Saturday, July 29  began with tennis at 8 am. Phil and I played with my brother, Frank, sister Katy and her hubby, Larry. What fun we had. Then we all went to Perkins for breakfast….more fun and great conversation. Phil and I got home about 10 am. He was restless as he had been without his Suburban for a couple of days (repair) so off we went driving down along the Mississippi River in the bright red 2017 Chevy pickup he was given as a loaner. If you have never taken that drive, it is one worth doing at any time of year. This time the trees were lush green. The roadsides were white with Queen Anne Lace, the farmers’ corn was standing tall and the soybeans were as healthy looking as I have seen them. Very few cars shared the road with us so it was really nice driving. We drove through Hastings where the St. Croix and the Mississippi Rivers converge. From there to Lake City where one could not count the sailboats on the lake. For those who do not know, Lake City is a widening of the Mississippi River making it a large body of water….a lake.  A little further down, the Mississippi becomes a river again making its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  On to Wabasha where they were celebrating summer and there was to be a parade at 6 pm. We drove on to Winona, enjoyed a hot dog and root beer at the A&W there, then headed back to Wabasha for the parade. That Phil, he just gets things done wonderfully well. We parked, crossed the street thinking we would sit on the curb, but there was an empty chair. Quickly we learned no one was going to occupy it so it was offered to me…and another one was put down for Phil. We felt kind of silly as we did the “parade wave” as the queens and princesses  went by on floats….they laughed and thought that was great that we were waving just like they were. It was really a fun time. After the parade finished, we drove across the bridge over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. It is a 2-lane highway (#35) and it was almost as though we were the only ones traveling. We went through many little river towns, some even had railroad tracks running in their back yards, one town sign said there were only 66 people living there. Ahead of us to the West, the sunset was brilliant orange. We pulled into our driveway about 9:30 in the evening. In those hours, we drove 376 miles. It was a great day. (No camera went with us so no photos….sorry)