Back in Minnesota

We arrived back in MN on Tuesday April 7th - 1750 miles and 30 hours together in the car - and still speaking to one another. Now that is an excellent adventure. We left early Saturday morning (4/4) a day before we had planned so we could get back in time for our old New Richland friend, Tom Smith's funeral. He had been suffering for some time with throat cancer but died of cardiac arrest while in the hospital in Rochester. Leaving at 5 am, we put nearly 850 miles on the first day arriving in a cold dusty Liberal, KS for our first night. On Sunday, we again got up early, with strong winds, blowing snow and rain to deal with. We stopped in Pratt KS for Mass which gave us a brief break and the weather cleared a bit so it was on to Shenandoah where we stayed with Phyllis and had supper with Kaye and Coleen. Nice to be able to touch base with family and they showed great hospitality as usual. On Monday, Don worked at the farm for a couple hours and then we drove to Brian and Julia's house in Mankato which gave us just a short drive to NR on Tuesday morning for the funeral. Glad we made it, lots and lots of old friends and familiar faces all of who came to honor one of the grand old men of MN education and coaching. Tom will be missed. Also we had a good chance to see and visit with the Corbetts - those boys really grew while G'ma and G'pa were in AZ! Since we have been home we stayed busy getting the house back in order and the "stuff" unpacked. It is amazing how long it takes us to get everything running and back to normal. Both of us have had doctor's appointments since we have been back. Don is already playing both with Community Band and Brass Choir. We did find time to go to the Metrodome with Doug and Carolyn Barinsky to watch the Twins. And we painted both guest bathrooms and have plans to paint our bedroom as well. We have worked in the yard and garden and enjoyed Easter with David, Karin, Kaia, and Amelie. Kaia had an egg hunt in the back yard and flew her new kite - both very Easter-like activities. Weather was mild and breezy. In the next few days we will take care of Kaia and Amelie while their parents take a little trip by train to Seattle and then we will fly to Chicago to check in on Mom and Dad who have had a pretty tough winter. We only plan to stay a day so we don't tire them out too much and then we will go back again in May when we can drive and take a little longer. This entry got longer than I intended. We are home and enjoying the green grass and the budding trees - iris, tulips, and lilies are poking through the ground. Spring is here and so are we!