Just a Quick Hop Home

My last trip home to ND was last summer in August.  One of the reasons it's been so long since I was there is the simple fact that the weather there has been relentless.  It seems like they have had one storm after another since last fall.  At Christmas time, my family came to Omaha.  In January when I always have vacation during the first week of the year, I opted to stay home again, because Mother Nature felt the need to stir things up in the upper Midwest.  The roads were always icy or covered with snow.  Each month since then, I've heard the reports of other snow storms that had passed through as well.  The state of ND just couldn't catch a break this winter!  So I've post poned my trips back home whenever I've thought I would go.  Finally, the weather in ND was supposed to be nice for the Easter holiday and I decided to make the trip home.   

My plan was set in motion to drive to my brother and sister-in-law's house today.  Then Saturday I'll go to Dad and Beverly's.  I still had to work today until 1:30 PM.  After work I went home to get my things ready to go and make sure my cats would be okay until the next day when one of my friends would stop by and check on them.  I stopped for gas on the way out of town and when I finally got on the road, it was 3 o'clock.  I thought for sure that I'd tire very soon due to the fact that I'd been up since 3 AM for work.  But I guess I was really excited to go home because I didn't stop one time to nap; I felt wide awake! 

The weather was nice which made for good driving conditions. 

As I was driving through SD near Brookings, Dad called to see if I had heard the weather report for ND.  The forecast was for snow/slushy driving conditions near Bismarck and travel would probably be an issue.  Really???  Great!  What happened to the nice weather?  I needed to stop in Brookings anyway, for refueling and something to eat.  So while I was there I checked the weather conditions on my phone and texted Kevin to see what the weather was like in Dickinson.  It looked like the south edge of the weather system that was moving through was hovering over Interstate 94, my route to Kevin's.  Lovely.....

I was hoping by the time I got to the Bismarck area, that it would be out of there or melted....one or the other.  So after making my stops I continued on my way north up Interstate 29.  Wouldn't you know it, about an hour later, I drove into rainy weather and eventually fog.  The fog was so thick that I could hardly see directly in front of my own vehicle.  This continued for about 20 miles.  Little did I know that the rain would never end, for the rest of my drive!  I had MANY hours to go!

Thankfully, the roads were only wet for the rest of the drive.  However, I'd had enough of rain for one day!  It is a little monotenous to have to keep watching the window wipers!  I made a few more stops along the way and arrived in Dickinson around 1AM mountain time.  It was almost 24 hours since I had gotten up for the day.  Ish. 

My nieces didn't know I was going to be there.  Well, at least two of them didn't.  Suzanna had seen some comments I had made on Face Book and kind of figured it out.  So the next morning after having slept a little upstairs in Hillary's room, I snuck down to the basement and found Suzanna awake and watching some TV.  She wasn't exactly surprised to see me!  But we still giggled with excitement to see each other.  Then I went to Abigail's room and woke her up.  She was so surprised she lept out of bed to give me a hug!  Then we went into Suzanna's room where Hillary was asleep on the floor.  Abigail told her we had a surprise for her.  She saw me and said "Auntie Sandy!  I'm so glad you're here!"  It was fun to surprise them!  We all went out to the family room and just sat around talking and laughing.  Upstairs Kevin and Susan were listening to the squeels and getting breakfast ready. 

That day, I was going to help Kevin with his weekly Saturday meal that he prepares with the help of one of the girls or Susan. He nominated me to help this week being I was there.  Here is what we prepared, in Kevin's words.  We made the meal for dinner instead of for supper, as I would be leaving for Dad's and they had church to attend.  It was very yummy!! 

Later we played Norwegian Whist and soon it was time for me to leave for Dad's.  Kevin's family had to get ready for church and eat supper before hand.  So we said our goodbye's and out the door I went for my 2 1/2 hour drive north. 



Abigail, Me, Kevin, Hillary and Suzanna

Abigail, Hillary and Suzanna coloring Easter eggs. 



Driving north to Dad's.  The scenery is gorgeous even though the roads are pretty bad with craters from all the oil field traffic! 




Sunset over ND



One of the hundreds of oil drilling rigs that have moved into the area. 



