We flew to Milwaukee on Friday, September 4. The only problem we encountered was at TSA security in Baltimore. Gail was stopped and searched and her carry-on bags wire searched. It turned out that the ankle weights she brought for exercising triggered the chemical detector. After a detailed search, she was allowed through but she ditched the weights before trying to board in Milwaukee to return home. Security let me get through with a late 19th century pewter tea pot from the Nault Brothers Tavern in my carry-on. Mom had it in our childhood home and I wanted Terri to have it as Gail and I began downsizing. We rented a car from Dollar/ They offered a Kia Niro, which is the same model as we drive at home, so we took it. It wasn’t exactly the same as ours but close. We drove to Onalaska, arriving just before dinner time. Good planning, yes? Wayne had driven down from Rochester to join us. Terri treated us all to pasties Friday night. Saturday, we went to a Italian restaurant. Sunday, Terri got a delicious pizza from a local shop. Adding to our enjoyment was Teddy, Terri’s big dog, and Princess, her cat. Furthermore, Terri was fostering two litters of kittens for the Humane Society. The older litter consisted of a male, Butter, and his two sisters, Taffy and Carmel. The younger litter was a female, Hazel, and her brother, Oscar. The cats played with toys, including little scraps of paper, to entertain us. They also attacked and wrestled with each other, especially between Oscar and Butter. Teddy good-naturedly put up with their nonsense.

Gail noticed this young Cooper's Hawk on Terri’s fence	Joking in the kitchen
Carmel stalking a scrap of paper	Terri with Hazel
Teddy tolerating Oscar making a bed of his tail
	Carmel, Taffy, Butter, and Oscar enjoying the sun
Teddy cleaning Princess’s ears	Gail with Oscar in her lap
Cats having fun	Us: Al, Gail, Wayne, and Terri

On the Labor Day holiday, we drove north along the Mississippi to Stillwater to have dinner with Gail’s brother Guy and his children Niki and Troy. Niki suggested some nice restaurants for us, and we wound up eating at Charlies Irish Pub in the Water Street Inn. We had a table on a dining porch overlooking the St. Croix River. Happily, insects were not a problem. Being outside, also reduced the noise level so I could enjoy listening to Guy and Gail talk about his living in Arlington Heights and their early days in Genoa City. What's my favorite Terry Pratchett book? I said The Wee Free Men, but thinking about it now, I would say Monstrous Regiment..

The 2026 annual Minn Clan gathering was at Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells. We stayed in an Airbnb rental house in the country, about six miles from the Dells. Bill and Julie came fro the Twin cities with their daughter, Susan. Ann rode from St. Louis to Wisconsin with her granddaughter Alisha. Maija drove up from Madison. Gail and Al joined the group after visiting with relatives in Onalaska and Stillwater during the weekend and holiday. The house was a good fit for us. The eight of us easily fit around the dining room table. There were three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first floor, and two bedrooms and one bathroom in the basement. One of the basement bedrooms was furnished with bunkbeds and children’s books, but Ann’s granddaughter good-naturedly stayed there. There was an eight-chair theater in the basement, but we were unable to get our desired programs on it. TVs in the first floor living room and the basement game room both worked fine.. We did not play pool or the video games in the game room, but we could have. As has been our custom lately, we had our main daily meal in a restaurant. On Wednesday, we had our noon meal at the Log Cabin Restaurant in Baraboo. On Thursday, our main meal was dinner at the Club 23 Super Club, only two miles from our lodging.

On Wednesday, we visited the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. Once inside, we went our separate ways. Gail and I spent most of our time in the Circus Wagon pavilion. It had wagons for bands to ride atop, wagons to carry the circus menagerie, a wagon with a large pipe organ, an office/living quarters wagon, box office wagons, Wild West Show wagons, and more. Some wagons had mythological scenes, some re-imagined historical scenes, some fairy tale figures, some covered with gold leaf, and some with just bright paints and with mirrors.

Come On In!	The circus traveled by train
Gail photographing a blue circus wagons Gld-leaf covered lions are reflected in the mirrors of the red wagon.	An imagined scene of Pocahontas saving Captain John Smith in gold
A 1905 pipe organ wagon with animated figures	A 1/12 scale model of a circus and side show in the Wagon Restoration Center

On Thursday, we took a 2-hour boat tour of the Upper Dells. This was a section of the Wisconsin River above a hydroelectric dam that was completed in 1909. The boat ride took us past forested cliffs with two land excursions. One excusion was on a boardwalk up a narrow canyon called Witches Gulch. At the end of Witches Gulch was a food and souvenir stand. The second excursion was to Stand Rock, a rock pillar whose top is about 5 feet from the nearest cliff. Stand Rock was made famous by a 19th century photographer, H. H. Bennett, who developed a shutter to stop motion. He had his son leap across the gap 17 times until Bennet got a good photo of the action. His photo is now in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. During our tour, they had a dog jump across the gap. I hope it was suitably rewarded with treats. At least there was a net below the gap to catch the dog if it fell.

The tour boats	Preparing to Board: Maija, Al, Gail, Susan, Bill, Ann, Julie, and Alisha
Some of the Dells shoreline	Fellow passengers passing through Witches Gulch
Stand Rock with our tour guide	H. H. Bennett’s photo of his son in mid air

On Friday, we packed up and headed for our homes. Everyone arrived safely. Gail and I flew from Milwaukee. The flight was uneventful, except that many seats around us were empty. Was that an effect of the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Responsible: Albert Holm
Created: 18 September 2026