Wine Bottle Path Border

I got this idea off of Pinterest.  I saved up our wine bottles since winter and placed them in the garden as a path.  It seemed like a lot of bottles when they filled up a large garbage can, but once I got them in the ground they really didn't go as far as I would like.  I guess we will have to keep on drinking. I think it will look much prettier when the beans start to climb up the poles.

Bike Nights Begin

We love Thursdays in the summer because it is bike night.  Both Motor Bar at the Harley-Davidson Museum and the Iron Horse Hotel host bike nights all summer long.  We have a long-running tradition of getting on the bike and heading to Conejito's which is right across the street from the Iron Horse for a quick, cheap dinner.  It starts with a small pitcher of margaritas and an order of chips and salsa.  We order our inexpensive dinners that are served on paper plates, enjoy the margaritas then pay bill which is always less than $20 and head out. 

We start at the Motor Bar which is on the other side of the Iron Horse Hotel.  We park and take a random walk around the grounds.  There are lots of theme nights however, I don't think there's one on this night.  Lots of people are out and we look for familiar faces.  Usually our Milwaukee HOG chapter friends are somewhere in sight.  And sure enough, we found them at a large table inside the bar.  That's rare, this group usually has a long table close to the canal outside on the east side of the bar (where the shade is).  Anyway we stop and say hi only to find out that one of our favorite people in this group has had a stroke over the winter.  Although he is better and was in attendance with the group, it's always hard to hear about things like this.  It's another reminder of how our group is aging and of our own mortality.  We usually just walk off our margaritas here, it's not exactly our favorite hang-out so we don't stay long.

We head next door to the Iron Horse Hotel.  The Yard is open.  It is a comfortable outdoor bar with a great view and wonderful comfy seating.  Whether we sit under the pergola, by the fire, at the bar or on one of the many sofas, it's a nice place to be.  We relaxed on a sofa and people-watched for a while and enjoyed our cocktails.

Tonight's theme for their opening night is the BUILD Moto Mentor program.  The local high school students compete by each school building a motorcycle and they are all on display in the special motorcycle parking area. It's amazing that these bikes are all done by 15 & 16 year olds. We stopped and chatted with a few of the builders. They seem so mature for their ages. 

The weather was perfect until about 8:30.  The skies turned an ominous gray-black and the clouds were moving in circular formations and a quick rate.  So we quickly got on our bike to head home. On the road we felt like we were just a half-step ahead of the storm.  Even a driver next to us shouted, "don't worry, I think you'll make it before the rain".  And it turned out he was right. We pulled onto our street and felt a few drops on us.  As we got in the garage, the rain started coming down in buckets.  I swear Mother Nature was waiting for us to get home.  It was that close. We sat on the porch and watched it rain grateful that we left the bar at the right time. 

Here's to many more Thursday night bike nights.



Avery's First Two Teeth

Her mama wanted a photo of her first two teeth.  It wasn't easy to get but it sure was fun.

Evel Knievels come to The Yard

When I say we hang out in The Yard I don't mean my yard.  The Yard is the outdoor patio at the Iron Horse Hotel.  And yesterday, after a long morning of Armed Forces Day events, we stopped at The Yard for a nice lunch. When we got there, it was relatively quiet.  It was a little after 1 pm so if there was a lunch rush it was clearly over. On days like this I like that I get to choose to sit whereever I want, although that can be a catch-22 because sometimes it's hard to decide since there's so many nice places to sit here. 

We do like the bar best of all and it was pretty full of people.  I chose the available seats at the very end for one reason, it was in the sun.  Even though it was a comfortable day, probably it the high 60s - low 70s, it can be a bit chilly in the shade.  We ordered a Klisch, it's great to find a place that has it on tap and perused the menu. 

The man next to us started a conversation and mentioned that he was from Florida and in town because his daughter was graduating from Marquette law school today.  He was the most interesting person.  We talked about Conejito's and how he wished he could have the food shipped to him in Florida and how his business took off in the early internet years because he bought up all the domain names that had anything to do with RVs (he sells them).

We ordered lunch when all of a sudden these people showed up wearing red, white and blue with capes.  At first we figured them to be some sort of patriotic group, after all, it was Armed Forces Day.  But as more and more came riding in, it was clear they were all dressed like Evel Knievel. Some even performed some trick riding on the way in.  These were the coolest people ever. They all parked their bikes and overtook the bar. 

Jeff, in his usual fashion, got up and went over to chat with them.  He had to learn all about their group and apparently they get together regularly and ride. And the Iron Horse is always on their route. I volunteered to take some photos for them as they posed together.  Even the law school graduate got in the shot.

Armed Forces Day Ride and Event

We met the Legion Riders in the parking lot of Brookfield Square so we could all ride over to Hal's Harley-Davidson together.  We were leading the parade today so it was best to get there as a group.  The bad part about that is we have to be there way before the start of the parade so we are staged in the correct order.  The good part is Hal's HOG chapter is hosting a free pancake breakfast so at least there's a social event to fill the time while we wait and remove some of the boredom. 

One thing about waiting for a parade to begin is that we always meet really cool people.  Today was no exception. We met a serviceman who was just transferred to the Milwaukee area.  We hope our converstaion made him feel welcome here.  We also met a real live general.  He was going to speak at the ceremony today.  We had a nice chat and discovered that he will be leading the parade with us today.  This day is getting better already. There was also a cameraman from FoxNews who was going along with us today. He filmed the entire event.

The ride started at Hal's Harley-Davidson on Moorland Road and ended at the Harley-Davidson Museum.  It was quite a long way to go.  The route was controlled by local police and the HOG chapter road guards so we never had to stop at the intersections.  I love those kind of rides. 

When we got to the museum we parked and headed to the bar for a morning Bloody Mary then sat and enjoyed hanging out and listened to the Legion band play on this beautiful day.

The speakers at this event were all military people (of course) and Jeff is never shy about talking with any or all of them so off he went to say hi to the color guard, the Navy people, and the speakers for today's event. As for me, I loved the tank display. They even let me climb in and operate it. I could move the turret from left to right and back again while pretending to aim and shoot those big guns. It was quite and incredible point of view and not easy to climb in and out of. But it sure was cool.

The ceremony ended with the solemn laying of the wreath on the water which was a proper way to conclude the event.

Mothers' Day

It was a beautiful mothers' day.  We went to my mother's house and spent the afternoon with my mom, sister Kelly, daughters Jen and Bailee and granddaughters Chloe and Avery.  It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  The only one missing was my son BJ who sent some gorgeous flowers in honor of the occasion.  I feel so spoiled.

There's a trampoline at my mom's house and my granddaughter can get me to jump with her.  I just cannot say no to her. If there's anything that can make me feel young, it's the feeling of flying on that trampoline.