I'm Officially on Vacation!!

I am officially on vacation! I've been counting the days all week long!
And my plans include seeing many family members. And by "many", I'm not even kidding!!!

So yesterday I embarked on my out-of-town journey headed to the great state of Minnesota. I was ultimately going to end up in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I was going to drive through Iowa via I80 over to Des Moines. From there go north on I35 into the Cities.

As I drove through Iowa, I saw literally, hundreds of the windmills that are being used more and more for generating power. Some places I couldn't even begin to count them as they disappeared over the horizon and out of sight! It looked like a very thin forest of windmills!

One of hundreds that can be seen from the interstate!

It was a great day for driving and I only had about 5-5 1/2 hours of time on the road. I left home at 7 AM in order to get to MSP (Minneapolis) in time to go to the airport there. I was picking up my sister, Cathy, whom lives in Oregon. She was scheduled in at 2 PM.

After being on the road for only 45 minutes, she called to say that her flight was delayed roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes. That would give me more time at the hotel to relax a bit before leaving to pick her up.

Due to the fact that I used to live in MSP, I was familiar with the main roads and interstate in and around the city. So I knew exactly where I needed to go to get to the hotel. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Eagan. It was very close by to all the festivities that were planned.

The hotel.

Now I'm sure you're wondering just what this occasion was? Let me explain.....

Aune Reunion: 1ST day

My Dads' side of the family was holding a family reunion. The Aune family was once again getting together. OK, just so you understand the name "Aune", I'll explain. My Dad's Mom was an Aune. She had 3 sisters and 2 brother. Only my Grandma and 2 of her sisters, Bea and June, were alive back in 1997 when these reunions started. Bea's family started the event, followed by June's in 2002 and then Grandma's (mine) in 2005. Both June and my Grandma Olga have passed. That leaves Bea. Each family of the Aune sisters takes turns hosting the reunions. This year Bea's family hosted again but we gathered in Eagan.

We were to meet at 5PM last night at a park near our hotel called Blackhawk Park. But first I had to make a trip to the airport to pick up my sister Cathy. Her flight arrived about 4PM. Once she made her way down to baggage claim and we got out to my car, we headed for the hotel so that she could freshen up. We then drove to the park.

The first night was registration and a meal of pizza and snacks and Norwegian cookies! We also spent many hours of re-acquainting and discussing plans of the next day.

Arriving at the park.

A fire pit and volleyball court in the background.


Everyone sitting and enjoying the company.

Then it was back to the hotel. We changed into more comfortable lounging clothes and gathered in an area central to most of our rooms. Once again the snacks and drinks appeared and people hung around until late into the night. It was so fun just to sit and catch up on the lives of each other. Time passes much too quickly in between our get-togethers.

The room that my sister and I shared was connected with the room of my brother and his family. So it was convenient for my nieces to pop in and out to say hi. We had a different niece spend the nights with us in our room. It was great to be able to meander between rooms so easily.

But we finally had to eventually get some sleep as the next day many activities were planned for different groups. Nighty night!