Minnesota

So just got back from a 5 day trip to Minnesota to hang with Mom's family.

Wednesday I flew in and was promptly deposited with my mother at Cousin Deanna's house. Nice place. Her 3000 sq foot house on an acre of land was a delight. Later I learned that her mortgage payment is about the same as my sub-1000 sq ft loft in SF. Wow.

We got up and got coffee before Crazy Aunt Judy (CAJ) came to get us. CAJ can be quite amusing - she declares that she Always, Always, Always gets up at 9:30 AM. However, I never saw her wake up at that time at any point in this trip.

Thursday was spent driving out to Lower Bottle Lake where Cousins Deanna and Dave have a cabin. It was left to them by their father, Tom, who passed this year. Tom & CAJ broke up years ago, but Judy's memories were of having terrible problems up there. She went into detail about those problems over lunch while we were driving up. Thanks Aunt Judy, way to get us psyched up!

We stayed at the Super 8 in Park Rapids, the Cousins, their spouses and the gaggle of kids were at the cabin.
More later.