Destination Northwood
What’s “Destination Northwood”? It’s the title I’m going to give to my blogs while on vacation, traveling to see my brother Bryan and his wife Karen at their home in Northwood, NH. I’m typing this at the end of Day 2.
My Mom, Dad, and I took off Monday morning at about 7:45 AM for Rosemount, MN. It was a long drive, with blowing snow and some real slick, icy spots almost all of the way. We arrived at about 5:30 PM Central time and stopped at Ruby Redeye’s Grill for fish and chips before settling down for the evening at my Uncle Clarence’s house (Mom’s brother). It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Clarence and this was the first time for me meeting his new wife Betty, also. They have a real nice house that sits on a beautiful piece of land with a large pond in their backyard. Lots and lots of snow… more than I can remember seeing since Deanna and I got married back in March of ’97.
On Tuesday, we all slept in, had breakfast, and watched some morning shows on TV before heading out to lunch at Applebee’s. Yum. Very good. That afternoon, Mom and I decided that she needed to go and see the Mall of America, since she’s never been there before. I had fun re-visiting too, as I haven’t been there for probably fifteen years myself. We stopped at Lego-Land, watched the roller coasters in the theme park, walked and shopped all the way around the first level, went up to the third for some peach smoothies, and then up to the fourth level for a last grand view of the mall before we headed back to the house.
Shortly after we got back to Clarence’s, My Aunt Lori and her husband Walt arrived. We were all planning on going out together (with Mom’s brother Lee’s family, too, but they couldn’t make it). We sat around and talked for a couple of hours and then left for a place called Grillz for dinner. It was definitely good to see everyone and catch up on stories and in pictures.
After dinner, we pretty much got back to the house and hit the sack, preparing for the big flight-day starting early tomorrow morning.