Girls' Getaway

There were many times this spring when we wondered if we'd have our 26th annual sister weekend this fall with all 7 of us sisters. By the grace of God, we could.

Since we had to wait some time to know if our sister Rachel was OK first, then OK to walk in some fashion second, we waited to find a place for a getaway. What ended up working was a few days in the middle of the week rather than a weekend. 

In November.

So I found (via VRBO) a huge house in the Twin Cities area that had a first-floor bedroom for Rachel, plus plenty of dining and relaxing space also on the first floor. As a bonus, we all got our own bedrooms and queen beds – except my twin and I sharing the master suite.

And here's one view of that master suite. A king-size bed plus a couch and two chairs for relaxing or visiting, then a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and shower and walk-in closet as big as my home office. Wow. We were willing to share.

This was one of the nice living room/gathering spaces.

It was very nice and perfect since we didn't need to go anywhere and sight-seeing. We've all been to the Cities a bajillion times! The sad part was that this was our first down-time where we could talk through Rachel's tragic accident and miraculous recovery – and grieve Mom. What a year!

Somehow a bunch of childhood pictures came out of the woodwork...

Yes, me being a clown. Not far from my personality 50 years later!

Me around kindergarten age loving on one of our barn cat kitties that we never seemed to keep.

My sister Rachel helping me walk. And then decades later me having to help her walk after her accident. A sad but victorious twist!

Just hamming it up before there were selfies.

I had never seen this picture of my twin Lene and I riding tricycles. 

And this one with us (I'm on the left) and Dad. Never saw that. We both cried over that one!!

Current day at Sister Weekend (aka Sister mid-week getaway)!

This year, since we were in the Twin Cities and our brother Ron lives there, we met up for dinner at a place called Junction 70 – literally 5 minutes from our VRBO rental.

Took pictures around the table... Ron and Rayna...

RoAnn and Renell...

Rachel and Raylene...

And Romey and me...

Then our cooperative R-sister waitress Rowan took a picture of all 8 R's. We just can't take that for granted! The sad part is that we can't show this picture to Mom.

And yes, I'm crying as I type this because dang, that really, really sucks.

We did, however, manage to have plenty of fun catching up, playing games (me losing at cards but winning $$$ off my sisters at dice). Everything will just sit a bit different now going forward.

I'm sure I've said it a hundred times, but hug your parents, your siblings, your kids, and any loved ones! You just don't know! 

P.S. Love ya, R sisters!

It's About More Than Us

It seems weird to say "happy" Veterans Day. So I'll just say hey, today is Veterans Day and I thank all of you who served – whether in war time or peace time. Your commitment matters.

For us non-government employees, today was a normal work day. I had to have a GSD day (Get Sh-tuff Done) day before a few days off. I worked my butt off and I think I can be removed from the office Tuesday–Thursday without worrying about work. 

But then after work I was on mission to get "a few things" wrapped up for our sister "non-weekend" getaway. No one requires anything from any of us. Yet we all seem to do something. 

If my sisters are looking for clues, you won't find anything. Here are my after-work stops: Lighthouse Books and Gifts, Walgreens, Marshall's, and Goodwill. Ha!

All you need to know is that I'm excited to bring some fun and entertainment (hopefully) for our Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Hope you all have something to look forward to Tuesday through Thursday!

Skate-By Sunday

Naturally, I'd love to brag about a Vikings win during a Packers' bye week. But since we barely won, I made sure I adjusted the graphic above to reflect our just skating-by victory. 

I'm disappointed but at least honest.

Since the Pack was on bye, though, we got to watch the game in central Wisconsin. After our duties in church (my choir does have 2 other Vikings fans!).

While we were watching our friend Christine came over. She was in town for the weekend and was willing to visit while her Packers were not playing. We definitely did not force her to cheer for the purple. It was just great to see her, that's all!

I was supposed to have my final final senior photo shoot after the game, but that got postponed until Friday. So it was really a low-key day. I may or may not be planning a few things for my "sister getaway" this week. Since it's Tuesday-Thursday this year, we can't really call it our usual Wild Women's Weekend. But we can pretend.

Hidden message: I only have to work tomorrow (and Friday if I'm up to it) this week. Yay, me! Yay, sisterhood!

Hope you all have something to look forward to this week! 

Good Old Rocky Top

Every year of our sister weekend, my twin and I have an opening act. This year we created our own lyrics to "On Top of Old Smoky" but also had a random dance to "Rocky Top." Here are a few images to accompany it! 

Flying in.

From our cabin/vacation rental. 

Just Smoky Mountain views out the van window...

And the reason they're called The Smokies.

Of course we had sunset views, too!

And normal "these layers are pretty awesome" views, too!

By the end of our week, I learned that just hanging out with mountain views was pretty awesome and NEEDED for a vacation vibe. I also realized there is a certain relaxing Zen feel in the mountains.

Thanks, mountains, for secretly providing this for me!

Well, That's a Few Things I've Never Seen Before

So we'll skip the Biltmore Estate for now since that had a lot of things I've never seen before. But here are a few others...

At Mellow Mushroom Pizza in Asheville they had a saddle on a bear.  I lasted more than 8 seconds, thank you very much.

They also had something cooler than gazing balls in their wall...

Yup. Those are bowling balls!

In a dressing room in Gatlinburg, I was surprised to see a bear watching me. As a result, I grabbed and purchased the wrong size shirt. Stupid bear.

If you think your kids eat cereal with too much sugar, try this one with "no nutritional value" to it!

The same "sweet shop" also had a gummy bear chandelier. Pretty sweet!

Have you ever been on a road ABOVE the clouds? That was a first for me!

