I bought a paddle with the picture of a trout on it.  Thought it would make a nice wallhanging  in the basement with the canoe shelf I have on the wall.  We went to Elba for enchildas, the were delicious. Then we went across the street and bought a really nice bench made from ponderosa pine. We also went to Charlie’s to buy some kolaches and cinnamon rolls for breakfast Saturday morning. We gave Elba a lot of business.

One of the great things about junk jaunting is talking with the people in that area.  We stopped at an estate sale at a storage unit near Elba.  It was two older guys and a much older woman selling household items, art, clothing, etc..  One of the men was telling us that they were selling all of their brother’s things.  He had died in July.  He was born with spina bifada and they did not expect him to live past his early 20’s. He was 56 when he passed away.  They showed me some of the artwork their brother did and talked about how talented he was. With a slight grin one brother said “I wouldn’t want him to hear me say this, but he was a genius. He could play any instrument he picked up and he liked to invent things.” He lived with his mom all of his life (the older woman at the sale) and went everywhere in his motorized wheelchair.  Ken bought a used black cowboy hat, something he’s been looking for and he got it for $1. As we were walking away, the “Mom” said that he wore that hat everywhere.  People knew it was him because they could see is hat.  Very nice people and we enjoyed the visit.

We made a quick stop at the Rockin’ Rooster winery near Scotia. Last year Dennis and Carol and Jim and Diane had stopped there and tried their Jalepeno wine.  They offered 3 tastings or 6 tastings.  I just did the 3, which was more than enough considering I don’t hold my liquor well sometimes and I only had about 20 minutes to drink them down.  I tried the Pear, Applie and Pumpkin Pie Spice and by the time we left I was feeling pretty good.  Of course, Ken doesn’t like wine so he just watched me drink:)and ate a little popcorn.  I’d like to go back there when we could stay a little longer.

We all met Friday evening for supper at The Country Neighbor, which was a great restaurant out in the country between Elyria and Burwell.

We stayed in one of the lodges at the Calamus Outfitters.  We had lots of room, a big dining area and a TV so we could watch the Nebraska game.

 I love the mantel over the fireplace.

This is the view from the sliding glass doors of the lodge.  At night I could see just one house light in the distance. The stars are beautiful.

Saturday we did some more shopping and drove to Broken Bow to check on a honey extractor for a guy that works with Ken.  All told we ended up with jellies, jams, old rusty files (Ken wants to make grave markers for our animal cemetery), honey, an old puzzle with english setters on it and a wagon wheel chandelier that Ken is going to use for parts to make a bigger wagon wheel light for our new building.

One of the fun things we did was to go tanking again this year.  The wind was really blowing which caused to just stop in the river.  In fact one time it pushed us back up the river.  It was such a great day to be out and the river is so clear with a sandy bottom.  I just love visiting the sandhills near Burwell.

Everyone is loaded up and ready to go.

If we didn’t stay in the channel it got pretty shallow.  So someone would have to get out and push or pull.

 This time they all had to get out except Carol since she was still recovering from knee replacement surgery.

Ken getting some use out of his new cowboy hat.

Ken and Ryli writing their names in the sand wall.

Just a pretty scenery picture

We load everything up on Sunday morning early since we all want to go to church. As we were loading up the vehicles the turkeys were walking around the yard.  And . . . I like to take pictures of old barns and buildings.

Another great year in the books.