Our destination on June 26  is the Ives Auditorium in Bloomington.

Country fans, get into the spirit and wear a cowboy hat for a special prize. It will be country food and music entertainment at its best.  It’s barbecue time with ribs and chicken, corn bread and beer-cheese macaroni.

Music follows food with an all-star band playing favorite songs by Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and other favorites.  We leave at 8:30 a.m. from the Walmart parking lot.

In July we have our long awaited tour of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

July 31 we visit Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for “Mamma Mia!” This show has extended its run.  The final payment for this trip is due by June 27. Fees may be sent or dropped off at the travel office. We are taking two buses for this date so please ask which bus  you will be on.

On Aug. 11 we are going to the Surf Ballroom in  Clear Lake, Iowa, for the big band orchestra  music of Jan Garber.

This small Iowa resort town bustles with many activities in the summer and big band entertainment is reserved for Sunday summer nights.

This is also the setting of the book “Stars Over Clear Lake.” It’s a sweet story of only one of the families and their story of making the Surf Ballroom a frequent stop in the summer during World War II. The book also centers on the life of families as their sons went off to serve and the POW’s who came to the Clear Lake area to work on farms.

Clear Lake is also the site where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash outside of Clear Lake.

The museum displays include many stories and photos of those who entertained there throughout the years.

We will be departing at 3 p.m. for this trip. Fee is due by July 22.

Our recent trip to visit Austrian native Inge Schmenke at her country villa in Iowa was well received. We had an Austrian dinner and heard her story of fleeing Austria when the Russians invaded. It’s one-day tours like these that catch the interest of many of our travelers.

Please watch the schedule of our travel in our newsletter for sign-ups and departure times.  Our mailing address remains  1002 16th St. SW,  Austin, MN  55912.