New Roads

Growing up in Milton, Wisconsin, there were frequent, almost daily trips to nearby Janesville.  When I was in high school, one of the roads from Milton to Janesville was torn up and then redone.  A day or so after it was finished, my dad and I were heading to Janesville to run some errands, and my dad asked me, "What do your friends think of this road?"  I was driving, so I glanced quickly in his direction and then returned my eyes to the road.  I replied, "Um, I don't know what they think of it."  He laughed before joking, "You mean you don't talk about the quality of the roads with your friends?!?!"  I told him that no, in fact, my friends and I spent no time talking about roads.  He and I laughed and laughed about the absurdity of a group of high school kids talking about this topic.

I still can't drive on a newly finished road without thinking of my dad.  In fact, I have called him more than once when I've been on a road trip to let him know how great a particular stretch of road is.  Einar and I even laughed about this during our recent trip to Minnesota, commenting to each other and laughing about how nice the new 35W bridge is!  It's amazing to me how often this topic has come up in conversation during my adult life, and each time it does, I laugh.

To Minnesota!

Einar and I left Madison around 3:30 Saturday afternoon to head to Minnesota for the baptism of my good friend Becky's baby on Sunday morning. We drove to Minneapolis, where we stayed with Einar's brother Obed and his wife Megan. Sunday morning we were up early and on the road at 7:15 to make it to Saint Cloud for the 9am worship service. It was a lovely service with a lot of music and two baptisms. After some time with Becky and Chuck and their baby as well as their extended families, we got back in the car and returned to Obed and Megan's before meeting Einar's aunt and uncle and cousins for an early supper. We enjoyed a leisurely supper filled with lots of talking and laughing! We met up with Obed and Megan and went to a very nice dessert bar in Uptown Minneapolis (Zeno). Yum, yum! Einar's friend Bob met us there, too, so it was a good chance to see him, even though it was really brief. We were up early again this morning and on the road at 7:15 to return to Madison. Wow! Short trip. Busy, but oh so fun and filled with family and friends.

Highlights:
hanging with Obed and Megan
seeing Becky, Chuck, Lexie, and Gracie
dinner with Steve, Cheryl, Kristin, Matt, Karl, Eva, and Andrew
eating creme brulee
driving across the new 35W bridge
experiencing the first snow in Minnesota AND Wisconsin, one day apart