Once again we have just recently returned from yet another trip to the midwest. This time we traveled all the way to Minneapolis, Minn., to celebrate the 60th birthday of our much older brother. All in all, between our two expeditions, we logged over 6,000 miles. And, although we greatly enjoyed both of our trips, we plan to stay much closer to home in the foreseeable future and will think seriously before deciding to go outside the village limits.

The real problem which we have discovered with taking two trips so close together is that we did not have time to report on the first trip before we undertook the second. And so we are faced with the dilemma of what to include in the column.

Should we finish reporting on our first trip before we start on the second? Or should we forget the first and just do the second? Or, should we combine highlights from the two on the assumption that it really doesn't matter what happened when?

We hasten to point out that the reason for both of the trips was to celebrate family birthdays. Our father turned 85 the end of August and, of course, our brother turned 60 the first part of October. Each event was noted with an appropriate party and a good time was had by all. Interestingly enough, guests at our brother's party came from far flung corners of the United States including Cleveland, Ohio, Houston, Texas, San Francisco, California, St. Paul, Minnesota, Grand Rapids, Michigan and, of course, Cooperstown, New York. Even more interesting was the fact that there were also guests from Chili and Spain. To complete the international flair, the food was Greek and Afghani.

However, partying was only part of the experience. Far more interesting, we thought, were the unusual family discussions on topics such as the basis weight of paper, presidential libraries, the functioning of Aunt Stella's high/low thermometer, and the derivation of the word "pastime." Fortunately, in cases of disagreement on a given subject, we were able to access the internet to clear up any issue.

Of course, one does not travel such distances without encountering a number of interesting moments. Perhaps one of the most rewarding part of our traveling was the vigilance with which the Michigan State Police patrolled the roads. Twice we were most pleased when they pulled over vehicles which had sped by us even though we were going the speed limit, which in Michigan is 70 m.p.h. We were also interested to discover that when we stayed at an Econo Lodge in Madison, Wis., that two different school buses stopped at the motel to pick up children for school. We thought this to be somewhat odd, but, when we mentioned it in Minneapolis, our sister said that school busses pick children up all the time at motels in the Houston area. To the best of our knowledge, that is not the case here.

We were also most interested in a brochure entitled "State of Eight: A Bicentennial Tribute to Ohio's Presidential Legacy," which we encountered at a Welcome Center in Ohio. We had long thought that six of the United States presidents hailed from Ohio so we were happy to have that record set straight. Of the eight, William Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren Harding, it is Rutherford B. Hayes who was educated at Kenyon College.

We also managed, on the second trip, to take in a color tour of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We hiked a bit in the Porcupine Mountains and fought with the numerous ladybug like Chinese beetles at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The beetles won. And we dined at the Hilltop Family Restaurant in L'anse, Michigan, which is famous for its cinnamon and apple rolls. We were stunned when the waitress produced the roll which we had ordered. It was easily the size of a half loaf of bread. The three of us, our parents were in tow, ate away at it three different times before we managed to polish it off. Of course, we thought it made up for the picnic we had in the Porcupine Mountains which was hampered a bit by the fact that we didn't have any real food. And a lunch of cinnamon graham crackers, candy bars, cheese crackers and a pear just didn't quite cut it. But the weather was nice.

We spent the last night of our color tour in Mackinaw City, Mich., which is on the south side of the Straits of Mackinac. It is a rather touristy area and so we had our choice of motels. We checked out a Best Western, which was right on the lake, but thought we might check out some other motels before choosing one. As we started to pull away, a women, who we decided must have been the manager, flew out of the office and stopped us to ask what exactly we were looking for and at what price. We finally decided it would be easier to stay there than to get away from her. So we checked into what proved to be a lovely motel. And, interestingly enough, the next morning, as we were dining in the breakfast room of the motel, we encountered the Walkers, Carol and Merk, of Pierstown. They were returning home from visiting family in Wisconsin. Needless to say, it is indeed a small world.

In closing, we must admit that we greatly enjoyed both of our recent travels. Nonetheless, we are happy to be home, although we are quite bemused as to how it can already possibly be this late in October. Obviously, we have lost all track of time.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

Where nature smiles,

The Ellsworths

The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326, by telephone at 607-547-8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.