It isn’t just the serenity…

30+ years ago when we decided to invest in some land in the Randall area. We thought it would just be a camping getaway. At first that is exactly what it was. Since it was (is) only 45 minutes from St.Cloud, we could go up for a day or we could stay a weekend. It was pretty convenient.

Jump ahead 20 years and it was time to think about retirement and where we planned to spend our time not working. An opportunity in Randall surfaced and we (me mostly) seriously considered “The Land” a viable possibility.

Jump ahead another 6 years and the decision was made. Our adventure into retirement has been pretty well documented here on the blog. “The Land” turned into “Peaceful Pines.”  Each time we leave, we want to be back and every time we return we can feel a sense of relaxation wash over us.

Randall rush hour

The small town environment brought Joyce back to her roots. 

It brought Gary to an environment to explore a gazillion creative possibilities (lefse, anyone?) AND he gets to drive a tractor. 

But there is more. Our small town has revealed its character in a manner that neither Joyce nor I could have imagined.

Randall has become a small town that is dedicated to the memory of the people who serve and who have served our nation. It has a wonderful respect for the sacrifices of the women and men who keep our nation safe and free.

Take, for example, the wall of honor on the local VFW, a place where one can come to see whom, in the area, has served. The McDonalds (Thomas McDonald lineage) who have served are here.

   When I look at it, I feel a great sense of pride.

It is a stone and mortar tribute to our patriotic family and the patriotic spirit of our community and our  country.

Did you hear that?

The voice in my head that kept saying, “Go ahead, Gary, I dare you.”  I usually stay away from an “I dare you” voice. But, I fell for it. I took the dare.

After all, what could be so difficult in making REAL lefse? Isn’t it just potatoes and flour? No, my friend, there is, as it turns out, a bit more involved in making REAL lefse. I found out, in my research that there is the “correct” way, the "correct" equipment and a passel of "correct" recipes to follow.

Needless to say, as a beginner, my equipment, recipe and technique will improve over time, but for now, I’d say I accomplished what I set out to do.

So the system you see here was set up to be the least messy since I didn’t know what the heck I was getting myself into. 

 I made a rollout system where I covered my pizza stone with a kitchen towel, then put the pizza stone on a lazy susan. That way I could just rotate the lazy susan a couple of degrees before I took the next stroke with the rolling pin. I did cover the cloth with flour so I never had to flip the dough over during the rolling phase.

I used our pancake griddle on 375 (400 cooked too quickly). That way I could have one finishing, one starting and one being prepared.

I used a “paint stick” flipper that I made earlier in the day. It worked really well. Just a flick of the wrist and it was off the towel and onto the griddle.

The recipe was for 36 of the lefse sheets. I started at the beginning of the MinnesotaTwins game and finished by the end of the 4^th inning (about an hour and a half).

Of course it all had to be taste tested. They tasted like any other lefse I have bought as a specialty item, so I guess I’ll consider doing it again. In my humble opinion, it was not too difficult. I guess taking the dare from the little voice in my head turned out okay…..this time.

Stop me if you have heard this one before……….

One day two ducks, two gophers and a Tennessee Volunteer walk into a bar.
The bartender says, “ What’ll you have?”

They all reply, “ We’ll have one Schnoor family reunion, please.”

“And, we’ll have an all class reunion on the side.”

The last few days have been quite a whirlwind of travel for the Schnoor “kids.” Ralph and Viola drove up to Ely, Minnesota from Knoxville, Tennessee and arrived Thursday the 21^st of June. Dale and Judy, who drove from Eugene, Oregon arrived the same night. Meanwhile, Al and Chris flew in from Eugene to the MSP airport where Joyce and Gary were there to greet them. After a quick stop at the IKEA store by the Mall of America, there was a short stay over in Randall. Meanwhile, Marg and Herbie were making their way to Bill and Ginny Davidson’s in Babbitt, Minnesota for the weekend.

By Friday, everyone except Marg and Herbie were checked in at the Super 8 in Ely and Friday night everyone finally found each other in Babbitt. There was a check-in at the high school for the "class" reunion. There were a lot of, “Do you know who I am?” Questions echoing down the hallways. And, the predictable uncomfortable pauses followed. It was amusing to see so many people of “senior age” have blank expressions for a while and then to watch the dawn of recognition when they found that the person standing next to them used to be a great friend.

It is surprising what can be packed into a 4-day get together including;

parades, 
















lunches ,

birthday celebrations 

and ,oh yes, there was shopping done as well, mostly for shoes and a pair of boots it turns out.


