Tom also has cousins living in Minnesota, and that is where Tom and his brothers were born, so on Monday, May 2 we travelled from Iowa to Minnesota to continue seeing family.
Mankato is only a about 150 miles away, so it wasn’t a long drive. We stayed at a cute campground called “The Sawmill”. Our campsite was on the end with one side looking out over a currently un-planted field. Because it has been so cold in Minnesota and Iowa, in fact it’s been the coldest April on record in Minnesota the crops aren’t in the field yet. We saw some farmers beginning to work the fields, but because it keeps raining not all have been able to. Tom’s cousin, Roger hauls fertilizer in the spring and is usually finished by May 1st but this year he hasn’t even started yet. Most people around here are thinking the weather is going to go from winter to summer and that it’ll be hot and humid mosquito season in a week or two. Although it’s been cold, rainy, and windy I might be okay with no mosquitos yet!
Just before we left California in April Tom’s cousin Deb Johnson and her husband Gary were in town and they stayed at our house for a couple of days. Now we are here visiting with them. Deb and Gary had us over for dinner on Monday after we arrived. It’s always so nice to not have to cook after a day of traveling.
On Tuesday we met up with Tom’s cousin, Mike Latourelle and his friend, Sharon. They live in Hastings, MN so we met halfway and had lunch and a nice long visit. It was good to catch up with Mike. We’re still trying to convince him to move West and leave the Minnesota snow behind. After leaving Mike and Sharon we drove to Mapleton where Tom was born. He took me by the home he lived in until he was 5, and actually the town hasn’t changed much in the past 63 years. I have noticed as we travel to these small towns, they all have a similar layout, which is small homes in town with the church or churches, usually Lutheran and/or Catholic, in the center and then the farms on the outskirts. I’m a little obsessed with these wonderful farmhouses, many which have been added on to over the years, but apparently that style of home is my taste!
On Wednesday, we took a drive to Lewiston, MN which is about 1 3/4 hours away, and apparently in the Midwest, that type of drive is not a big deal. Deb’s brother Roger and his wife Joan live in Lewiston, so we went to their house, had some lunch and visited for a couple of hours. After seeing them in California over the years, and exchanging Christmas cards, its’s great to see where everyone lives.
Thursday was a lazy day around the trailer. I did a little work, we took a walk then went to Debi and Gary’s for dinner. Their children Kyle and Ryan came over as well as Debi’s brother Gene and Gary’s sister Rita. Tom hadn’t seen his cousin Gene for close to 30 years, which was the last time he was in California. They had a lot of catching up to do. The last time I saw Kyle was when she was young and they lived in California, and we had never met Ryan. Such a fun evening with lots of conversation and great food!
Friday, the sun came out and some of the trees began showing their leaves. I needed to work a bit, but later we took a drive to Good Thunder which is where Tom’s cousin Gene lives and Debi, Gene, Roger and Sandy grew up near there. It’s a cute little town and we decided to return with Debi and Gary for dinner. They have a favorite place there for steaks and cocktails. Since Deb drove, we got a tour of where Gary grew up and took a drive to Deb’s family’s old homestead. On the trip we drove by a Jesse James memorial site with lots of western sculptures. Since this was the second day with sun and warm temperatures, we bought firewood, Gary and Deb picked us up for dinner at 5:00 and we planned to have a campfire that night. We are 3 weeks into our trip, and this was the first campfire we have had. We went to the “Thunder” restaurant in Good Thunder and the food and drinks were great. As I think I mentioned earlier in another blog, it does not get dark in the Midwest this time of year until 8:45, which is pretty amazing seeing how the sun sets at 7:30 at home. Anyway, we had plenty of time for a nice campfire and visit on our final night in Minnesota.
After saying good-bye to Deb and Gary, it made me stop and think just how much I love this family. Growing up I never had cousins and now I feel like a actually have some. It just warms my heart to see how cousins interact, they are a blessing.
Tom and Patti's RV Adventure 