Quick trip to Minnesota

Mike and I took a quick trip to Minnesota in July. We drove. We drove two full days until midnight.  We actually planned to spend a night in Wisconsin, but every hotel was full, so we kept going. This would have been a great trip to go on with a fellow quilter. You would not believe how many signs I saw on the highway for quilt shops! We also saw many signs for what they loosely refer to as "gentlemen clubs", an obvious misnomer. I lead a very sheltered life. I had no idea.

As we sped across Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota we saw highly forested rolling hills and we crossed large rivers.  We saw picturesque farms and huge fields of corn. The whole time we kept discussing the early adventurers and pioneers in this great nation of ours and how remarkable they were. I guess I can't go anywhere without feeling an affinity for the history. One of my favorite books ever is called From Sea to Shining Sea by James Alexander Thom. He begins with the Clark family in Virginia and all the sons they raised and what they did with their lives. They were a remarkable family, their youngest son being William Clark, the co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. What a big beautiful country we live in!

At long last we arrived in Brainerd, MN where we stayed at  Bigelow's lake home on Sylvan Lake. We loved being with Kati and Emma and Marnie and Tim. They are terrific! They all mentioned how nice it was to have Matt stay there with them a couple of years ago. 
It was so good to be back in the land of sky blue waters where we fell asleep each night to the sound of loons and lapping water. I suppose every part of the country has its own sounds that tell you you are home, and in Minnesota it is the haunting sound of the loons calling across the water to one another on a still night. It is like comfort food for the soul. And speaking of comfort food, I wanted to make sure we got brats and walleye. Success! I love walleye. A funny name for delicious fish!

We spent time with Gene and Jude, and that was very nice. Grampa is not doing so well. Parkinson's is taking its tole. He is still sharp as can be, he just has a difficult time expressing himself and getting around.

We spent one night with my Dad and brother Joel. We stayed at Joel's house. We also went over to the cemetery where Mom and Logan are buried. It is such a lovely location with the sun shining and the shade trees.
We didn't get to see Rand, so we decided to leave and begin our journey home. Quick trip, but it was great to be there for a while!