It is always sad to end our summer holidays, but this year was even more emotional. For the last 24 years, Nadia and I have always travelled back to school with at least one of our three children with us. Today marked a milestone of beginning our lives as “empty nesters”. Ocean graduated in May and will be starting her freshman year at Northern Michigan University in August.
We spent our final full day by running errands and finish packing in Caspian in the morning. My brother Jimmer kindly helped us and lent moral support as we were running around doing last minute things. He and I drove together from Caspian to Green Bay, and Nadia went with Oliver, Ocean, and Ollie’s friend Aurelle. We met patches of heavy rain as we made the 2 hour and 40 minute drive southwest to stay at a friend’s house. We stayed at Mark and Danell Bonnetti’s farm near Green Bay’s Austin Straubel Airport. Jimmer and I were trying to detect the point where the Northwoods becomes Wisconsin farming country. We surmised around Gillette, Wisconsin. We laughed at the memories of frequent family trips south that we took at kids as my parents visited with my mother’s relatives in Green Bay. The trip south on highway 32 brought back many fond memories for us.
Mark and Donnell are always gracious hosts. They provide a “Wisconsin farming” experience for us. We fed the chickens, made flower bouquets, and talked about the challenges of raising adult children. Mark, Jim and I have been friends since high school in the 1980s, so it is great to catch up. Donnell taught us a lot about chicken behavior and I learned the origin of the term “pecking order”. Chickens have a social hierarchy on who sleeps where on their roosting areas.
We ate a Scott Subs, a shop near their home that is a franchise of the original Scott’s Subs in Iron River, Michigan. We were good friends with the owners, Scott and Marylin Radloff when they were first starting store. I remember he took over the Friendly Store, a candy shop and turned it into a fantastic and highly successful submarine sandwich restaurant.
We woke up, showered and packed and headed to Austin Straubel Airport. It was a tearful goodbye for Nadia as we gave Oliver and Ocean a lot of hugs and kisses as we left the USA.
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