Ready... Aim... Fire!!

Last month Himself's Special Forces Group had its annual reunion.  There was a cook out, an open house, various competitions, and a family day at the indoor shooting range.

No surprise I was all over it to be there for the shooting day!

After signing a ton of waivers, we headed into the range.  This is what we were given the opportunity to shoot.  There was an M4 carbine (at the top of the table).  It's basically a smaller version of an M16.

A 9mm Glock.

A 9mm Beretta.

Listening to the Sergeant's instructions.

Time to load!

And time to fire!

Now this is the one I was looking forward to trying out!

Took a bit to get used to the sight but once I did, it was so easy to shoot.

Yep, had a lot of fun playing with this one!

For those who are interested, my unbiased opinion on the hand guns is that I like the Glock better.  I thought it had better action and came back nicely into my hand with each shot (rather than kicking up strongly as did the Beretta).  

Check! Another Bucket List Item Marked Off!

Do you have a bucket list?  I certainly do!  And while I was in Winona I was able to check one of the items off that list.

Ride in a motorcycle sidecar.

'That Guy' has worked on Harley's all his life... literally.  His Dad owned the Harley dealership in Winona from 1933 to 1971.  That Guy was born in to it.

So it was natural that he put together the sidecar jobbie-do his friend purchased.  That Guy is an old hand at sidecars.

Yep... a Harley!

"Jawa" is checking out his new ride.

When I was offered a spin around the park, you KNOW I jumped on the chance!

Ready to go!!  That Guy is driving.

Down the driveway...

And out on the open road!

After an nice long ride we came back.

Was it fun?

YES!!!!  Thank you so much Jawa and That Guy!!

The Fun of Local Attractions

While visiting Himself’s cousin (That Guy) in Winona, MN we were treated to dinner out at a local tavern/pub/biker bar... Bucknuckles Bar and Grill.  That Guy knows how much I like ‘funky junk’ and this place awesome!

It starts as you enter... with an old steering wheel being your door handle.  Lady S leads us in...

And get a look at the ‘door stop’!

The other side of the door is even bear-ter!  That handle is motorcycle handlebars.

Once you go thru the door... your eyes will never stop moving from one thing to another to another to another...

One section is cooled in the summer by this giant wind vane.  That Guy says it does a great job.

The wind vane fan from another angle.  The galvanized tub holds a fluorescent light fixture.  The mounted white deer was a local legend.  (That not the real deer but is a replica mount).

It’s illegal to hunt white deer in Wisconsin so he lived a long and happy life (That Guy said he saw white deer on a recent trip to that area.)    

I’ve never seen so many cast iron tractor seats in my life!  They want to line the entire ceiling with them.

Details of one of the bars.

A closer look...

The bar from another angle.

A pitchfork load of wine glasses. 

A motorcycle out of motorcycle chains.

A horse bit for another door handle.

Love it!!!

Here is our table for the evening.  An old saw mill blade and a big coal oil heater. 

It is quite large, as you can see.

The bar is covered all the way around in pennies. 

Don’t you love this mini bar made of old wrenches and ‘stuff’. 

The men’s room door. 

Outside is fun too.  Himself likes this chainsaw carving.

The benches had great arm rests. 

More chain art... this time a gecko with his dinner.

And some metal flowers that will never wilt.

Then on the way back to their house, we stopped by another local landmark museum in Fountain City, WI...

The Rock In House “museum” (very loosely said...).

Yow!!!  Yes, you can go inside.  The house is just as it was when the rock came down in ’95... with a bit of decay from almost 20 years of being open to the elements.

One of the display boards in the house.  If you look under the rock that is circled, you can see the dirt scar where the rocks tumbled.  There were several rocks come down but only one made it all the way to the houses along the road.

All things considered, it is amazing the house is as intact as it is! 

Home spun notes telling ‘how it happened’.

Ya gotta love this small town sites.

A Touch of Sweden: Swedesburg, IO museum

Recently we traveled to the ‘Northlands’ on our annual visit to Himself’s family.  This trip we went up thru Iowa and made a stop to see a local tourist attraction in Swedesburg.

This is the Swedish American Museum.  www.swedishheritagesociety.org 

 There was information on the emigration of Swedish people.

The museum has many donated artifacts, including this trunk used by an emigrating family.  It is so wonderfully painted. 

In fact, many things are beautifully decorated in the Swedish culture.

Aren’t these dresses amazing? 

Detail from a headdress. 

This embroidered piece is so lovely.  Isn’t the phrase “quiet peace” perfect?

One of the displays is on the churches in the area.

In the back is a snack bar where we were given the hospitality of a hot drink and homemade chocolate chip bars.  There is also some local Swedes type sausage and cheeses for sale.

At the front of the building is a nice gift shop with things not only Swedish but Norwegian and Danish too.

They have an excellent selection!

But there was one reason I really, really wanted to see the museum...

The Dala horses! 

Perhaps this is the Swedish version of the Trojan Horse?

The carved Dala horses may go back to the 13^th century, with the painting of them starting in the 19^th century.  The painting is the same type as decorations in the Swedish homes.  The horses are bright orange-red, blue, white, or black, then with a fancy saddle and bridle pattern over that.

There were Dala horses of all sizes available for sale.

This display is of old Dala horses.  The rustic one was hand carved by a local man. 

I have a small Dala horse given to me by my friend Carol many years ago.  So I bought a Dala horse cookie cutter for my souvenir.  Won’t those cookies be fun to decorate?