Miles and miles

7/7  In the last three days there has been no free time, which is why this is hitting now.
  July 4 - we traveled to Hawley, MN, where the Hjemkommst was built. Yay! you iterate. Yes, there are many fans of the famous boat, so no explanation is required. We visited L's sis and bro-in-law and pounded stakes into the tomato patch. Yes! Spent more time with L's mom. She's doing pretty good with PT and is showing some humor. For example: A nurse brings a pain pill and says, "this is my last stop before my shift is over. And I'm not leaving until you take it." Mom sits there and does nothing. About 90 seconds later, the nurse asks if she is going to take the pill. She says, "No, so you'll have to stand there all day." Then she cracks a smile.
  We played cards with the Estensons and bro Marv until about 10:00 pm, Then stepped outside to look at firesworks and get attacked by mosquitoes. After the firewords started, the sky lit up in the west with cloud-to-cloud lightning bolts which were far more spectacular than the pyrotechnics (which were fired off in record time as a tornado warning was announced. The twister fizzled out and the worse part of the storm went south.
  5th - Saw mom again. We went to the cemetery where L's dad, uncles, grandparents and a few other generations are buried. It's a family plot that the CIA could never find. It lies at the end of an alleged road, hidden by woods, thorns, and weeds. The 'road' is nearly as good as an average deer trail. The best part was the kamikaze deer flies which will eat one alive, given the chance. We fought them for nearly 30 seconds before ceding the field to superior numbers. Our next stop had been sited the day before.  US-10 passes Lake Park, which has a redecorated garage. The site looks like it was pulled out of a 1930's photo, with lots of signs and stuff.. The best part is the collection of antique cars, ranging from model-A to 52 Ford pickup. Cool lookin' place. got some photos. Then on to Fargo (where people talk funny) for dinner with L's sis' family. Had some good chats then went out for frozen yogurt.
  7-7 - The feedback meter is pegging. Apparently, the Hjemkommst has slipped from a few memory chips. About 40 years ago, a fella in Hawley MN built a Viking ship. He sailed it from Duluth to Europe, partly to prove that the barbarian invaders could indeed have sailed to North America. The boat in on display in Moorhead, MN, which is also quite famous for it was the destination for Buddy Holly's airplane (weep).
  We traversed through the eastern edge of S.D. today, which is miles and miles of miles and miles. Another gorgeous day with poofy clouds that look like reclining teddy bears. We went through two curves on I-29: one north of Aberdeen and one just north of Sioux Falls. It was quite exciting. We saw a small crop duster plane flittering around the road for a while.. It was flying so low, that at times its landing gear was less than 10 feet off the earth. It looped and glided and swooped and put on quite a show. It was then we saw what it was doing - spraying the swails along the side of the road. Don't know why, but it sure looked like fun.
  We stopped at an unusual art museum in Watertown SD. A local fella named Terry Redlen (picture a cross between Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kincaid) donated his personal collection of Americana oils. Lots of ducks, deer, and richly-colored scenes. Most paintings were set in sunrise/sunset - quite lovely. then we pulled off to see a musical instrument museum at SD University in Vermillion SD. The world weird comes to mind. For example: a 10' tall drum, a 6-valve trombone, a double-belled euponium with 5 valves, Henry IV's violin, a soprano violin, ... They had an autographed BB King guitar and an upright grand piano.
We're tucked in for today.

Curve in they road

thingamajig

Linda & Mom (Linda is on the right)

Hjemkommst - ta da

French horn in front - trombone in back

Whatchamacallit