Around the World in a Day

Put on some miles and smiles this weekend. Left the house at 6:30 a.m. yesterday to head Up North to see my mom.

First stop, though, was the Siren National Golf Course. We had planned to golf on the way up, but realized we didn't want it too close to home or we'd have to drive hours afterward. This way, we got the 4 hours of driving in first, then golf, then just 15 minutes to Mom's in Grantsburg.
 

Tee'd off at 11 a.m.  and it was already 76 degrees. And the course was a wet mess. Apparently they got a major storm and downpour of more than 2 inches of rain that morning. We drove up with mostly sunny skies so we were oblivious.

 It was obvious once we started playing though. Standing water everywhere. Very wet rough, fairways, and greens.

 We both dug up some muddy divots on iron shots, that's for sure.

The temperature and humidity just kept rising so we were disgustingly hot and sweaty. And our game was suffering. I'm happy to report two pars. But I won't report all the 3-putts that jacked my score up. Still, a fun time!!

Had a nice visit with mom at her apartment. We took a trip to the other side of the world together when I talked and walked her through my scrapbook from Sweden. She really enjoyed it and was glad we "took her with."

Took her out to eat and for a beer (root beer) in Grantsburg. Also joined by sisters Renell, RoAnn and later Romey, plus brother Ron, two brothers-in-law, and a great-niece and great-nephew. Yes, it was a bit chaotic, per usual. Still very nice to see people visit.

From there we headed to my sister Rayna's in Hudson and stopped to see Dad's grave on the way. RoAnn told me to tell him hello from her. But when I told Dad, "Your two favorite Viking daughters say hello," he sent down a swarm of 10,000 mosquitoes to annoy me away. He still has a no sense of humor on Packer-Viking weekends!

We slept at Rayna and Paul's in Hudson and I went to church with them this morning. Jim found a Catholic one that he went to. Came home and it was game time.

Not need to act Christian any more. It was almost game time!

We left Rayna and Paul's and headed over to Boy #1's house. Casey lives in St. Paul and just a few minutes away from a sports bar we assumed would be all Viking fans. But someone let in some Packer fans. Grrrr.

What a blast, though, to watch it with two of my favorite Vikings fans – and dozens more. We were even doing the Skol chant during our comeback to keep our team fired up. Too cool. Crazy that the game eneded in a tie! Our kicker stinks (as usual). Dang.

As our granddog-daughter Rei Rae would say: Doggone it!

I guess my "fortune" mentioned in my chinese cookie on Friday is yet to come! Something to look forward this week to after our tiring trip around the world.

Time to go to bed and dream about what could have been.