home from the journey to fargo
I made it home this afternoon about five thirty. I was in good shape considering I'd been in the car since 11:30 and traveled about 350 miles in one day. That's darn near a record for me.
I left Friday after picking Joan up at the Land to Air stop. We headed to Canby and arrived there about 3:00. Mom was glad to see us, we had some wine, and visited until late.
Saturday we left about 9 for Fargo. We went up 75 because we wanted to go through the small towns. There were plenty of them. We stopped in Ortonville for breakfast at a diner, saw a flock of pelicans on a lake, and started noticing some changes in the landscape. After Ortonville, you could roll a bowling ball down the highway all the way to Fargo.
The wedding was lovely and quite a cry fest. I started with the gulping sobs the minute I saw Nicole. I probably cried three times before the wedding even started. There were many touching moments. I was holding Baby Chloe so I could hide my face in her little hat and not look quite so silly for all the crying.
I tried to explain the crying thing to Regis. He understands I'm a weeper but I think it's a bit of a mystery. It's so much more than this moment when I weep: remembering Nicole as a baby, Nicole and Caleb, Paula and Steve, Nicole and Jesse, all weddings, all people who aren't there, Grandpa, Jesse, Tiffany, Tiffany's wedding, Tiffany and Peter as babies, Peter's wedding. It's a lot for one day and it is a mystery, I guess.
We stayed at Bruce and Jody's and they were great hosts. It was fun to see Bruce's garden and their house. I wanted to see the the Hjemkomst Viking ship and the stave church but we ran out of time to do either. If I had been paying attention, I could have gone there from the reception pretty easily but I wasn't. Paying attention that is.
It's a long story but Mom and I ended up standing in front of the church without a ride to the reception. We had said hello and goodbye to dozens of people who might have transported us but we didn't realize we needed a ride so we didn't ask. Finally, I told Mom to stay there and I hiked down the street to the Radisson. The streets of Fargo are like damn wind tunnels so I was not really happy when I arrived at the hotel and barked at the rest of my family to go fetch my mom. Joan was kind enough to go, but when she came back, she said Mom wasn't there. Here comes the funny part.
Mom was impatient to get to the party so asked Toby if he could find her a ride. His brother's son John stepped right up. John is a very handsome young man and he drives a little red sports car. Mom jumped in and down the street they cruised. Mom saw my brother Steve on the street headed for the hotel. "Roll the window down and holler at my son," Mom said. She yelled out the window to Steve, "Look what I picked up!" We had a good laugh about that.
Mom reports in her comment below that the funniest part was when she came back with the story, my brother Bruce said, "Nothing like an old hooker in downtown Fargo." My family: a whole bunch of characters.
My little nephew Ezra provided us all with a good workout. He won't be two until this winter so he wanted to run. He has short legs but a good motor and he knows that trick of stiffening up and straightening his arms to get loose. I offered to chase him for a while but it wasn't long before he wore me out and someone else took over. I think Ezra went through five adults and in the end, he was still going strong. He's quite a little character. My Ezra muscles are sore today.
Back to reality tomorrow.
I left Friday after picking Joan up at the Land to Air stop. We headed to Canby and arrived there about 3:00. Mom was glad to see us, we had some wine, and visited until late.
Saturday we left about 9 for Fargo. We went up 75 because we wanted to go through the small towns. There were plenty of them. We stopped in Ortonville for breakfast at a diner, saw a flock of pelicans on a lake, and started noticing some changes in the landscape. After Ortonville, you could roll a bowling ball down the highway all the way to Fargo.
The wedding was lovely and quite a cry fest. I started with the gulping sobs the minute I saw Nicole. I probably cried three times before the wedding even started. There were many touching moments. I was holding Baby Chloe so I could hide my face in her little hat and not look quite so silly for all the crying.
I tried to explain the crying thing to Regis. He understands I'm a weeper but I think it's a bit of a mystery. It's so much more than this moment when I weep: remembering Nicole as a baby, Nicole and Caleb, Paula and Steve, Nicole and Jesse, all weddings, all people who aren't there, Grandpa, Jesse, Tiffany, Tiffany's wedding, Tiffany and Peter as babies, Peter's wedding. It's a lot for one day and it is a mystery, I guess.
We stayed at Bruce and Jody's and they were great hosts. It was fun to see Bruce's garden and their house. I wanted to see the the Hjemkomst Viking ship and the stave church but we ran out of time to do either. If I had been paying attention, I could have gone there from the reception pretty easily but I wasn't. Paying attention that is.
It's a long story but Mom and I ended up standing in front of the church without a ride to the reception. We had said hello and goodbye to dozens of people who might have transported us but we didn't realize we needed a ride so we didn't ask. Finally, I told Mom to stay there and I hiked down the street to the Radisson. The streets of Fargo are like damn wind tunnels so I was not really happy when I arrived at the hotel and barked at the rest of my family to go fetch my mom. Joan was kind enough to go, but when she came back, she said Mom wasn't there. Here comes the funny part.
Mom was impatient to get to the party so asked Toby if he could find her a ride. His brother's son John stepped right up. John is a very handsome young man and he drives a little red sports car. Mom jumped in and down the street they cruised. Mom saw my brother Steve on the street headed for the hotel. "Roll the window down and holler at my son," Mom said. She yelled out the window to Steve, "Look what I picked up!" We had a good laugh about that.
Mom reports in her comment below that the funniest part was when she came back with the story, my brother Bruce said, "Nothing like an old hooker in downtown Fargo." My family: a whole bunch of characters.
My little nephew Ezra provided us all with a good workout. He won't be two until this winter so he wanted to run. He has short legs but a good motor and he knows that trick of stiffening up and straightening his arms to get loose. I offered to chase him for a while but it wasn't long before he wore me out and someone else took over. I think Ezra went through five adults and in the end, he was still going strong. He's quite a little character. My Ezra muscles are sore today.
Back to reality tomorrow.
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