Minnesota Nice!

May 21 – June 3, 2022

Probably a more accurate title would include Iowa, as dear family and friends began spoiling us as soon as we hit the Midwest!  Luke treated us to the magic he does with his backyard smoker, Norah gave me a succulent planter with her handprint embellishing the pot, Jane gifted us with a plate of her scrumptious brownies, Adam gifted us a loaf of his sourdough bread, Lauren treated us to a pair of her hand-turned pottery coffee cups, Sandy made her yummy almond rusks for us, Sherry delivered a wedge of St. Anthony Whiskey-Washed original Farmstead cheese from Redhead Creamery, Rhonda treated us to homemade dinners including a Persian dinner and her homemade pizza, as well as a loaf of her sourdough bread…  Ahh, the delight of being “home” again!  What a blessing to have so many great people in our lives!

Speaking of home, we made our home at Lebanon Hills Regional Park during our stay in the Twin Cities area.  Our timing couldn’t have been any better, as the campground roads were lined with crabapple trees in full bloom!  It was a delightful landing, as Lauren, Adam, Emma and Eli joined us for a BBQ dinner shortly after we got set up.  Between the flowering trees, beautiful weather and family at our table, our hearts were full!  

We were fortunate to have been able to time our arrival to partake in Lauren’s graduation from the University of St. Thomas with a Master of Special Education degree!  We are so very proud of her!  I can only imagine how busy her life has been for the last two years.  Taking on a full-time teaching position is tough enough, let alone that this coincided with the beginning of COVID (which meant distance learning and all of the complications which ensued with that), parenting, beginning graduate school… Good grief!  Lauren walked across the stage wearing her grandmother’s wedding band, a necklace her sister had given her and a ring my parents gave me as a teenager – all symbolizing the strong women in her life.  She told me “Strong women raise strong daughters.”  If this is true, I can’t wait to see the accomplishments her own two daughters are going to achieve!

                       

Speaking of Emma and Eli, we couldn’t have had any more fun with these two girls!  We picked them up from school early one afternoon and brought them back to the campground for a bike ride and dinner!. This possibly included a stop for ice cream treats on our way back to their home!

Another morning, we grabbed them from school and spent the day discovering cool things at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.  The “Storms on Stage” presentation was amazing!  One of the last stops we made at the museum was at the Minnesota River Gallery, where we thought we recognized the Mississippi Headwater post.  We originally assumed it was a replica; however, it turns out it was the exact sign, carved from a log, that was at Itasca State Park in 1988 when we were there with Lauren and Brandon!  Pretty cool to stand with our grandchildren next to the same log sign we stood next to 34 years ago with our own children!

Emma began playing the flute this school year and, by magical luck, we were in town for her very first band concert!  It seems like yesterday that we were attending Lauren’s first orchestra concert.  What a thrill it was to be able to attend Emma's concert in person, applauding the band's performance of “Hot Cross Buns”!

We thought it would be fun for the girls to have a sleepover with us, so following the concert, Emma and Eli accompanied us back to the camper.  Before we left, the band director informed the crowd that the kids all deserved some ice cream for their hard work preparing for the concert.  Who are we to disobey teachers?  Needless to say, ice cream treats soon were in hand, followed by bedtime stories and lights out.

In the morning, the kids enjoyed playing with Frankie before we headed to the Minnesota Zoo for the day.  Emma and Eli were thrilled to be able to ride Fredrick the camel!  It seemed like all of the animals were awake and fairly active during our time there.  We saw bears, llamas, otters, wolves, coyotes, wolverines, sea stars, sharks, and so very much more!  Between a late night, an early morning and a full day at the zoo, I’m sure the kids slept well in their own beds that next night!  What a treasure to have had this time with them.  A huge THANK YOU to their parents for letting them skip school to spend time with us!

We also got to spend time with so many dear friends while we were in town!  When we lived in Hastings, we played bells in St. Elizabeth’s bell choir, directed by Kellen.  It was wonderful to have dinner with Kellen at Revival in St. Paul, which served up some delicious southern comfort food!  It was so great to catch up with Kellen, as we hadn’t seen him since we left Hastings in March of 2020.  We were stunned to learn Kellen had been diagnosed with stage three cancer, faced major surgery and endured so many rounds of chemotherapy this past year.  Kellen, you are amazing!  Your strength clearly comes from the Lord!  

We also know Sandy and John from St. Elizabeth’s and we were thrilled they were able to come spend an afternoon at the campground with us!   

               

Jean and Tim met us for drinks and dinner at Inver Grove Brewing Company.  Time flew by as we shared stories of our families and caught up with each other’s past year.

Sherry drove down from St. Cloud to meet me for lunch at Granite City in Maple Grove!  Sherry and I grew up together in Iowa and became reunited after Dick and I moved to Minnesota in 2013.  It was another case of the afternoon speeding by!  

Ken and Rhonda invited over for dinner a couple of times.  Rhonda is is an amazing cook and treated us to a delicious Persian dinner one evening and homemade pizza another evening!  Before dinner, we enjoyed drinks and appetizers in their backyard, which can only be described as what one may envision Eden to look like.  The bleeding hearts were in full bloom along with so many other plants.  Delightful!

One thing Dick and I miss with our full time RV lifestyle is gardening and digging in the dirt.  Maybe this sounds strange, but we’ve always found gardening to be so rewarding!  We were thrilled when we learned Ken and Rhonda had a yard project planned! We were more than happy to “dig in” and help them with it!  It felt great to put on the garden gloves and play in the dirt for an afternoon!

Ken and Rhonda also joined us for an afternoon at the Songkran Thai Festival in St. Paul over Memorial Day weekend.  There we ate fresh egg rolls, watched Thai dancers, listened to Thai music, and met Monks who blessed string bracelets as they tied them on our wrists.  

On our way to the festival, we happened upon a memorial park near the St. Paul Capitol.  The memorial honored war veterans and peace officers.  It was so fitting to spend some time wandering among the memorials, as it was Memorial Day weekend!  It can be easy to forget the sacrifices made for the freedoms we enjoy.

In between visiting friends and spending time with family, I slipped in a little time with Bernie.  Lauren has been babysitting Bernie for me while we are on this grand adventure!  I was actually pretty stunned how much I had forgotten about this good friend of mine!  I did avoid having to pull out the instruction manual and did successfully finish edge-to-edge quilting a small quilt I have been working on!  Bernie is just too big of a machine for the camper, so before we left, I returned her to Lauren and said my goodbyes for another year.

Our final stop in the Twin Cities was to the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis.  This intersection is now known as George Floyd Place, as this is the location where George Floyd was killed.  On the concrete street, at the spot where George died, is a painting that includes George’s last words, “I can’t breathe.”  It was incredibly emotional to stand there, knowing the crisis that unfolded at that very spot.  We all remember viewing the videos of the violence.  My mind couldn’t help but relive what had happened there. I could hear the bystanders begging the police to take George's pulse, feel the tension and fear in the air, hear George talking to his mother... Hopefully, awareness is making this world a better place as a result of George’s tragic death.

This mural is just around the corner from where George Floyd was murdered.

Our final accomplishment for our time in the Twin Cities was fitting in a number of doctor appointments.  We left Minneapolis with shiny white teeth and the confidence that our blood pressure continues to be good!  We even received our fourth Covid immunization, so we feel armed to head out on the next round of adventures!

Next up:  The U.P.!