the great Odyssey begins!!! we traveled to Chicago an there met up with mike and kristi. as we passed thru down town and traveled beneath the L and near the old dental school a tear rolled down my cheek. i recovered quickly to enjoy reminiscing with sharon about our early pioneer homestead on wood court. the red door has been replaced by a blue one but most everything else seemed the same. we traveled north into Wisconsin and as promised by or companions saw sights that stirred the soul.


















the jelly belly factory was a grand tour ( actually it's just an warehouse) but they have a lot of cool free sample to try like puke, dirt, earthworms and ear wax and it all taste so much like the real thing!! we saw museums, aquariums, factories and tons of historical sites. In dubque Iowa we were cast into the street by masses of people attending two college and one high school homecoming and were told that the nearest inn was 60 miles away but we were taken in by a nice old Indian couple and given the best rooms in the house. ours rivaled any anniversary inn suite. did you know that in the near future catfish will be produce in larger quantities in the USA than beef? we visited the field of dreams where mike stole corn from left field to bring home and plant. he kept saying "grow it and they will come" or something like that. we stood in awe looking at ball fields and stadiums that are legends to most sports fans. circus world was amazing, standing among the spectacles, circus wagons and side shows of years past. the farms and fall leaves were gorgeous and i was inspired to come home and mow my fields. we toured mich tech university in houghton, michigan, grandpa anderton's alma mater (at least it was for several months.) i never realized just how big and beautiful the great lakes are. it looked like an ocean of fresh water. you could not see land on the other side. as we worked our way thru upper michigan we visited the soo locks that seperate the US and canada and crossed the mackinaw bridge, toured the ford truck plant and the ford presidential museum, and finally arriving in columbus ohio were we had a joyous reunion with jami and brett.
we spent a couple of days in their lovely home and had the great thrill of the ohio state and michigan state football game. it was a great trip but always nice to get home and fall into a familiar bed. thanks mike and kristi for a great trip