Night time

Night life in Toulouse. Lots and lots of little street cafes. The weather is great, unfortunately, the people at the next table are usually smoking. I'm spoiled by the smoking ban in Illinois!

Try it, Mikey!

Don't know what the heck I'm eating!

Actually I did, this was duck pate (ground up duck liver) with lard (AKA fat) congealed on top. A spread for the bread. In Toulouse, all the traditional dishes are made with duck parts... livers, hearts, you name it.

458 Miles

Yesterday, Bob, Yarko, and I met up with Kim in Janesville, WI. From there, we did a big loop on some twisty country roads to the Mississippi River and back. Totals for the day -- 458 miles, 13 hours, 1 memorable ride. Bob found the route on the web (here) and I loaded it into my GPS and we went where the GPS lead us. It was a great route that we'll probably do again. The views of the Mississippi were very much like the views from my Savanna trips last year. I didn't get pictures of the Mississippi on this trip, we were too focused on getting gas and lunch.

The GOOD Pictures

I'm back from two great 4-day vacations. To supplement the crummy phone pics below, here are the pictures from my Nikon:

For the first part of my vacation, I took the kids to Ocean Isle Beach to visit with their grandparents. Click here to see these photos.

After that, Jody took me to NW Michigan where she spent many of her teenage summers. Click here to see those photos.

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Happy 4th!

Sleeping Bear Dunes again

Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan

Michigan sized sand dune!