We had a nice family outing of a bit over 2 weeks touring North America. States glimpsed included Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas. We enjoyed the visit with family (small gathering of 100+ at the lovely Shekinah ("glory of God") retreat center on the Sask River north of Saskatoon). All of the people were relatives of B's lovely grandmother Oma. It was great to see (and meet) many relatives, as well as to visit cousins on each side across the country (thanks to all who hosted us - from Colorado to S. Dakota to Sask to Iowa - blessings to all!)
We enjoyed the trip but also were happy to come home...
Below, Opa and "sugar and spice" accompanied us to Mt. Rushmore. Interesting discussion of broken Black Hills treaties, gold mines, native rights, National parks and more. Also had a nice visit to Black Hills Univ where B teaches (many native students there as well). Beautiful area, one of the few places we experienced rain (and even a bit of hail!) during a dry tour of the country.
There are more Bison now than when I was a boy... They are beautiful but just a bit scary.
Opa says it smells just like Bison dung...
"Wild" burros were pretty "tame" in Custer State Park, SD.
Aunt M's anniversary dinner and cake were works of art and a wonder to behold and enjoy!
Happy Anniversary! Oma and Opa and little J.
H enjoyed cousin J, a pleasant girl cousin!
D enjoyed some more "twin cousins" (actually 2 and 4 years older but there seems to be a family resemblance). Thanks to A's for hosting us in Iowa.
You get home faster if you just sleep through the ride
Diddle diddle dumpling my son Jon, one shoe off and one shoe on...
The kids were happy to be approaching home (translate "wet and green") territory.
After witnessing drought across most of the country, somewhere in South-central Louisiana things became a bit greener... And by the time we were approaching the capitol in BR, there were several inches of rain in the road and the usual homecoming "jungle" feel was apparent. We enjoyed the smell of rain after two weeks of mostly dry and dusty weather.
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