SKIING OUT WEST February 4-8 2011

We planned a ski trip heading to Vail, Aspen, and then to Grand Targhee. We had to cancel skiing at Vail due to some other commitments but proceeded on to Aspen with Boomer and Jill and then to Targhee with the Van Brunt Family and Jim Tolas and his son Alex. When we arrived in Aspen it was really cold about 15 below with big winds, we decided to go cross country skiing instead of down hill due to the temperature. Jill has a banged up knee so Bob and boomer and I headed to ski Snowmass for 2 days, with marginal visibility. It was snowing pretty hard and also really foggy in spite of the weather conditions we still had a great time eating at Cache Cache and catching up with great friends.
Grand Targhee is like no place I have ever seen. It truly is a throwback to the 70's when tow tickets were cheap and you did not have to wait to long in lift lines. We rented a house in Driggs that was the best 5 bedrooms and 4 baths a perfect fit for all of the people. While we were there we manged to get a huge storm that dumped 12 inches of powder on the mountain. The day the storm came in we chose to go to the top of the mountain only to have Jane taken down on a toboggan after vertigo attacked her and me being escorted down by 3 men. The visibility was the worst I have ever seen , you could only see about 3 feet in
front of you. I must say the next day I had 2 of my best powder runs in 20 years. We headed back to MN to get ready for our next outing (Mexico)

Naples

Leaving Anna Maria is always hard for me as I do feel some strange connection to that area. Before leaving Bob and me managed to golf 15 holes and decided to forgo 18 as the play was so slow and we had to drive a couple of hours to Naples. We arrived at Peter and Cindys just in time for cocktail hour, that is what I call perfect planning. The area they live in is a gated community called Cedar Hammock located directly on the golf course overlooking the 9th hole. The area surrounding there place is beautiful. They will spend about 2 months off and on over the next year as they are not yet retired. The first night here we had take out from a place called Michelbob's the food was really good and it should be with my name and bobs all is one place.

Bob and Peter scheduled a tennis match with some of the local men and Cindy and me took a nice walk through their development. I have not played tennis for a long time and decided to give it a try with Peter as my partner against Bob and Cindy. I was surprised at how much I had not lost I am pretty sure we could have beat them(my competitive talk) had we played longer. We went for lunch at a place called grouper and chips After a nice beach walk we settle in for great burgers cooked by Peter. Our last day here and we managed to golf 18 holes at Cedar Hammack Bob, Peter and myself. I played a great round of golf for only having golfed a few times in the fall. Heading back to Minnesota is always bitter sweet I do get to catch up with the kids and see the grandaughters.

Anna Maria

We arrived in Anna Maria island in the afternoon to warm ocean breezes not realizing that those breezes would be short lived. I started to reminisce of our first trip down to Florida 33 years ago. We drove down in a conversion van with Mickey and John Schafer none of us had any money so it was one of those trips that you go as low budget as you can. The weather that year was also very cold in Florida and we continued to drive all the way to Key Largo in search of warmth. Our first night in Key Largo we parked in the parking lot of a hotel and John and Mickey slept in the bed and Bob and me slept on the floor of the van. The next day we found the Key Largo camp ground where we set up a tent and stayed for a few days. We traveled to Key West across the narrow bridges that have since been replaced with 4 lane bridges. At the end of the trip we drove Schafers to the airport so they could gamble in the Bahamas and we slept in the airport parking ramp waiting for them to fly back. That was then and this is now.

The Nautilus is a condominium development directly on Holmes Beach. All the units have 2 bedrooms, kitchen , living room and dining room. When you sit on the balcony you are able to see the ocean and hear the waves at night. It is a perfect place to stay, with great sunsets, tennis courts close by and a very nice golf course within 20 minutes. This year the weather has been really cold, low in the 30's and high in the 50's. We have still managed to golf and play tennis.

Every week there is a flea market in Bradenton called the red barn flea market. The weather was so cold we decided to venture out to the market. The flea market is completely enclosed and features more than 600 vendors and they claim to have the the best bargains in Florida. I was not lucky enough to find any bargains but Bob did, he found himself a sweatshirt for $6.00 and a new pair of shorts. One of the vendors was selling some heal all cream this is a picture of Bob having this ointment called natures gold the website is http://naturesusa.com/ rubbed on his knees. Bob claimed it works but I am not certain it didn't help my tennis elbow. After the flea market we decided to play 9 holes of golf at the Manatee public course by the time we were done it felt like it was winter I had everything on except I was missing my down jacket.

For our entire stay on the island I have managed to take a long beach walk in search of the perfect sea shell. Throughout the years I have collected buckets full of these beautiful treasures and they are safely tucked in the basement where they can't been seen or broken.

