First trip to the farm

We went to Blacktail for the first part of the day, but I don't think I took any pictures. That's pretty unusual! Janette and Gary weren't there, so we mostly just hung out on the deck with Karen, Dawson, Vanessa and Danica. We took the paddle boards out a few times, and I saw my cousin Miriah when I paddled over to her place. It was nice to be out there, even if we didn't do too much. It was one of the things we always like to do when we're in ND. Can't have a summer trip without visiting the lake. 

We had a really nice time out on the farm this evening. My brother has done so much work to get things cleaned up and looking nice out here. He had our old trailer house hauled off and he bought a new one. He also painted the garage and the quonset to match the house. It's so peaceful out here, and it was a beautiful evening. 

One of the first things I do is to take a walk down by the creek. There's no sign of where we spread my dad's ashes in the water. We should placed a marker of some kind there, but the creek changes so much each year when it freezes and thaws, so we'll just have to remember. They haven't had too much rain, but it does look pretty green down by the creek. 

Dave was taking a picture of me and Ava, but Tyler wanted in on it. 

I'm so glad my brother finally got a new place out here. He had been staying in his 5th wheel for the last few summers, and the old trailer was pretty run down. I think it was about 50 years old, and hasn't been kept up very well in the last ten years or so. The new place is really nice, just what he needs out there. 

He also put up two more of these giant grain bins, so he now has three large ones. The smaller ones are all still there too, but they're pretty old and aren't fully sealed anymore. 

I'm not sure if it was Karen or Tyler who took some of these photos below as they both had their good cameras out snapping shots. 

I think Tyler took these, and I love them! Ava is so beautiful, even though I know she doesn't like these photos. It's so crazy to think of how much younger she was the last time she was out here. 

After saying that, I had to go find the last photo she would have taken at the farm, in July 2022. She had Covid, so we made her wear a mask or stay away from us. Poor girl, such bad timing. 

Ok, back to 17 year old Ava...my pretty girl. 

Silly photos with her dad....

Seriously, how gorgeous is she? I love the 9 pm sun flare behind her. 

Hey look, it's my old horse! If you know you know....

This old truck was one of the first I learned to drive. It's a cool old Dodge Powerwagon, stick shift of course. The first vehicles I ever drove were farm trucks when I was about 12 years old. I needed to help move equipment a few times, so it was time to learn to drive stick! 

Jason was a great host to all of us tonight. He deep fried some delicious walleye and we had a great dinner in the garage. Karen and Dawson were out there too and we all had a really nice evening. There's nothing like deep fried walleye! It's by far my favorite fish, and Jason is so good at cooking it. 

It's not a trip to the farm without some photos in the wheat field. We aren't usually there this late in the summer, so we haven't has as many visits when the wheat is close to harvest time. 

Of course I had to find some old photos of my babies in the wheat. 

Here is one of Jason's newest pieces of equipment (which cost as much as we paid for our house 20 years ago--and it's used!). It's a sprayer, and Jason said it's made a huge difference in his farm operation. It has arms that fold up on the sides, which you can't see. It's a massive piece of machinery.  

Jason has the garage fixed up really nicely too. He has a pool table out there, all of my dad's old neon bar signs, heat, and comfy seating. There are bins of old photos as well, so I had a good time looking through those. If I had more time, I'd organize them a bit and try to scan some favorites. He said he'd bring some with when he visits this winter, so maybe it can be a project later. It is always so fun to go down memory lane with old photos. 

We all took turns trying to beat Jason, which is pretty much impossible. He's really good at pool--state champion good. It was a really fun evening filled with all of our favorite ND things. The only thing missing of course, was my dad. It's great that my brother has kept things up so nicely and made it his own. It's a really special place to all of us. 

Headed back to ND!

It's been a long time, but we're finally headed back to North Dakota together. Last time all four of us were there, it was the summer of 2022 when we were celebrating my dad's life, shortly after his passing. We didn't stay long, only a few days, and Ava tested positive for Covid while were were there. The last time we had a good trip to ND was the previous summer, 2021 when we did all of our favorite things, and my dad was there. I went back for a few days in 2023 when I drove back with my mom, and then Dave went hunting last fall. It's the longest time I've ever gone without visiting my hometown. With the kids getting older, it's harder and harder to find times to travel, and it certainly isn't getting any cheaper to visit ND. The reason for this visit was to celebrate Grandma Vivian's 100th birthday, and the whole family wanted to be there. This will be a short trip though. We hopped on an Allegiant flight bright and early on Friday morning, and we head home on Monday. It was going to be a longer trip, but there was an issue when I booked the flights. I'm not sure if it was something I did, or if it was on Delta's end, but the tickets I thought I booked directly into Williston didn't go through. I only found this out when Karen asked me to confirm what flight I was on, and when I couldn't find a receipt, I knew something went wrong. By the time I went to book again, the flights on Delta had gone up from about $320 per person to over $700, so obviously I had to find another option. There are a lot of cool places I would spend $700 to fly to, but Williston isn't on the list. Luckily, Allegiant had a much cheaper option, but it meant we'd only be able to stay a few days. We decided that would have to do. It'll be interesting to experience a ND trip now that the kids are grown up. 

Everything with the flight went smoothly, and we picked up a rental car in Minot before making the 2 hour drive to Williston. One of the first stops we made when we got into town was to go visit the birthday girls (ok, her birthday isn't until October, but it's her weekend). I haven't seen my grandma in 3 years, and last time she saw the kids, they were much smaller. I think it's partially the perspective of this photo, but Tyler looks like a giant compared to his great grandma! 

Doesn't Grandma just look amazing? She doesn't look a day over 85, and at least for now, is still living at home on her own. She does require a bit more help these days, as would be expected, but my aunt Mary and my mom help her out. It'll be a big weekend for her, with a lot of family coming into town for her birthday party. Since we have limited time here, we're going to try to fit in all of our favorite things to do.

On our first evening here, we didn't do too much. Ava was in pretty desperate need of a haircut, and my cousin Miriah was nice enough to come in to her salon on a day off to give Ava a fresh cut. It looked so good! We settled into our house, got a few groceries and then met Mom, Mary and David, Andy and Vanessa's family at a new pizza buffet place in town. Later on, Danica came over to the house and watched a movie with Ava and Tyler while Vanessa, Dave and I walked a few blocks downtown to an awesome new wine bar that recently opened. It's so cool to see all the new places that Williston has now. A lot has come to town since I was last there. 

For the first time ever, we are staying somewhere other than my childhood home. When we were all here last time, we still owned the home, but sold it in shortly after my dad passed away. My mom stays in Mary's duplex and doesn't have room for all of us, so I found an AirBnB not too far from downtown Williston. It was perfect! It had two bedrooms downstairs where Tyler and Dave stayed, and then I opted to stay up in the attic with Ava. It was such a fun little space! 

Mornings before everyone else wakes up have historically been one of my favorite times of day, especially when I'm back home. This house didn't have the best outdoor options, but I enjoyed my coffee on the front stoop. The weather is pretty warm here this weekend, so it's not the big break from the heat that we usually hope for on a ND trip. 

On Saturday morning, mom stopped over and we walked downtown to check out the Farmers Market on Main Street. They had quite a few local vendors, and we saw a few people mom knew. 

I've never noticed this mural before, but it's painted on the side of the movie theater. There are a lot of cool places downtown for photos. I joked with Ava that she could just take her senior pictures here. She didn't think that was a very good idea. Later today, we plan to go out to the farm for the evening. I don't remember what else we did that day since I'm writing this a few months later, but I'm sure we spent time visiting with family or getting things ready for the party. More to come with photos of our trip to the farm.