What's New?

This is going to be a tough task (TT for the short cut folks). There is so much new news (NN) from this past weekend. So, I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Let's start with Thursday. We went to Madison, bought a new car, did some shopping, went home, packed and hit the hay. (How's that for short?) Now to make a short story long, we went to Madison and bought a new Honda Accord. We had pretty much decided not to get a new car UNTIL the dealer agreed to take BOTH of our old cars as a trade in. The car is blue and beautiful and we've already put close to a thousand miles on it. The shopping was for birthday gifts for daughters Sally and Elaine, son Rick and new puppy Sammy. Friday began by seeing how much stuff we could stuff (SS) into the new car. Good thing we got the larger car. We successfully crammed in suitcases, a cooler, two beanbag toss boards with accessories, a croquette set, a variety of gifts, other foody things, pillows, still and video cameras, Jo and I. (Oh yeah we also had a couple of inkjet printers to drop off at Best Buy in La Crosse for recycling) The trip Up North was fairly normal for us. A few arguments with Wanda (our GPS voice), a couple of u-turns, some cool wildlife spottings, (Bald Eagles, a Sandhill Crane family and some Does and Fawns. Road kill doesn't count.) After a blinding downpour, we arrived at Uncas' folks' place. And, what a cool place (CP) it is. Twenty acres in the woods just west of Lake Superior along Minnesota's North Shore. The place is completely self sufficient (off the grid). All the power is provide by large solar panels, a small generator and propane gas. And, it's fully equipped with a state-of-the-art outhouse (SH). There is also a fully equipped indoor bathroom. The place is loaded with so many great things that I'm going to need a separate posting complete with photos to do it real justice.
The real story of the weekend was the arrival of Sammy, Sally and Uncas' new Dachshund puppy. Sammy was the center of attention and guest of honor at a Saturday afternoon cookout (SAC). He won the hearts of all present and formed an immediate friendship with Uncas' parents' Springer Spaniel, Sophie. Here, for a change, I'll let Sammy speak for himself.

"Speak Sammy, Speak!!!!"