Trip to Minnesota

This past week/weekend has brought quite a flurry of activity!

Green beans are in full force so on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I got up before work...picked green beans and took them over to Mom's to have her can them...etc...she's so wonderful! At the office Roger and Ben have been gone...so I have been a bit busier than normal for this time of year.

On Friday morning Mary and I headed up to Minnesota to spend some time with our cousins Rustin and Sharon. We left at about 9 am...and go to their house at about 7 pm. Needless to say, we were ready to stretch out a bit. We stopped only 2 times on the whole trip...once for bathroom and gas and one other time for gas! Once we arrived we ordered pizza for supper and relaxed for a while. Then we walked to Rustin's work place and took a tour. It was quite interesting. When we got back sat around and talked for a while before I decided that my very bushy/curly hair needed to be cut. Sharon has been cutting Rustin's hair since they got married and finally we convinced her that she could handle it. So at about 12:15 am she commenced to clipping. Soon my hair was shorn and looked quite good. Only later did she tell Mary that she was nervous about it. After that we hit the sack.

Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast, and head to Alexandria (i.e. Alec). Upon arrival we ran several errands (Target, Walmart). Then we went to a little amusement park type place. First we played a round of goofy golf. It was a closely fought game...and was much fun. Everybody had at least one hole-in-one and I believe that Sharon might have had 3 or 4. In the end our scores only spread 6 points. Next we drove some go-karts...quite fun...although getting out of them in skirts appeared to be quite a challenge for the ladys! After the go-karts we got on the bumper boats. Rustin was attempting to get everybody soaked, however, his plan backfired and I think he was the wettest when we exited the boats. Lastly, we gave the batting cages a whirl. I must confess...Rustin did beat me on the head-to-head contest in the fast pitch baseball cage. It was still a blast. After we left the park we ran a few more errands and watched and air show as we were driving away. We left Alec a little after 3 and headed to the hospital. Rustin & Sharon's close friends had their baby on Friday night. So we all piled into the room and took our turns holding the new baby. In the evening we had a weiner roast with some friends and family (Doug & Amber Nohl, Brent & Suzie Wulf, Nancy Wulf, Andrew & Kara Wulf). It was quite fun...and once again we stayed up late chatting and catching up with each other's lives.

Got up Sunday morning, went to church...met some old friends and new family. After church we headed for Illinois. We left about 3 o'clock with a 9-10 hour trip ahead of us. Ugg... Thankfully my wonderful wife drove the first 3.5 hours of the trip while I tried to rest my eyes a little. After we got through the "cities" (Minneapolis/St. Paul) we stopped and had supper at Famous Dave's. I really wanted to stop there since we don't have it in Peoria anymore. We were in and out in 35 minutes! It was pretty sweet! The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful until about 11:15. A car came flying up behind us...turned on its spotlight....and then the ole cherries....Ooops! I gave the nice officer my license and insurance...he asked where we were going...I told him that we were heading home from Minnesota. He took everything back to the car and sat there for about 10 minutes. Finally he came back and gave me a warning. I was very thankful to maintain my clean driving record. Oh, for those interested....74 in a 65. I was a bit surprised that was all the faster I was going. In Iowa the speed limit is 70...we had just crossed into IL about 10-15 minutes earlier where the limit drops to 65. I had been traveling about 80-85 most of the trip...so I was quite thankful...and I did drive 70 the rest of the way home. We finally arrived about 1 AM.

Now I'm just back in the saddle at work. Roger and Ben are still gone this week. Its been kinda interesting the last couple of weeks. It seems like I have been picking up new clients about every week. That exciting and its mostly non-tax season work! I've been working on a pinata for Mary's spanish class. It ends on Thursday...so tonight I will be pomping it. I also need to make applesauce and hang our new curtains if they come. Gotta get the house all ready for our first potluck that we host on Friday.

Thats all for now! Have a great week!

Greg