More photos can be viewed on my diary pages Aug 29 - Sep 9: Click

OLD NEIGHBORHOODS - Back home, Golden Valley specifically, where we crowded into my mother's house just like we had done in 1975, 1980 and 1985. Since Gail was only staying a few days we shifted right into high gear and though we would have liked to sit and visit with my mother more than we did, it was onto the freeways everyday. And everyday we got lost. So many changes to the road systems in the past five years and many landmarks changed or gone. First night we checked in with Gail's university roomie, Inez, and her husband, Chuck. We went to a pizza place called Godfather's. We were able to spend about four hours with them, and that seemed to be the average for each visit in Minnesota. Next day we were back in Cottage Grove, visited our stomping grounds from 1981-5, went thru the shops and not much had changed. A lot more fast food places. Our house was up for sale and almost everyone had moved from the neighborhood in the five years we have been away. Dropped kids at Swansons so they could stay overnight with their friends Scott, Amy and Andrew. Apparently, they didn't get much sleep. Gail and I drove over to check out our former neighbors', Rollie and Jan Schwitters, new house, have a meal and visit. Picked kids up the following day and went to a baseball game with our very good friend from St. Paul days, Tom Lesser. Minnesota Twins put on a lively game filled with action, but they lost 6-11 to Tigers. Still after 5 years it was great to be back in the dome again.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND - Then came Labor Day weekend and we hit the road. First day it was up to my Father's where we were joined by my brother and uncle Bernie. I hadn't seen Bernie in over 23 years. He was making his first trip into the Twin Cities in his whole life (56 years)!!! We had to convince him that he still hadn't made it since we were in Coon Rapids, some 30 miles from Minneapolis. What a character...non-stop joking and playing the fool. He had us laughing almost the whole time. We took the world's silliest uncle to putt-putt (another first for him) and he had his own version of how it should be played, spent too much time talking and not enough putting, so a large crowd built up behind the 8 of us. They didn't seem to mind as they were getting a free show. On Sunday we drove out to the Gibbon ballroom in the heart of both Gail's and my relatives roots and joined a couple hundred very old people that we didn't know to celebrate Gail's great-aunt's 50th wedding anniversary. Actually quite a few of Gall's aunts and uncles were there, but unfortunately we could only chat a few minutes. The Minnesota Over 60 Band performed a lively set of tunes from 50+ years ago. Then some very interesting stories, related to us by their children, of what these two octogenarians got up to, oh, so many years ago and what it wee like to grow up on the farm. Two truly remarkable, energetic people. A typical Minnesota hot dish meal, like we have had so many times before. It was great, but we had to keep moving and we drove on over to Sleepy Eye to my aunt Jeanie's brood. Been ten years since we saw them, and luckily, all the kids and their mates and children ware there for the evening. We weren't done yet. On Labour Day we drove up to Sugar Lake for a Fisher/Morgan gathering. Joining us at Gloria and Jesse's real cabin on the lake were my mother, Bob Holmberg and his grandson, Grady, my step-brother Jim's family and my step-uncle Leroy and his wife, Donna Mae. Most of us jammed onto the pontoon boat and crept around the lake enjoying the scenery (mostly houses). Later Jim and Leroy bought a container of leeches and rowed Renee and me out to a spot guaranteed to have big walleye. Well, Jim came up zip (he's the expert in the group), Renee got a couple, but Leroy kept pulling them in... no, not walleye, itsy bitsy teenie weenie sunfish. Still the effort was much appreciated. We were so glad to get out fishing on a Minnesota lake. Especially since our stay in MN was curtailed and our planned stay at a lake was cancelled.

NE'S BIRTHDAY - Well, all that activity was too much for Gall and we had to send her back to Phoenix where she sat around for the next nine days waiting for her father to have an operation which kept being postponed. That meant that she missed out on Renee's birthday. It was a big day for her. Grandma Eva gave her a teddy bear that is bigger than me (we're talking big). Twins weren't playing, so we took Ne bowling at Elsie's in NE Mpls. Picked a good day, with no leagues, so we had the place to ourselves. Mom and Bob know Elsie and seemed to know almost everyone who worked there too. From there we travelled to Red Wing, one of my mom's favorite places. Unfortunately, haze covered the land and we didn't have many views to take in. And then our last leg to Prescott, Wisconsin where we met my brother Chris and Mary Ann for a special meal at the Steamboat. I had my first lobster in five years, mom had frogs lags and David had a quail. Long drive back to Cities and a birthday cake.

GOPHERS - My dad demonstrated an age-old Minnesota activity… removing gophers (it is the Gopher state) from one's garden. His approach is to flush them out, using the Bill Murray method seen in Caddyshack. Well the garden got a lot of needed watering but none of the holes seemed occupied. We left the gophers and went over to Tom and Kathy's where we were joined by Doug Siems to look at their slides from the two weeks they spent with us in 1968.

BASEBALL - Well, we enjoyed that Twins game so much, and since my mother had never been in the dome, that on the spur of the moment our last night in town we quick put the supper dishes away and headed off. Not as exciting game this time; more of a pitchers duel with the Twins winning 2-0 over Cleveland. And if that is not enough for you, the very next night we were sitting in Arlington stadium in Texas watching Nolan Ryan throw them strikes leading the Rangers over KC. How did this come about? Good planning. Talked my cousin Steve into taking us. We left Minnesota and arrived in Dallas in the afternoon, met there by Roxane, spent the afternoon admiring their house in Carrollton. Now if we haven't impressed you yet, let me add that it was raining when we went to the game and the stadium is outdoors. Didn't stop 40,000 people. We sat under umbrellas and watched; well, most of us. Julie's friend preferred to read a book-couldn't care less about the drama unfolding in front of us.

DALLAS - In addition to baseball games, we sure do love putt putt, so not surprizing that the next day we found our way to Mesquite and took on a Jungleland course, and being the good guest I let our hostess win. I am looking forward to a return match sometime in the future, somewhere in the world. You never know where Steve and Roxane will be found. In fact, that evening we had a look at their slides from Canada, Kenya, St. Marten and Sweden. Roxane told us that their house was not all that big as we perceived it to be and that she would show us some big houses. Well, they do grow them big in Texas and yes there were bigger houses and we even were able to enter one of the biggest ones, fine piece of property backing onto a golf course going for a mere $1,365,000.