Wintry Wisconsin

The Windolfs are now the proud drivers of a bright red Toyota Corolla and getting lots of practice at driving on the other side of the road. John drove when we collected the car - up to 65 miles per hour along Minneapolis/St Paul freeways, following Mary Ann! Frances, who'd previously only been a right-hand driver (and a back seat driver, says John!) waited until we reached quieter Wisconsin country roads before slipping behind the wheel, but now feels quite at home.
Almost all the roads we've driven on have been snow-lined, but the snow-ploughs ensure that every road is clear, so it's no worse than driving at home - just incredibly beautiful!
After saying farewell to Mary Ann on Friday morning, with thousands of thanks for her wonderful hospitality, we headed for Lake Superior, in the north of Wisconsinto Washburn, to stay with Jacki, Rochelle's sister, and her husband Terry, in their B&B. Jacki made it her duty to fill us with delicious food, and Terry spent Saturday driving us all over the peninsula, and introducing us to the area.
Lake Superior, America's largest lake, is as big as many seas, and most of it was still frozen. We saw commercial fisherman trying to break the ice around their boats, so that they could begin the fishing season, and the remains of an ice-road where people had been driving back and forth to nearby Madeline Island until the day before ... the ice was thick enough even for trucks to drive on it, as on a normal road.
Amongst other things we saw was maple syrup being collected (had fresh maple syrup for breakfast next morning) and a man fishing through the ice (we had ice-caught fish for dinner, but from further up the peninsula, at Cornucopia, Wisconsin's northernmost town).
Back at the house we sat in the warm and watched the birds - finches, chickadees, blue jays and a female cardinal - and cute red squirrels, eating seeds from the bird feeders. There was no sign of the bears which often visit, but a deer wandered up to graze near the house, finding patches of grass that had no snow covering. It was wonderful.
We hear from Coolum that they've had rain instead of snow - LOTS of it. We've also had a message that our house-sitter, another Terry, is ill, and going to Brisbane for investigation of a heart problem, so we wish him well. Thanks to Sue and Terry for all they've done, and to the friends (and the cattery which makes Theodora so welcome) who are stepping into the breech. We haven't yet started counting how many days we have left until we return, but we'll see you in less than 3 weeks!