Good morning, good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City." Our current temperature is 57°, which is coincidentally our low for this morning. Once the sun rises at 6:25 a.m., the temperature should also rise to our partly cloudy high of 72° on this, the first day of the GH Coast Guard Festival™. The fest is our annual salute to the women and men of the USCG. We like to think of it as an opportunity for GH to share our community with thousands of visitors. as well as giving Mary and I an excuse to walk everywhere, as parking and driving becomes very difficult for 10 days.

The Coast Guard Festival™, unofficially began in 1924 as a rowing contest for the "Coasties" stationed here. By 1937 the fest had expanded to a ten day event that now includes a parade, a car show, entertainment, the arrival of several Coast Guard ships, sometimes from other nations, and much, much, more. The USCG motto, "Semper Paratus" (Always Ready), probably describes the work of the U.S. Coast Guard, the festival volunteers, and the city of GH too. As the official Coast Guard City USA of our nation, we are proud to have a CG station here in GH.

Yesterday I had two successful appointments at the hospital; I rode my bicycle to both. My baking yak is baking less following P/T, and my knees are now 80% done and feeling better. My semi-annual treatments have so far proved effective. While I was out, Mary journeyed over the bridge to get the thread she needed for my valances and her map project. Once she and I get done with our pre-carpet cleaning house cleaning, she will chat, I will play the girls, and then she can get to her sewing machine. I believe that she likes having a little downtime now, especially since she was so busy in the spring and early summer. A special shout-out for those of you who regularly read my blog, to check out Mary's blog at: http://marygoeswalking.blogspot.com/. Lots of great picture of cars and other tings of interest. Be sure to check out the automotive tribute to the fastest animal on the earth in her photos.

Speaking of that pre-cleaning, Mary got started yesterday with some laundry. She did that once we got back from our visit to see Sally at the Post. I went up to the media room and tried to watch a movie, but instead, I fell asleep in my chair. That made it easy to commit to bedtime around 9:00 p.m.

We will try again today to get that needed cable television box. We tried yesterday on our morning walk with Sugar the Weather Dog, and later on my way back from the hospital. Both visits found people like ourselves, who had procrastinated getting the equipment, waiting in line. Hopefully, the lines should be gone soon. We'll try again today.

In sports, the boys in blue were hammered by the Padres 3 - 13. My beloved Red Sox got shelled by the Blue Jays 0 - 8. The Tigers beat the Angels, 6 - 4, and the Caps defeated the Clinton, IA Lumber Kings, 5 - 1.

The train, engineered by the horn happy engineer, headed southbound at about 12:00 a.m. No return yet. Oops, I stayed up too late. The regular pair of EMD GP 38 locomotives towing 21 covered hopper cars just passed heading north. Same engineer.

So after I dust today, vacuum, and one of us steam cleans the floors, we'll be done. We may visit the downtown activities in the early evening, if my knees allow. The sun will set at 9:12 p.m. The days are getting shorter. Since I have so many pictures to share from our recent trip, here area few more. Ciao.

A car on pit lane being pushed into its "garage"

Another shot of my favorite Mustang on tour

A shot down the main street in Elkhart Lake as the cars enter town

Across the street from our hotel

A car on one of the turns at the beautiful race track.