Wisconsin and Vanhalla 2.0
While Stephanie headed to TX with the ladies, Svea and I headed to Fridley and then on up to Warner Lake, WI for a van retrofit and some fun. Burnett’s Dairy is a must stop (we hit it both ways) and a cheese lovers dream. The pulled rivets on the bed wings were the first order of business and John had Ron, Erv and I as his support team. A new bracket was fabricated from his ‘scrap’ pile out back of the shop. It is a solid fix, zero budge since then and that is even with all 3 of us sleeping up there.
Svea turned fish and spent hours enjoying the lake/boats/paddleboard with Evan and Ava (cousin Tracy’s kids). The white pines were dropping pollen and it was a snowstorm of yellow dust. Poor Ron, his car looked just horrible covered in all that pollen. John and Judy’s place is awesome, sleeping quarters everywhere, big dock, and multiple boat options for all you might want to do. The electric outboard-equipped pontoon of Judy’s was a real cruisers delight.
Erv and Ron delighted in beating John and I at shuffleboard, the glee made obvious by their lack of winning in the past. Such a show and at their host’s expense no less! We were treated to a pretty powerful storm the following morning, some serious wind and hail damage across the Mpls area. The drive home rinsed the pollen off Vanhalla and put no damper on our appetite for ice cream at Burnett’s (order single scoop, NOT double as Svea learned). That night Svea and I got together with the King family for dinner, made plans for an AK visit next summer.
We got Vanhalla’s tires balanced and then got her Backstromized at Bryan’s shop in Eden Prairie. New shelving in back, new bike system, sink installed and, most importantly, a charging station in back that is wired to the auxiliary batteries with a voltmeter so we can monitor our charge. Game changer. Had steaks and draft Summit after getting the van rigged at Chez Backstrom, lovely dinner and company.
