Tues-Thursday, Sep 2-4 in Minnesota

Greetings!

Over the past three days, we've visited several cousins, and learned more about my Norwegian ancestors and current relatives living in this area. Roger Skare, and his wife Jean, shared a long lunch with us in Clearwater. They helped me get to know the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of my Aunt Eloise. Another of those cousins, Ted Skare, talked with me, and linked me with his granddaughter, Jennifer Cheeseman of Houston. Jennifer is leaving for a trip to Norway, and I was able to share with her some of the information I have on her family's Norwegian history.

On Wednesday, we drove up to Isle, and spent the day with my cousin Bob Skogman, and his wife Diane. Bob has been helping Minnesota Norwegians find out about their family history for several decades, was instrumental in establishing the Noregian branch of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, volunteered for many years in the Sons of Norway, and assisted with quite a few annual Soine Family reunions.
Today, we drove down to Prior Lake, and found the gravesite of my grandmother (Edna Maxwell). We stopped by the Prior Lake Library, and found the obituaries of her and her husband (William N. Maxwell). Later this afternoon, we were fortunate to be invited to the home of Trudy and Boyd Wasson, who hosted a traditional Norwegian dinner at their gorgeous house in Eden Prairie.
















This trip has exceeded my expectations, and risen to my hopes, in helping me establish strong relationships with the cousins I had grown to know about over the past few years. Their help has been vital in enlightening me on the Norwegian experience both here in Minnesota, and in Norway. Clearly, I could not have had such a successful trip to Norway last year without them.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to find another cousin, Shirley Manning. Shirley has provided me with more information than anyone, and we have not yet contacted her to estabish a visit. She lives a few hours west of here in Moorhead, and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to spend some timewith her tomorrow.

Sep 1st - Searching farms and cemeteries with Norm and Marlene.

Greetings!

Today, we met and thoroughly enjoyed Norm and Marlene Miller. Offering to join us in another day of family research, the four of us headed back to Wang. First, we stopped off in Waverly, where my grandfather's second wife had taken him when he died - for burial in her home town cemetery.

Arriving and asking around in town, we found the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery just north of town east of the railroad tracks. Walking the large hill together in rows, I found his grave overlooking the river, within earshot of the train's whistle. I think he would have approved of the location.



Earlier in the day, we spoke to Constance Soine, another of our cousins be speakerphone from Norm and Marlene's kitchen. Connie had inherited the Soine family farm in Wang, and we asked her if we could visit the farm later in the day. She happily agreed, and gave us directions. She also indicated the location of another church and cemetery we might want to visit. I promised to send her some photos, and invited her to participate in the family tree project on Ancestry. She is eager to do so, and promised to add special stories on family members.


Our visit to the Wang Cemetery was one again the highlight. Combing through the graves stones with Norm and Marlene was so much fun. Here a relative, there a relative, oh look - isn't this one too. It was especially good to show them the special building which had been constructed in 2004 by the membership which provides an explanation of the origins of the church, contains a directory, and a list of the present membership.

But the cream on the cake was what we found inside the church. There are shelves of records of the church committees, ladies aid society, and a great wall display holding photographs of the confirmations from 1902 until recently. Talk about valuable genealogical records! Marlene and Pat had to drag Norm and I out of there.


I'm including one photo that I took of the Class of 1941, which features our own Constance Soine at 14 years old.

To view all of the photographs for the day, click on: Sep 1st -Searching farms and cemeteries with Norm and Marlene

August 31st - My Aunt Eloise and the Cemeteries

Greetings!

We traveled west across Minnesota to Benson, where my Aunt Eloise lives. At 93, she's the last of my father's sisters, and has helped guide my search for information about my Norwegian ancestors. She was eagerly awaiting our visit, and brought out all of her family photos for us to see. She even gave me a few key photos for use in the online family tree. After answering many of my questions (and agreeing to try to remember the answers to the rest), she made sure we took some of her excess corn and tomatoes for our dinner tonight.

We explored the area around Benson, and found two key cemeteries (Wang and Maynard) where relatives are buried. The photos today include the grave markers I could find.

Tomorrow, we'll be connecting up with my cousin Norm Miller, and heading back to the area to continue the exploration of cemeteries and farms.

To view all of the photographs for the day, click on: August31-My Aunt Eloise And The Cemeteries

August 27-30th, Denver to St Cloud, Minnesota

Greetings!

We're in an RV Park outside of St. Cloud, Minnesota. Wednesday and Thursday were all-day sprints across Wyoming and Nebraska to Lincoln. On Friday, we started out our drive north, planning on another sprint to Minneapolis. That morning, I had emailed several of my cousins in Minnesota to alert them to my location and plans. Trudy Wasson, and her husband Boyd, responded with a suggestion that we stop by Decator to visit the Vesterheim Norwegian Museum, and indicated that they were currently there in their RV. We picked up the email at a rest stop, and made the detour a few miles up the road. While we arrived too late to see the Museum, we found the RV Park.




