Going “Home”

Last Friday, September 3rd, I left home to begin a 3 week adventure. James and I had a nice dinner together and then early Saturday morning I boarded a plane.

I took off bright and early Saturday morning and landed in St. Paul, Minnesota 3 hours later. “Home.”

These first 4 days have been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. One should never, for any reason at all, ever stay away from “home” for seven years!

Sunday we drove down to Walnut Grove, Minnesota to meet my niece and her new husband at Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. What fun!!! All my growing up here in MN I never made it to Walnut Grove where my favorite childhood TV show was based on.

Monday we went to Exeland, Wisconsin for a family reunion. Exeland, Wisconsin is where I spent quite a bit of time during growing up years, on my uncle’s dairy farm. It is where I learned to love the country life. I’ve missed my cousins and aunts and uncles tremendously. What memories! What joy!

Tuesday we went to The Lake where my dad and his wife used to live. My dad’s wife’s daughter owns the property now. It has been in her family for close to 100 years, if not more. I have a lot of great memories here as well. I got to see my step-sister, Denise. What a joy it was!

Lastly, for now, my sister and I went for an evening stroll across the High Bridge above the mighty Mississippi. The view was amazing!

It has been such a joy to be here! I can’t get over how much I miss so much by staying away so long. That will never happen again.

The fun continues as we are on our way to a big family picnic and tomorrow I get to meet up with 2 incredible friends I haven’t seen in a long while. Then Friday we head to Maryland to see my girl!

Don’t stay away from “home” too long!