North Dakota Bound

All good times come to an end eventually. Including our huge family get together. Today I was going to be taking my sister Cathy back to the MSP airport so she could go home to Oregon. My brother Kevin was going along.

After dropping Cathy off at the airport Kevin and I began our journey to Dickinson, ND where Kevin and his family live. His wife Susan and their girls were going to spend some time in their old stomping grounds of East Grand Forks, MN, to visit with friends. Kevin needed to get home to go to work so I gave him a ride and made their home my next pit stop of my travels. As we drove through the Cities, Kevin had my camera and I asked him to get a picture of downtown but thought of it a little bit late and almost missed it! But here is what he got.....(ignore the window reflection).

Downtown MSP

We drove as far as Fargo, ND before we decided we needed lunch. We ate at Extreme Pita. I hadn't eaten there before and it was indeed a treat! Kevin took over driving after we made a stop for gas in Valley City. So I took advantage of riding and had a nap! We had a short night and got up fairly early to go to the airport.

Kevin made us a supper consisting of Omaha Steaks and after eating he took care of a few chores in the house while I paid bills online. We had short walk later in the cool night air and then retired to the basement to watch a little bit of TV before going to bed.

The next day I left for Dad's via Williston. I stopped along the way in the Badlands to snap a picture of the beautiful scenery! Yes, ND does have nice scenery in some spots!

Gorgeous!

I was hoping to stop and see some relatives on Mom's side of the family. I found my Mom's sister Lucille at home. She then called 2 of her kids, Joan and Jerry and they joined us. I haven't seen these people in a very long time! My Aunt just retired (again!) from nursing after 50 years of service!!! Congratulations!

Joan, Lucille, Jerry

After a nice visit with them, I left for Bethel Lutheran Home. This is where my other Aunt Shirley works as well as Joan. I surprised Shirley. She knew I would be in ND but did not know of my impending visit! It was a short chat but great to see her just the same.

Me with Aunt Shirley

After leaving Shirley to her work, I hit the road again for my Dad's farm an hour's drive north of Williston. Dad and Beverly were working their way home from the Cities and had stopped to pick up their little dog Bandy along the way. We arrived at the farm 30 minutes apart from each other. I had stopped at the grocery store to buy ingredients to make supper for all of us after our long day of driving. We unloaded the vehicles and I commenced to making supper. We ate hamburger hot dish (casserole for those of you not from ND!), pears and bread. For dessert I made Cookies N Cream pudding.

We stayed up fairly late chatting. I know, visiting and chatting happen a lot in this family! Finely, I just had to get more sleep and turned in for the night. We had a couple busy days ahead.