Sunday Phunnies

Horrible email virus

I was just made aware of this horrible virus by someone who contracted it. Be afraid ... be very afraid!

A NEW VIRUS ... just got this in from a reliable source. It seems that there is a new virus out there called the C-Nile Virus that even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of, so be warned, it appears to mostly affect those of us who were born before 1960!

Symptoms of C-Nile Virus:

1. Causes you to send same e-mail twice.
2. Causes you to send blank e-mail.
3. Causes you to send to wrong person.
4. Causes you to send back to person who sent it to you.
5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment.
6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished the e-mail.

4th of July Continued

One thing that is very noticeable when driving in the countryside in northern Wisconsin is the brightness of the green.  There are certain trees and undergrowth that are such a bright green they almost hurt your eyes.   They almost look like lime green.

Driving back to Superior along Highway 2 we spotted this view of the Apostle Island offshore and a condo or apartment complex.

We crossed the Iron River and all the water in Lake Superior around that area was rusty colored.

We passed through a little town called Port Wing and they had a very nice display reminiscent of the late 1800's.

The first school bus in Wisconsin.

A replica of the old-town jail.

The jail was about 12'x15'.

This is a sled used to deliver mail in the snow.

This is the little red schoolhouse.  

The schoolhouse was locked so we could not get in take photos but they had a replica of the layout of the town on display.

This is the first 4th of July that we have truly have been able to enjoy the festivities outside.  The weather was perfect and we had a fantastic time.

4th of July

We decided to take a trip for the 4th to a little town in northeastern Wisconsin, Bayfield.  This proved to be a wonderful decision.  Bayfield is a quaint little town with lots of cute shops and the weather was gorgeous.  So it made for a picture postcard type of day.

Just off the shore of Bayfield are the Apostle Islands which is a National Lakeshore operated by the National Park Service.  There are a total of 21 islands included in this National Lakeshore and they are a big tourist attraction for the area.

The town of Bayfield was a surprising treasure.

Bayfield was all decorated for the 4th of July.

The day could not have been more lovely.

This statue adorns the harbor in Bayfield.

My sister-in-law loves monkeys so I had to take a picture of this shop's sign for her.

The shops were full of tourists and locals alike.

Everything you can imagine was available but we liked the yard art best.

Larry even posed with the pink flamingoes for me.

The day was gorgeous, the trip was perfect and we had a great time.  Coming soon-photos of Port Wing, WI.

Mall of America

We had a long weekend for the 4th of July and decided to take a trip down to the Mall of America.  It is a little over 2 hours from our hotel, so we got up early and headed down to St. Paul, Minnesota.

The drive down was all freeway so nothing exciting and, of course, we got lost once we hit St. Paul but other than that it was a fun time.  Minnesota does not believe in wasting money on road signs so there is not a lot of warning before it is time to turn, but we managed to find the Mall.

The mall is 4 stories with more stores than I could ever name.  Everything from old favorites:

to somethings that were quite unique. 

This store specialized in ladies clothing from the 50's and 60's era. 

I can just see Doris Day dancing around in these dresses.

There is a whole section of this mall dedicated to entertainment.  The Lego Store with thousands and thousands of Legos just waiting for you to use your imagination and create something. 

And there are many examples of possibilities to get your imagination working. 

A knight in shining armor.

A Transformer

A Death Star

and a bigger than life Woody, from Toy Story.

In case Legos are not your style this Toy Store is big enough and is sure to have something for everyone.

The Rainforest Cafe is a really fun inter-active place for youngsters and oldsters alike.

What mall would be complete without a full sized amusement park. 

This place has all sorts of roller coaster rides.

Yes, the whole park is inside the mall.

They even have a carousel.

That is just a very brief look at the Mall of America.  We walked around 3 of the 4 floors and my poor feet are very tired but it was a fun day and I am very thankful we had this opportunity.

Superior Sights

As our time in Superior WI continues I am having a chance to capture some of the interesting architecture on camera.  This area is heavily influenced by Norwegians and people of Swedish ancestory and the architecture reflects that.
Most of the houses are small and seem to be fairly old, well built, tight buildings.  This is a very typical home in this area.

Notice the little entry room on the front of the house.  Most of the homes have one of these.  There is a door on the outside and another on the inside of this area.  When the weather is really cold these areas prevent the heat of the house from escaping when the outer door is open.

Of course, along the waterfront there are many larger and fancier homes but I was more interested in the average home.  Interspersed among these typical homes will occasionally be a home of unusual architecture.

Another thing that is really neat up here are the Christmas trees, well in the south we would call them all Christmas trees.  There are all types of spruce and hemlock trees and they must be very old because they are huge.

These trees can be found in neighborhoods and along the roadside.

Since we have nothing like this in the south everyone of the trees makes me think of Christmas and how I would love to see them covered with snow, but from inside a nice warm building!!

I am not sure what these trees are but these are also very popular.  If you look closely you can see the tree in the background with deep red, burgundy colored leaves.  These are really gorgeous. 

I have really enjoyed being in this area and experiencing a taste of life up north and I am very glad we got to come during the summer.  The temperatures at our home are in the 90's right now and, we are enjoying summer temps in the 70's up here.  On the other hand I will be very glad to leave here before the cold weather arrives.

I was looking at a coat in one of the local stores and the clerk said it was warm enough until the temps reached below 10 degrees and then you put another coat on top.  10 degrees! WOW, I sure hope we are back in the deep south before that happens.



Sunday Phunnies

You are the chief airplane washer at the company's hangar and you:

(1) Hook high pressure hose up to the soap suds machine.

(2) Turn the machine "on."

(3) Receive an important call and have to leave work to go home.

(4) As you depart for home, you yell to Don, your assistant, "Don, turn it off."

(5) Assistant Don thinks he hears, "Don't turn it off." He shrugs, and leaves the area right after you.

This actually happened! Click here to see the actual picture of the consequences.

Adventure Part 7-After Church

When we were on our way up to Superior we traveled up Highway 53.  I thought that road was in awful condition and then we got to Superior.  Most of the roads up here are in desparate need of repair but when we crossed the lake and entered Duluth we found they are working on almost every road in the city.   Even a lot of the freeways are closed down to one lane and many exits are closed, this makes it tough for strangers in town who don't know their way around.

Regardless of this difficulty we decided to take a drive down the Scenic Parkway.  This road winds in and around Duluth and one section of it was near the church we attended.  The road gives gorgeous views of the city below.

 

The road started off nice enough with lots of pretty scenery and curves and small hills, but we should have known this was soon going to change.

 

It very quickly deteriorated into a little more than a dirt road.

The scenery was so pretty and occasionally we would cross over some water.

But my driver was concerned about the condition of the road as it would get smooth for awhile and then rough again.

When we got to the end of this road we decided to head across the lake and try to visit Wisconsin Point.   Wisconsin Point is a  a large sandbar peninsula that runs on the east side of Superior.  We thought this would be a nice Sunday afternoon drive but when we entered the road there was a sign saying that the road was rough and to travel at your own risk.

After all the bad roads we had been on this morning we decided to not venture very far.  We drove to the first parking area and walked out to the beach.

You have to remember that we live on the beach in south Mississippi so the water and waves were nice but we see that all the time.  What we don't see is this color sand.

The sand is reddish with flakes of black.  I understand this sand is an inert silica sand formed from the sandstone in the area.  It sure was pretty to see and soft enough to walk in without shoes.

We headed back to our hotel and my driver said he thinks our car will need new shocks when we finally leave this area.