taxiing half way there this time! On arrival we enjoyed a short period relaxation and continued to watch Family Guy (given to us on DVD by Bianca back in Montreal!). After a pint we were greeted by Hillary Wolski, a good friend and old work-mate of Craig's. She whisked us away to a bar called Augies where we had our first central American burgers! The waitress was surprised to find we were visiting Wisconsin (WI) and told us she'd been to London, for the shopping. When asked what else she had seen in England's capital, she couldn't name a thing and later continued to check if we were ok almost too often. Anyway we arrived in Osceola, (WI) for a break before being taken to the cabin on Balsam Lake. Beautiful scenery and the lake itself complete with Eagles and Heron's greeted us before we settled down to sleep. The cooler temperature was welcomed as we were relieved to have escaped the stifling heat of Miami. The next morning Hiliary had to go and work in Osceola which meant we had to wake at the break of dawn to hang out at her apartment until she returned. We sat and relaxed while writing home and watching TV. Hillary's parents met us for dinner at a Mexican place in a local town Amery after a walk and some Dairy Queen ice cream. Hiliary invited us to her end-of -year celebration after completing her first year in teaching at Osceola Middle School. Many beers and some lovely food were provided before we returned to the cabin to light a fire and prepare for Garage Sale visits the next day.
Jody (Hillary's mum) is an excellent garage sale browser - looking for those bargainous items that "you never knew you needed" until you saw them with a 25 cents sticker attached, i think my mum would like her. We visited many a garage and i bought a surprise for me old brother, as the rain fell and watered a previously drought ravaged Wisconsin. That evening we went to Eagle Brook which was a massive Church a good hours drive away. Contemporary worship and a encouraging message of growth were enjoyed before we left for the superstore Target, next door to which there was a place named Maurices - nice. Eagle Brook incidentally has a weekly attendance (over 3 campuses and 2 days) of 12,000 and the sermon is video linked to each Church which looked much like a concert hall and reminded us of Hillsong in Wembley. Having enjoyed a pontoon ride around the lake piloted by Jerry (Hillary's dad) on Sunday i was keen to go out in a Kayak and explore while Craig and Hillary read their books. That afternoon we went on an adventure to St. Croix Mini-golf where we partook in a pleasant round of 18, particularly enjoying hole 13 where the mistake of putting the ball into a small stream lead to a hole-in-one or otherwise, a birdie. Having enjoyed the first round so much we set off to find another course and came across adventure falls where the course was not quite as exciting but fun all the same. Miss Wolski focused on her days in a University golf team to win both games of the day with Craig in close second and Quince getting the bronze medal, hurrah. A plan was inspired by this random but enjoyable day to visit a much larger course on our way south to Madison, more on that story later...
In the evening we went to our first Baseball game ever! We saw the St.Paul saints smash the opposition 9-1 in a game that was very entertaining thanks to inter-innings entertainment and some good hitting. We stayed in the Wolski's family home for a couple of nights and met Stephan (Hillary;s brother) who was due to be married in a weeks time (congratulations Stephan!). On our penultimate day in Wisconsin we set about a kayaking adventure and after calling on Hillary's mates we acquired enough Kayaks to go down the St. Croix river! It was a lovely amble downstream for a good couple of Miles before leaving for some dinner and our final night in the cabin.
The next day we drove a long way to Madison via a very special mini golf course. An enormous pirate themed mini golf presented us with 3 courses and 55 holes to enjoy before carrying on to Madison. The standings were the same with Miss Wolski being crowned Queen of Mini-Golf Wisconsin 2009 and accepted the 25 cents titanium ring bought previously as her prize. We carried on to Melissa's (Hillary's mate) who very kindly gave us a place to sleep before getting the Greyhound bus over 800 miles to our destination Niagara Falls!
The Wolski family were the personification of kindness throughout the week and were extremely generous for which we are very appreciative. Special thanks to Hillary for driving us around and entertaining us for our time in Wisconsin whilst dealing with the stress of the end of her working year at school.
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