Wednesday, 30 April 2025: Winona, Michigan

On the road to Michigan to buy a new car… maybe. 

                       We stopped at a wide spot in the road and saw the sturgeon spawning.

We also saw a bald eagle along our path.  

At LaCrosse and on the Mississippi River, we crossed into Minnesota: first time for me I think.  I can check another state off the list.  Before we crossed though, we stopped by Viterbo University campus.  This is when Justin completed his teaching degree.  He was mostly a virtual student and required to be on campus for a minimal amount of time.  Pretty good plan since it’s at least four hours outside of GB and he had a young family.  

The campus is quaint and right across the street from St Rose convent.  Built in 1870, the convent is home to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.  This convent is known for having prayed non-stop in their chapel since 1878.  Non-stop.  We are called to “pray without ceasing”  (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and these sisters actually make it happen.  

On into Winona where we had a plan to look at two Ford Lightnings.  Yes, we’ve been in the car world again.  Justin wants towing capacity, and he wants all electric and he wants fully automated driving, and he wants… and he wants.  

The Suburban we just bought turns out to have a hole in the bell housing (I don’t even know what that means) and will need a new transmission.  The guy we bought it from is willing to replace the bell housing but that doesn’t really take care of the problem.  

Grrr…

Thursday, 24 April 2025: Stadium District

Christmas Day?  No, NFL 2025 Draft, Day One.  The population of Green Bay is 107,000.  The attendance tonight at Round One of the draft was 205,000.  People came from miles and miles; we live down the street.  

Overflow crowds were allowed into the stadium. [After the event, the official number of attendees was over 600,000.]

We watched Day One on TV.  We’d braved street closures and driven around the neighborhood to see the preparations ahead of time but decided to forgo the initial mayhem.  

Day Two — we couldn’t stay away.  We got an Uber then we walked for miles and then wound our way up to the front of the SRO area to watch the show.  It will be fun to watch these guys when we get back into football season.

“Christmas Day” indeed for the City of Green Bay.  I overheard a guy in the grocery store talking about how he and his wife had spent over $2,000 to stand on the “floor” of the area.  I hope their friends saw them on TV.  People who typically charge $25-50 each home game to allow people to park in the yard can count on getting enough to pay their property taxes.  For this draft, those same folks were able to bring in $150 per car/day.  Maybe they’ll be able to go on vacation too.  New hotels were readied just in time to be able to open their doors.  Restaurants had limited menus and jacked up prices, but, yeah, the city brought in all kinds of revenue for hosting this event.