This is going to be a quick catch-up post, my to-do list for today is running off the page. Our vacation was a lot of fun, but very busy -- we almost needed a vacation from the vacation -- and there was a lot of stuff waiting for us when we got back.
The drive up went very well, except for brutal traffic in Wisconsin -- not only that construction-related jam I blogged about earlier, but also heavy vacation traffic through the entire state. Construction traffic in Minneapolis.
We got there on Friday -- just in time for me to keep my nail appointment with my sister and her bridesmaids (all that hurry for nail polish that started chipping the next day!) The wedding was the next day, and everything went great. My sister looked lovely warning: estrogen alert -- her dress had kind of a matte finish, with princess lines, beading, and little cap sleeves. She wore a tiara with a little veil in the back. Bridesmaids' dresses: deep purple. Flowers: Gerbera daisies, in those really intense jewel colors, in ultra-simple bouquets (they looked great with the deep purple dresses.) The groomsmen behaved themselves (whew!).
If I had been the bride, I would have been a little dismayed that one of the young altar servers chose to wear pink flip-flops with her little cassock. But I think my sister was being very careful to not sweat the small stuff -- the only thing that really plucked her nerves was when the photographer started asking for all kinds of cheesy poses that she hadn't requested ("now, put your face to your bouquet like you're smelling the flowers. Close your eyes -- praying face -- that's it! Okay, again. ...")
The rest of the weekend was more wedding and family stuff. We took a day to go out to my grandmother's farm -- we had a nice visit with Grandma and brought tons of rhubarb back with us for my other sister (she brought it back in her ice chest, along with a root to get her own plant established.) We did make it to the lake in Minnesota, where we had a nice time with our cousins. One of my cousins has a little boy close to Hambet's age, and they had a great time playing together in the sandbox. Unfortunately, the weather was a little choppy so my aunt had to scrap the boat ride idea. I was hoping to get to see the bald eagle and hear the loons, but no such luck.
Our most ambitious day trip was when my husband, tired of the Midwestern custom of visiting = hanging around eating cookies and rhubarb punch left from the wedding, proposed a trip to Bismarck (about three hours away.) We didn't get as early a start as I had hoped -- my dad chose that precise morning to detail our car for us, including some kind of windshield goo that makes the water bead on the windshield -- and then we spent a little bit too much time in Jamestown, ND, at the Pioneer Village and Buffalo Museum (home of White Cloud, the white buffalo.) So we didn't get to Bismarck until around two in the afternoon. We did see Fort Mandan, the Lewis and Clark museum, and -- our main destination -- Fort Abraham Lincoln, from whence General Custer rode to his fate at the Little Bighorn. (Hambet's favorite part: the chickens roaming beind the restored house of General Custer.) We could have spent a half a day at each site, plus another day in Bismarck itself, so Peony's Travel Tip is to allow lots of time for touring central/ western North Dakota -- plan to stay overnight, there's more to see than you think and the state is way bigger than it looks on the map.
On our way back from Bismarck we ran into a horrific thunderstorm. So there we were, out on the prairie, trying to outrun the storm (no luck, it was blowing up to 50 mph) track its progress on the state map and hoping it didn't turn into a tornado (it did, south of us.) We were so grateful for my dad's windshield goo, it really did make the rain bead up. If we hadn't had it I don't think we would have been able to see a thing.
One of the nicest things I was able to do was just have a chance to hang out with my mom. On the Fourth of July she gave me some lessons in pie-making. It was fun to just mess around in the kitchen with her.
Our drive back was not quite as smooth. My husband was so aggravated by the traffic on the way up that he vowed to stay off the interstates on the way back (he also wanted to make a few side trips.) One of our side trips was to the Cathedral of St Paul (in St Paul, Minnesota.) We also stopped by the Effigy Mounds National Park in Iowa. For some reason, Hambet balked at taking the walk to actually view the Mounds, so we ended up just watching the movie in the Visitor's Center. Well, actually, my husband saw the movie, I saw the museum, and Hambet colored in the children's area and charmed the ranger into giving him stickers.
After we left the Mounds, we were driving along through Wisconsin and were going through a town when I yelled, "Stop the car! What is that thing?!" That thing was the Dickeyville Grotto. So we stopped and took a look around. Basically the pastor of the parish built this thing out of concrete, colored glass, and whatever else people gave him (including broken china, petrified wood, and antlers. The little house-thing has an altar (still used on special occasions) and there are walkways surrounding a Fatima statuary group, a series of niches with statues of the Apostles, and a patriotism gallery centered around a statue of Columbus. The parish has set up a little picnic area with restrooms for the pilgrims, and a little gift shop with postcards and brochures.
My first thought when I saw this wonder was "how weird!" Is it tacky (although charming and sincere?) Does it matter?
copyright 2003 Two Sleepy Mommies
It was shortly after our visit that Hambet started throwing up in the car. At first we thought he was just car sick, but he kept getting sick after we'd stopped for the night. (It turned out that he had coxsackie virus. He is doing better now.)
I really decompensated on the trip home and ended up leaving all kinds of things behind in the motel rooms (including one of Hambet's books, Hambet's slippers, dh's souvenier postcards, and the candy dh bought for his office.) They have forgiven me but I'm still kicking myself.
So now we are trying to get back in the routine. I am still catching up with the laundry, and we have a jillion house projects waiting for us. (At least the basement didn't flood while we were gone.) One of those projects is evicting the chipmunk that lives under our porch -- I set a trap last night but so far no luck. Another project is building a small retaining wall next to our patio -- we're going to try to get that done today.
I am going to pull out the notes I made after Master Class with my mom and try to make a pie today (rhubarb.) I also would like to finish weeding the garden.
Time to brew some coffee and get started!
