We have arrived

We arrived the afternoon of Monday, July 6.  Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, the destination and site of the 29^th annual Women on Wheels Ride In.  There were greetings to be had everywhere as we saw old friends.  But wait, we must get registered at the hotel, unloaded and parked in one location for four nights.  It would be nice to have a home for a few days.

Ruth had given us frog slippers a few years ago, so she, Laurinda and I had to do the frog slipper photo.

The Ride In actually started Tuesday, so we had time to go do some wandering.  Of course, we walked.  We’d been on the road for a while so it would be fun to spend some time exploring the area. 

This house was cool because of the triangular portion at the top with the little window.  It had been redone and is quite beautiful.

I can't help but take photos of lots of flowers.  They're so plentiful and the colors are so vibrant.

Purples, reds ... we've been surrounded by beauty.

 

Folks here probably take all the color and flowers for granted ... I just enjoy.

Outside one of the little shops we walked by, frog slippers.

We rode for ice cream one day to Kelley Creamery in Fond du Lac.  Sometimes you see things that you don't expect, like a camera.

And that includes a goat in a trough.

We wandered to town to have a bite to eat and found an old railroad depot that was now a restaurant.  It had the best feta cheese I’d ever eaten.  Of course, I’d guess cheeses in Wisconsin should be great.

After lunch it was time to walk.  We found a lake and fine old homes to photograph.  And basically, we spent our few days here doing just those things.

One home was huge and had this thing that looked like it had been a gun turret.  Although I doubt it.

One mansion gate had ornate gold decoration.  Loved it.

An alleyway reminded us of Argentina.

I didn't know they had bakeries for bimbos.

We've seen an unbelievable number of robins

 

How can you resist a pig planter?

There were two of these machines on the lake.  They dig up the vines and plant stuff on the bottom and grind it up, send it up a conveyor belt into a truck and therefore remove it from the lake.

Walking through a cemetery we spotted a pair of Sandhill cranes and one offspring.  They were kind of shy.

My favorite marker in the cemetery.

We saw the cranes one more time.

On a walk behind the hotel, around a small lake and through a field, we saw this pretty purple stuff.  We also saw a deer, but didn't catch her photo.

I attended a couple of the Ride In seminars, and we participated in the “meet and greet” and the final banquet on Thursday evening. 



If you wanted to be the Frog Princess for the Ride In, you put your name in the hat.  I did not win.  However, this gal, Maureen, did, and she did an excellent job of being Frog Princess during the Ride In.  I'm told this tradition might continue.  That would be very cool.

Cathy Davies and her parents singing the WOW song.  Her folks wrote the song for the organization.

The Women on Wheels of Alaska scored big, with Anne and I getting high mileage for the year awards in our classes, and Trudy and her son receiving the awards for the longest distance ridden to get to the Ride In.  I wondered if they would ban Alaskans from participating since we had four awards at our table of nine.  It was great to know how well we’d done for our small chapter.

Yep, done it again.  It's work, but it's what I do ... ride.

Nathaniel and Trudy got the awards for riding the furthest distance to get to the Ride In.  I have my award and am holding up Anne Stephens-Denny's award.  She and I got the awards for riding the most miles in our class.  The Alaskan contingent did very well.  Four awards at our table. 

Friday morning we’d be back on the road, heading to Janesville, the site of the Wisconsin State HOG Rally.