Minnesota Trip

My cousin Tammy graduated from nursing school this month. Nursing school is hard so that is a really really big accomplishment. Especially considering she has a family and jobs. There was a party celebrating. My cousin Brenda had mentioned it a few times and always said come. Well normally I don't go much, but was thinking it was time for a trip back to Minnesota. It was five years since my last trip there. Then I thought my mom might like to go since she hasn't been back since 1999. Dave got us the flights using frequent flier miles and a rental car using points from Hertz. I had to pay taxes and gas. Cheap trip.
So we arrived on Thursday and visited the city folk. My mom's sisters live in Minneapolis. Lovely to see them. Then we headed north to the farm. The farm is like 60 to 70 miles north of the cities. We got there and were so surprised. The whole place was all cleaned up. Brush gone, grass mowed, porch finished, and fallen barn torn down. The old cow pasture was turned into a field. I got farming lessons from my uncle Glen. I saw sand hill cranes and wild pheasants. Glen said there was bear and cougar around. Didn't see them though...bummer. I rode a four-wheeler for the first time ever. Glen told us to just ride it out to the field that he was planting way out back. I definitely understood using those on the farm.
We attended the party and had a nice supper. My cousin Teresa brought us strip steaks for the bbq. We visited with all the rest of the cousins. Was great to see everyone. Then when the noise level got louder it was time to go.
Sunday morning it was time to head back to the airport. Got home that afternoon and enjoyed being home. Guess we are going back in a couple of years for Mom's high school reunion. At least that is the plan for now.