We stopped at the overlook just to prove we weren't imagining it!

We did not see elk or bear. If we had, we'd been warned.

We'd also been warned about snakes. But thank the Lord we didn't see any of those!

Purely random chance I saw my first blue butterfly that probably has an official name I obviously don't know. Very cool!

Also saw a bee trying to pollenate some wood. How'd that work for you, Buzz?

And saw a moth staring me down at our vacation home.

Also saw what our North Carolina residents Carter and Mamie thought was a cockroach. That's all I needed to know. And was grateful that was the only one I saw.

Of course we saw some spectacular views too. I'll try to share a few a day as I make my way through the work week. Thankfully we had golf league tonight, too, so my re-entry wasn't all work and no play.

Wild Women's Week

Our annual sister weekend was pretty different this year. First, since we decided to fly somewhere – Asheville, N.C. Second, since it was in summer not fall. Third, since it was much longer than a weekend. And finally, since there was less than 24 hours that all 7 of us were together at the same time!

Since I was 100% on vacation last week – including from blogging – here's a quick recap in words with many photos to come this week since nothing I have going on is as interesting or photo worthy.

So last Tuesday, August 1, all 7 sisters were going to fly out of Minneapolis. But my sister Romey's hubby fell ill and she decided to stay behind while they figured out if he was just dehydrated from the heat or what. So 6 of us flew to Asheville on Tuesday. 

We took the scenic route to the vacation rental home in Waynesville. That's when we learned quickly that just about every road was going to be twisty-turvy – as you'd expect on mountain roads. 

My poor sister Rachel was the only driver of the rental mini-van (aka R Bus – and yes, we all think ahead and R creative!) and she had to put up with 6 backseat drivers all week as some (OK, all) of us took turns freaking out about curves, heights, and traffic. Uff da.

But the views were worth it and so was the time with sisters. Romey was able to join us Wednesday night so we had all of us together that night and Thursday when we went to the Biltmore estate (pictured up top) before Raylene had to fly back home.

Since I was in the same state as my boy, he and Mamie made the 4-hour trek over from Raleigh to see us all Friday night. 

They had to leave Saturday morning for work, but it was worth it having a few awake hours together! Even though that breaks all rules since we never ever let anyone except our sisters participate in Wild Women's Weekend – except occasional dinners out with brother Ron. My grown-up nieces definitely called me out on that!

Sorry, not sorry. I missed my baby!

We flew back last evening and I got home about 12:30 a.m. I took today off to do laundry and recover (and golf, of course). I've learned you need a vacation or at least one vacation day after a vacation!

I look forward to sharing the beauty (and unique sights) of North Carolina and eastern Tennessee! Have a great week!

Silver Anniversary for the Silver Ladies

We're about to embark on our 25th annual sisters' weekend – aka Wild Women's Weekend (or WWW). But wait... it's only Monday. H-m-m...

Last fall during our 24th WWW, we decided we should do something big for our 25th. Because... why not? This tradition is longer than most marriages. And we've survived. So far!

So we voted on going somewhere with mountains. And someplace the majority of us haven't been. And we settled on the Great Smoky Mountains that border Tennessee and North Carolina. And decided to do it in the summer time.

And oh yeah, much longer than a weekend!

So here were are sleeping in a Park and Fly hotel in Minneapolis and we'll grab the 4 a.m. (gasp!) shuttle to the airport and fly out at 6:20 a.m.! First stop is Asheville, N.C., and from there we'll take our rental van westward to our place in the mountains. We're renting a house that will be our home base for the week. Well, almost a week. We fly back Sunday night.

Like I often say: Take the trip!!

What Happens at The Lake...

I survived Wild Women's Weekend XXIV – that's 24 years for those of you who prefer Arabic numerals! Our top secret location this year was... on a lake Up North.

Well, more specifically a gorgeous VRBO on the west side of Long Lake just east of Sarona and Shell Lake. This one was called the Loon Lodge and it was 100 percent appropriate for us loony sisters!

Not everyone is cut out for roughing it like we are. But we managed alright. Thanks for your concern.

A few inside views...

Main floor had one master bedroom and upstairs had two bedrooms.

The well-appointed basement also had two bedrooms plus this living area and a kitchenette that we never used. Perfect if you are looking for a getaway with multiple families!! Or a longer stay than our 3 nights/4 days combo.

The weather turned out to be simply gorgeous so we could enjoy a little time on the large screened-in porch.

Or out on the deck with the nice views of the water. Most of the color was past peak or off the trees, but we still saw plenty of beauty around us.

And my beautiful sisters, too! We had to get a picture in between talking and laughing and playing games and talking and crying and talking and laughing some more! It's so freeing to feel all the feels – especially so much laughter (like red-faced can't breathe or make a sound laughter) squeezed into one weekend!

My twin and I doing our own photo shoot!

Oh we'll never grow up! Which could be said of all of us. Thank God! 

This morning's sunrise was beautiful but also a sad sign our weekend was coming to an end. Time goes too quickly. We packed up and had our group hug outside while singing happy 95th birthday to Dad in heaven. Pretty sure he heard us. Along with the other loons on the lake!

I did have a brief visit with Dad on the way up to the cabin on Thursday.

And I had lunch with Mom, too! So it was great to see 90 percent of my family over this extended weekend. 

Got home this afternoon while hubby was at the golf course. Then we met for dinner at Portesi's to catch up over pizza. Jim and the boys had an amazing time at The Who concert in Portland and just hanging out together. 

We're both just feeling blessed right now. There are a lot of amazing people out there. And they're ours. 

Have a good week, everyone!