Boyd found us before we had even finished settling into our space. We talked for a few minutes, and then agreed to meet in their trailer after dinner to watch the Barak Obama's acceptance speech together. We enjoyed a wonderful evening of viewing and political discussion.

The next day, we visited the Museum. It's main building consists of several floors of Norwegian historical artifacts, and excellent displays describing life in the area in the 1800's. Behind the building are many structures which represent houses, a church, school, and mill which have been carefully transported and assembled for display.




Upon our return to the park, Boyd and Pat talked while Trudy and I worked to synchronize our computer ancestral records to link ourselves genealogically. That evening, after a great dinner which they prepared for us, we viewed hundreds of photos Trudy took over several visits to our home village of Vang, Norway.

Today, we drove north into Minnesota. After phoning several RV parks in the central Minnesota area, we found one with a space for us. Lots of campers are out for Labor Day Weekend, and we were lucky to find one here in St. Cloud.

Each day, we seem to make at least one new discovery, or overcome one new problem, about Matilda or the Toureg. This week, we learned more about filling and draining the auxilliary water system, opening and securing the awning, cable programming the television, and responding to inclined campsites and the Toureg's variable height reactions.

We'll be staying at this campsite for five days, using it as a basecamp for day trips to visit cousins. Tomorrow, we'll be stopping by several cemetaries, before we meet after lunch with my Aunt Eloise. She is 95, and her correspondence many years ago helped provide vital information on her parents. Next week, we'll be visiting her children, and the grandchildren of her aunts and uncles.

To view all of the photographs for the day, click on: August27-30th, Denver to St. Cloud, Minnesota

Tuesday August 26th, Denver

Greetings!

On Tuesday, Pat and I left our RV Park on the Denver Municipal Bus System (seven routes) to visit the Denver Botanical Gardens and the streets of downtown Denver. While a bit too hot at times, the buses were an energy-efficient means of travel. Their passengers were thoroughly entertaining, and the drivers were helpful and talented. We'll remember the rides.

The Gardens were also being used by the Maryland Democratic Party to host a convention luncheon, so we were joined on our walks with many who were there to select a candidate. The pathway designs, and the layout of the botanical venues, made it easy for us to get lost in the beauty and fragrance.

It was late in the afternoon when we finally got to walk the pedestrain 16th Street, and settle onto a bench in Capitol Park. The energy of the demonstrators, and the enthusiasm of those displaying their campaign materials, was impressive. The city is excited to host the DNC, and seems to have done well so far.

Today, we drove north up into Nebraska, and pulled into Lincoln about 6pm. Tomorrow's drive (Thursday) will take us into South Dakota and Minnesota, arriving finally in the vicinity of St Paul, Minnesota.

Our plan is to find a central place to park Matilda, and then use some day trips for the next week to visit my cousins, and the locations of my family. If any are reading this, know that I'm low on the email, phone, and address info - having left key document at home. Some info is on my laptop emails, so I'll be working with what I have. But feel free to comment to this post, and help us stop by while we're here if you're so inclined.

To view all of the photographs for the day, click on: Tuesday, August 26th, Denver Botantical Gardens & Downtown Convention Activities

Monday August 25th Red Rocks Colorado

Greetings!

We made it to an RV park just west of Denver, Colorado. After disconnecting Matilda, we drove a scenic route through Red Rocks and Golden, where we had a great light (scallops and risotto appetizer, potato and leek soup, and spinach salad) dinner sitting alongside the river.

Tomorrow, we're planning on spending some time in downtown Denver. We'll probably take the bus in from our RV park, as the city expects major transit route to be chaotic, and parking to be next-to-impossible. We're thinking of staying an extra day here, but it will depend on how much fun we have in the crowds.

To view all of the photographs for the day, click on: Monday, August 25th, Red Rocks, Colorado

Gregory, Pat, and Matilda Go East

Greetings!

I'm typing this while sitting at the dinner table in Matilda, our Airstream RV, in the Angels Lake RV Park in Wells, Nevada. Pat is making pasta with pesto, and salad, at the sink and stove next to me. We're watching the final minutes of the Men's Marathon at the Olympics on the flat screen TV swiveled around from the entrance to the bedroom.

Yesterday, we had a wonderful afternoon and evening visiting my father and his second wife, and my brother and his wife, in Pollock Pines, California. Sharing some family genealogy information I had recently come upon, as well as returning to my father a drawing he made of Gregory Peck when I was born, were especially rewarding to me. Getting a commitment out of my brother and his wife to come over to our house soon was a close second in satisfaction.

This morning, we got up early and headed here. Nevada is never as flat as I think it is when I'm driving across it. Craggy mountains and steep grades surrounded us through most of the way, and our gas mileage barely crept above 11 miles per gallon.

Tomorrow, we're going to sprint to Rawlins, Wyoming. Utah is even flatter in my memory than Nevada, and we'll see if I'm wrong again. I did note that Rawlings altitude is 6,750 feet, so some part of the trip will be going up.