Christmas 2016 Greetings from Mark and Paula Persons in Brainerd, Minnesota

We started the year by driving to Texas on January 2^nd for two weeks.  We visited Paula’s cousins in Austin one day, checked out Luckenbach, TX (population 3 – cats), ate at the Salt Lick in Driftwood (they have great bar-b-que), saw a wonderful U.S. Navy museum in Fredericksburg and really enjoyed that city.  Then drove onto San Antonio to stay on the Riverwalk for a few days (can now cross that off Paula’s bucket list).  Check out the stories on our Blog at http://gilbertlodge.com  We were back in time for the $150,000 Fishing Extravaganza on Gull Lake, but did not catch anything.  One of the party Paula fished with went home with one of the big prizes.  He was in first place for a while so that was exciting. 

In May we headed to Dayton, OH, for an Amateur Radio convention.  Along the way we made a quick stop to visit Paula’s father’s family in the Milan/Norwalk, Ohio area.  Visited first cousins she had not seen in more than 40 years.  Actually got four generations together for dinner.  Also spent a night in Galesburg, IL finding the grave of Paula’s 2^nd great grandmother.  Can you tell she is finally taking the time to research family history and having lots of fun doing it? 

A summer storm blew through Brainerd causing a fair amount of damage.  We were fine but many of our friends and neighbors did not fare as well.  

A Civil War Reenactment in Pipestone, MN, and a few days in Lanesboro, MN, were a great get-away in August.  We saw the Tall Ships event in Duluth too.  In September we took a trip to Grand Marais, on the north shore of Lake Superior, checking out the colored leaves.  Then onto Ely, near the Canadian border, checking out old haunts as Mark spent seven years living there as a child.  The squirrel photo on our card this year was taken while we were in Ely.  Also saw International Falls for a couple of days.  Lots to see in this state.

We also got to Madison for a Radio convention where Mark received a prize for being the attendee who had worked the longest in radio.  Time to retire???  Paula spent an evening visiting with her niece Jessica and family.  We took the long route home stopping in Red Wing, MN -- an old Mississippi River town to take in the sites. 

Mark enjoyed going to two air shows this summer.  It is referred to as his “cheap” hobby because he doesn’t own an airplane.  He is still into photography big time.  Can’t have too many cameras or radios.  Can you guess who is doing the editing?

Paula continues with her scuba diving.  No warm weather trips planned this winter for diving but she did get out twice a week most weeks from May 1^st to mid November. 

Our e-mail addresses haven’t changed but just in case you want to get a hold of us:

Paula is:  paula @ mwpersons.com and Mark is:  mark @ mwpersons.com.  (close up the spaces when you go to use the email addresses)

Questions, Comments?  Email Mark Persons  teki@mwpersons.com