I believe a good time was had by all. I am sure Bob and Tracy were nodding approval from above as they watched the spirit of  renewed family relationships strengthen.

Let it grow. Let it grow. Let it grow

This is the year I thought it would be a good idea to plant my (our) own vegetables. The issue of course is with the gimpy back (still not fully recovered). So, I also decided that this year might be a good year to figure out how to build an elevated garden bed system. It turns out I had collected enough "material" over the years to have everything on hand to actually begin the project.

Of course, I had to have a plan. Amazing how many different ideas I could develop with the world at my fingertips. Thank you University of Maryland for pointing me in the direction that made most sense to me. Once I had the idea in mind and once Joyce and I agreed where a good growing place might be, I set to work. It was very rewarding seeing what was in my brain actually taking shape.

A bit of color and voila, an actual raised and, I must say, quite sturdy planter holder.

I had started some radishes and peppers indoors. And a good friend of ours, Don, had started some cabbage for me as well. I figure that is enough for the first year. Putting them outdoors was not particularly difficult. Of course, if they don't turn out, that could be something I need to revisit.

A combination of sand, soil, compost and plant starter mixed together in "recycled" turkey poult boxes was relatively easy.

Easy, that is, until I had to lift each one into place. It reminded me why I was making them raised in the first place.

Now, Mother Nature is in charge. Of course she reminded me of that the other night.
We had snow a few days back.

We had a freeze warning last night. And cool weather to follow the next few days. Only time will tell.

Welcome Home

An heroic entrance

A family reunited

Happy Grandparents

And, oh yeah, it’s almost like Disneyland.

Welcome home, Garrison. Thank you for being a member of the fighting force comprised of being less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the United States population, who have helped to keep America free.

And so it begins....

What to do, what to do, what to do? Spring is opening all kinds of possibilities this year. I mentioned earlier that I will have more time now that I am retired. I also mentioned that we are trying our hands at golf. And now, I find that I have time to start a project that will be ongoing, I would imagine, for years to come (or at least until I run out of space).

Yup, I promised myself a LONG time ago that when I retired I was going to set up a scale model railroad system. In anticipation of that, I have been collecting odds and ends over the years.

A few months ago I finally decided on my theme. It is going to be of the city of Randall, Minnesota, circa 1950s. Over the last few weeks I have been visiting with quite a few people in town. It seems that Randall was quite the hopping railroad town for quite a while. The streets today are shadows of their former bustling selves.

It may take a while to get everything in. I am hand building, or at least attempting to, all of the structures. I have been taking pictures and doing a lot of research on technique and materials. I have been taking quite a few pictures of the structures in town and getting pictures from a few different people who have a long history living here.



The first structures are just to see if I can get the scale correct. As I get more accomplished it will be interesting, at least to me, to see how sophisticated the layout develops. If nothing else, I will have a couple of nice trains to run around the Christmas trees each year ;-)

Anniversary golfing

A great 42 years has been enjoyed by at least two people in this relationship. We took a vote and agreed that it just seems to be getting better each year. Combine a great partnership and two people being retired and who knows how much better it is going to be in the future.

We decided that a quick trip south for a golf outing might be fun. It would be a chance to see if the rehab I have been doing on my back is paying off. Des Moines, Iowa was as far as we had to go to find open golf courses.



When we found out a cart was included in the very reasonable winter rates at the Toad Valley golf course, we hopped right on. And, since I have not been able to golf in over a year, I could use all the help available on the course. Did it work? Well, let me put it this way. I played the same ball all day.

Of course, when one is offered a bit of good luck, I say, "why not?".
















The scores, at this point, do not really matter. Toad Valley the second day was even nicer.





Our third day had us playing in Omaha. We were able to get a tee time at the Elmwood City golf course. By the end of the day it was delightfully warm. Then we headed home.

On the way, to finish off the celebration of our 42 years together, we stopped at the 25th avenue Dairy Queen in St.Cloud. The significance of this particular DQ is that, except for 2 years in service and 2 years in Ely for college, we have celebrated a treat here sometime during the week of our anniversary for the past 45 years. We found out that the building will be torn down in the fall of this year.
I thought we should have a picture taken to commemorate long standing traditions. We will still be able to visit the location for a DQ in the future. A new building will be taking its place nearby. So, while some things change (the structure and location of the DQ), other things stay constant (our love and the times we cherish together).