Nervousness of my first "date" trip with Jeff. Shaking the chicken box and have our lunch end up on the floor of the car. Getting to know each other and finding we had a lot in common. Enjoying sitting down by the big river, walking through antique stores, enjoying the nature that surrounded us there. That was the first trip to Gays Mills for me.
Soon after that we included parents and son. We will remember the trip when Shirley was on "bus patrol" and "toilet stops", Gaylord eating so many concord grapes they should have weighed him before and after he went to pick, Dain eating his way across Iowa and Wisconsin, stopping at Fort Atkinson for a buckskin rendevoux on the way, always eating lunch in the park by the river in Praire De Chen, Shirley having Dain climb an apple tree to fetch her a "fresh" apple, and Mom getting little sweet treats every time we would stop and buy more apples than she could ever eat so that she could share with us during our lean years.
As Mom and Shirley aged and they battled with cancer the trips became harder to make, but we continued the fun fall trip every year while we still had them with us. At Mom's last trip she was content to sit in the car at almost every stop and smiling because she just enjoyed the view and spending her time with us. She had her apple cider donut, cheese curds, apple cider, and queen's apple (kind of an apple sundae) with Dain generously helping her finish what she could not. She did manage to go to the riverboat casino to play the nickles and have a buffet lunch. When I took her home she was tired but so happy that she made her annual trip with us. Six month's later she was no longer with us.
As cancer took over Shirley's body, we worried about her at the orchards as there were always people and she was so tiny and frail, in fact Jeff questioned whether or not it was a good idea. Shirley wanted to go. We only did a couple of orchards as Shirley tired quickly and she bought treats for us to stop and eat at the rest areas along the way home. We drove by where they camped at Fort Atkinson and other stops she wanted to see on the way. Next spring she joined Mom and Gaylord.
We did not go to Gays Mills the next fall, but Dain starting doing the trip with his family as he had enjoyed the trips he made with us. Traditions are fun to pass down.
We actually did not think we would do the river trip again as it was a special trip we did with loved ones who were gone, but two years ago we met Shelley there. The whole trip was different, full of laughs, new memories of Shelley never buying an apple, but her car filled with pumpkins, haybales, apple tarts, apple pies, apple donuts, soup mixes, jellies; dinner on the riverboat in La Crosse and happy birthday being sung.
I am looking forward to revisiting those memories today with Jeff as we leave the woods to head to the river and the orchards. It will be wonderful to spend time with Shelley again and just enjoying the mini holiday. I might even have to have an apple cider donut and some cheese!
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