Our last night on the island we ventured out for dinner, usually we would have gone out several nights but had a nice time cooking in. Skinnys is a restaurant directly across from the Holmes Beach pavilion and has the best burger on the island. For about $4 you get a burger with a great bun, lettuce and tomato. Various days in the week they feature the buck burger but somehow we never picked the correct day. We pay our bill for a great week on the beach, head to the golf course and then on to Naples to visit our friends Pete and Cindy.

Time goes so fast.

Our stay in Port St. Lucie Florida was so much fun. The house is on a very nice golf course and the club house has great lunches. Our first night at the club house there was a presentation by Tina Wesson, she was the Survivor winner in 2001 Australia Outback. She gave details of what is was to be part of the experience and also has published a book. A great time was had by all.

Bob was invited to go deep sea fishing with his friends Ted and Mike it was not a bad day as they did manage to catch 1 fish. While they were fishing I managed to get lost trying to find the golf course called the Saints. I was able to play 9 holes of golf by myself and hit as many balls as I could. That night we were invited to Ted and Lynns mansion on the river. It is a house like I have never seen, complete with an elevator and 5 suites enough space for tons of people, located directly on the river.

Our last night in Port St Lucie we invited the nieghbors Larry and Noren for cocktail hour, They are both in their 80's and really spry inspite of some medical problems Noren has had in the past years. Pictured here are Larry, Noren Mike, Kath and Me. Our travel will take us to Anna Maria Island very close to Sarasota where we will stay on the beach for 4 days.

Florida Jan. 2011

For the upcoming year we have several trips planned. Our first trip is to Florida were we were scheduled to hook up with friends Kathy and Perry and tour key west like we had in the past. The plans changed as Kathy became sick and they were not able to make the trip at this time. They insisted we stay at their house in Balantrae a very upscale development right outside of Stuart. Bob and me decided to go ahead and take them up on the offer. We flew down as to have more time in Florida at this time of the year. Our first day here it rained all day but we were able to take in some sights on the beach.
Other friends of our Kathy and Mike also have a place down here so Bob has been able to play tennis and I have had the opportunity to go out biking with Kathy.

June - December 2010
Wow what a great time we had this summer just to recap sailing in the Apostle Islands with Betsy and Craig hiking on the islands taking a million pictures of mushrooms sailing with the Tall Ships in Duluth not to mention our friends Teresa and Greg coming from Germany in July for a couple of weeks.

In August we were involved with a Mexican Celebration for the Pine Tree Apple Classic. The party started at 50 people and ballooned to the big number of 100 plus. The party was first class and held at Barb and Johns beautiful home on Bald Eagle Lake.

In September the fun continued as Bob and me started our road trip to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier. Seeing and enjoying all the sights and sounds of the mountains.

October brought us up to Duluth for Will and Jennas wedding a great time was had by all.

Thanksgiving was another good party and the guest list changes ever year. This year we had Andrea and Aarons friend Kyle and Beth and Geoffs friend Heather as added guest. The menu doesn't change and is always fabulous food.

December Once again Bob drove out west with his friends Perry and Frank , they somehow managed a deal at one of Vails very nice resorts and skied as much as they wanted to. While Bob was out west I was able to get the house decorated for Xmas and decorate the tree Bob cut down at Jim Mennes forest. How do you say a Charley Brown tree? As the month of December slipped by we finally managed to get a time to decorate Gingerbread houses with Paul, Cheryl, Katie and Hannah. This tradition has been going on for 9 years and the workmanship is getting better every year.

Geoff and Beth were awaiting the arrival of their baby. The baby was due Dec 21 so we planned the holiday as if the baby would be born on time or not . Christmas eve is the night we celebrate with the family and the lovely baby was still tucked away. The kids gave us a TV, our first real tv in many of years one of those flat screen about 42 inches wide. I think we were missing out for along time.

Christmas day was once again celebrated with friends Chrissy always comes with the Christmas quiz and I am always on the loosing team. I am not sure how that works.

On Dec. 29 2010 our new baby girl Charlotte Anne Paine was born weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long. The beginning of a new year.

We end the year with a New Years Eve party celebrating with the Tour De Bear. Teresa has organized the event and with hats on we walk to White bear to compete in a scavenger hunt.

Catch up from the summer May - Dec 2010

MAY 15, 2010

We arrived back home after the great trip and then just kept our travel bags packed and headed to Dubuquie, Iowa for Marla Menne's wedding. After traveling solo with Bob for so long it was so much fun to be with Kathy and Perry for the drive down. We stayed at the Hotel Julian a newly renovated old hotel with much history. The wedding ceremony took place in Dyerville and so we were able to tour and experience the Field of Dreams. Our accommodations were at the Hotel Julian and far exceeded my expectations. After 2 days we headed back to White Bear to try and readjust to not traveling for 6 months.