Will’s Final Blog

Fond Du Lac, WI – It is with great emotion that I look back on our travels over the past 5-6 months. This will be my final blog post. If you have found even the tiniest speck of joy in reading this, it was worth it. On our first Monday here, we set up the trailer, went swimming, ate dinner, and went to bed. On Tuesday, we stayed around the campground and got some ice cream from a local creamery. We also went to the hardware store in search of wiffle balls. Unfortunately, they did not have any, but we were able to find a decent fly swatter anyway. After the hardware store, Zina and I geared up and went swimming in the pond. We gathered all of the rubber mats in the pond, attached them, and had a great time diving in. For dinner that night, we made salmon and hash browns on the griddle, and it was AMAZING. On Wednesday, we left at 11:00 to go to a Brewers game. It took an incredible amount of time to get into the stadium, but when we did, we noticed immediately that there were about equal numbers of both Cubs and Brewers fans, so the stadium was deafening at all times. The Cubs toppled the Brewers in a 10-3 romp that day, finishing with “MVP” chants for Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong. After the game, it was raining a lot, so we ran back to the car and went home. Once we got home, we went swimming and had a lot of fun with the neighbors who helped us connect the rubber mats. After swimming, I helped Mom make the griddle pizza, which was delicious and very filling. After dinner, we ate some of the ice cream from the creamery, which was very high quality and made on their farm. Fond Du Lac, WI – It is with great emotion that I look back on our travels over the past 5-6 months. This will be my final blog post. If you have found even the tiniest speck of joy in reading this, it was worth it. On our first Monday here, we set up the trailer, went swimming, ate dinner, and went to bed. On Tuesday, we stayed around the campground and got some ice cream from a local creamery. We also went to the hardware store in search of wiffle balls. Unfortunately, they did not have any, but we were able to find a decent fly swatter anyway. After the hardware store, Zina and I geared up and went swimming in the pond. We gathered all of the rubber mats in the pond, attached them, and had a great time diving in. For dinner that night, we made salmon and hash browns on the griddle, and it was AMAZING. On Wednesday, we left at 11:00 to go to a Brewers game. It took an incredible amount of time to get into the stadium, but when we did, we noticed immediately that there were about equal numbers of both Cubs and Brewers fans, so the stadium was deafening at all times. The Cubs toppled the Brewers in a 10-3 romp that day, finishing with “MVP” chants for Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong. After the game, it was raining a lot, so we ran back to the car and went home. Once we got home, we went swimming and had a lot of fun with the neighbors who helped us connect the rubber mats. After swimming, I helped Mom make the griddle pizza, which was delicious and very filling. After dinner, we ate some of the ice cream from the creamery, which was very high quality and made on their farm. On Thursday, we just chilled at the campground, and went swimming with both Myra and Zina. That night we had a shrimp stir fry on the griddle, which was a little sweet but also delicious. On Friday, we made the trek to Oshkosh to see the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) Museum. We started with a film describing the airshow that we missed because we stayed the extra 3 days in Nauvoo. The best thing that I saw in the museum was the story of Jessie L. Brown, the first black aviator in the Navy. He was flying as close air support for the Marines when he was ambushed and shot down. He didn’t die on impact, but he was trapped in the wreckage. His wingman, Thomas Hudner, crash landed on purpose to try to help Jesse. Unfortunately, even with the help of a rescue helicopter, they were not able to recover Jesse’s body. His last words were “Tell Daisy (his wife) I love her.” Well, that was an amazing story, but we also saw some absolutely crazy experimental aircraft, from planes that looked like enlarged toy gliders to some of the largest planes manufactured. For dinner that night, we had smash burgers on the griddle, which were, again, delicious. On Saturday, we went to the farmers’ market where we picked up some corn, peaches, peas, and carrots. After the market, we walked through a sunflower maze and restocked on ice cream. Once we got home, we got lunch and headed out again for Packer Family Night. Once we got to Lambeau Field, we had a heck of a time getting to our gate, but once we got in, each of us got some Packer gear, because we felt very underdressed. It was great being able to see the team in uniform and practicing, especially the new faces and draft picks, including 1st round pick WR Matthew Golden, trade acquisition WR Mecole Hardman, and highly ranked CB Kalen King. After the practice, we got to watch the fireworks, which were majestic paired with laser lights synced to music. We got home at about midnight, so we got to bed immediately for fast Sunday. Church was at 9:30, but we surprisingly pulled ourselves together and made it on time. We heard several amazing testimonies from the brothers and sisters of the ward. The one that stuck out to me was a brother who wanted to do a triathlon, but couldn’t swim hardly at all. He was determined though, so he went swimming 3 times per week for four months to prepare. Although he was still not a fluent swimmer, he was competent enough to make it through the swimming portion of the event and his struggles meant that he got to pass a lot of the people cycling and running. In Sunday school, we talked about the priesthood. What I took away was that the priesthood isn’t necessarily power, it is the responsibility to use God’s power to bless the lives of others. After church, we all had a nap, and I made pork tenderloin on the griddle for dinner with Mom’s hashbrowns, which made for our 4th consecutive successful griddle dinner in a row. Once again, I would like to thank you all for reading about our travels through this journey. Every comment that I’ve received has made my day better, so just know that Will appreciates you more than you could imagine. Next: HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JOG. Overall Rating: 9.1/10. ❤️