Gorgeous

Highway 22 north out of Dickinson and then highway 1804 takes me most of the way to Dad's.  However, when I got to the junction of 1804, there was a construction sign that said "road closed to thru traffic."  Really???  Great!  It was my connection to highway 2 that goes to Tioga.  I only had about 30 minutes left of my drive!  I had to drive west, almost to Williston.  I found the gravel road that goes north into Epping.  From there I made my way to highway 2 and then into Tioga.  Sheesh!  It was almost 10 PM when I arrived at Dad's!  An extra hour added to my drive that should have only taken 2 1/2 hours! 
After I got there, Dad and I went to see Beverly, whom was in the hospital and had been there for a couple of days by then.  Now, you have to realize that Tioga hospital is small.  Even at the late hour, we were able to go see Beverly.  The nurses know Dad and let us in.  We sat there for about an hour. 
Then we went to their house and visited a while before going to bed.  Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.

Beginner's Luck

It's pretty common knowledge that I love baking and cooking.  Growing up I remember helping Mom in the kitchen all the time.  That included the holiday baking.  She used to get out her lefse griddle and she'd roll out rounds of a potato mixture and put them on the griddle to fry.  Usually Dad would be her helper and turn the lefse from one side to the other in order to fry both sides evenly.  I helped occasionally as well.  It was an art to roll that stuff out; years of practice in order to get it done nicely!  My Grandmother's, Aunts and Mom would even get together at one of our homes and make loads of it!  It's a treat that is usually made for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  After my own Mom passed, I decided I'd try my hand at making it and I have her lefse griddle and utensils.  I've been practicing for years now on how to get it right.  Each year it gets a little bit better.  I listen to tips from my Aunts and tweak my recipes or try something a little different each time I make it.  I think I've almost got it! 
Well, my sister Cathy has never made it.  So I told her we would make some while she was visiting.  That way she could take it home with her and have it all to herself!  I showed her the recipes I have and she made copies of them.  Then I had her roll it out and fry it.  Susan and the girls have all learned how from the Sons of Norway lodge that they belong to in ND. 



Cathy working away at mixing the dough.



Her first round on the griddle!



Suzanna frying a very tiny lefse!  Abigail watching Cathy roll out another round.

 Suzanna was Cathy's helper by turning the lefse for her.  When Cathy tired out from all the rolling, Susan took over to try her hand at the art. 


Susan turning her round. 



It was fun to watch and Cathy was very proud!  She now can make lefse!  But first she'll have to get herself the proper tools in order to fry it! 
Later in the day, Cathy and I decided to give Suzanna her birthday present.  Her birthday is the 30TH and we wouldn't be with her on the actual day.  She will be a teenager!  Thirteen years old!  So we had her open her gifts from us that afternoon.

That night, Kevin set to work again in the kitchen.  Each week back home in Dickinson, ND, he prepares a Scandinavian meal on Saturday nights.  He prepared Bergen Easter chicken and cucumber salad.  Susan helped by making roasted vegetables: parsnips, rutabaga, potatoes and carrots, drizzled with roasted garlic infused oil and later topped with balsamic vinegar.  The whole meal was scrumptious!  Along with that we ate more lefse.  Here is Kevin's description of the entire meal. 
In case you haven't figured it out, we Moberg's eat a lot.  There is never a shortage of food when we all get together!

The Holiday Continues

Today after sleeping in a little bit, we ate a breakfast of Denver omelets, fruit, coffee and juice. 
My sister Cathy's room mate Kathy was traveling around the Midwest.  She flew to CO, where her Mom picked her up and they traveled by car to Sedalia, MO to visit more of their family.  On their way back to CO, they made a detour up to Omaha to visit with us!  We met them at a truck stop, Sapp Brothers,  just off the interstate (so they could easily get back on the road) for dinner and had a great visit.  I had last seen Kathy's Mom, Bea, a few years ago at Christmas time when I had been to Cathy and Kathy's house in Oregon for the holiday.  Anyhoo, we visited and had fun talking about traveling and the Christmas weekend. 



My sister Cathy, Hillary, Susan, Kevin, Kathy, Bea

 

Abigail, Suzanna and Me

Before the arrival of everyone, I had found a nearby YMCA that offers use of the facilities even to non-members.  My nieces are all on a swim team back home in Dickinson, ND.  This time of year they normally would be practicing for their meets.  To help keep them in shape, we took them to the Y.  They practiced laps, different strokes and whatever else Suzanna was able to come up with. 

Here they are, all going back and forth. 

 

Hillary, Abigail and Suzanna

While Cathy, Susan and I stayed at the Y to watch them, Kevin left for awhile to go to a grocery store to pick up a few ingredients in order to make a soup from the ham stock that he prepared the night before. 
We stopped at a drive-up coffee shop on the way home and then Kevin set to work (with a little help from Susan) making the soup recipe he had found on line.   
It was delicious and I kept the recipe for future use!  We also had some baked goodies and Ice Cream dessert later.  That's a given.  Another fun day that passed way too quickly!