Stage 2 - Farm Life

On the rare occasion when my lawn is looking nice - my wife will throw me a compliment and I will generally reply with "of courseit looks good, I have farmers blood".  This causes her to scoff and roll her eyes.  So I was excited to bring her and the family to the "family farm" in Norbeck South Dakota.  My great grandfather (Ole) came over from Sweden and was provided land in Norbeck as part of the Homestead Act of 1862. 

The third generation of Olens (Dave, Don, Lance  and Mary) continue to farm several thousands of acres of land in the area.  They grow corn, soybean and wheat and also have cattle. 

On the way from Minnesota to South Dakota we HAD to stop at the Largest Ball of Twine (by a single person) in Darwin Minnesota.  We ended up buying a Worlds Largest Ball of Twine frisbee, playing cards and pen.    We also hit a couple of detours that added some length to the trip.  Karen was also excited to stop at Zestos - yet another road side stand with greasy food but 45 shake flavors.  She is wondering if she will ever see a menu with a salad again...

There are several three letter acronyms that you don't want to hear in association with your children (DUI, SDT, etc).  I would like add another to the list, at least for my youngest......ATV.  There were 4 ATVs on the farm that were at our disposal and, as you can imagine, that consumed most of Brett's attention during our stay.  Of course we have not totally lost our marbles and Brett had to be accompanied by an adult. 

Here is a video of Brett being given his first riding lesson by Don.

In additon to the ATV - the kids also got to experience and ride a variety of other farm equipment (tractors, combines, etc).   The combine is a half million dollar piece of equipment and runs on GPS.  Even Karen got pressured into riding a tractor

This is a short video of them seeing a combine for the first time.  A pretty big piece of equipment !

Here are the kids with their grandfather being given a lift by one of the many pieces of equipment on the farm.

They also recently acquired an 18-wheeler to facilitate bringing the crops to the market.  Of course when they asked if anybody wanted to drive that vehicle - Brett stepped up the challenge. Doubt too many 10 years olds get to take the wheel of an 18 wheeler.  Here he is coming down the road to the farm.



In addition to playing with all the awesome farm equipment - we also got to ride out and see the cattle herds up close and the amount of effort it takes to care for those animals.

Another related family (the Wiks) have farms adjacent to the Olen farm and they have done some neat stuff with their property. One has turned an old church into a hunting lodge (pheasant hunting is huge in the area) and another has turned a grain elevator into living space - complete with a restored soda fountain.  We got personal tours of both of those spaces.  Below is a picture of the kids with a carving in front of the restored grain elevator.

Spending time in the wide open spaces and quiet surroundings is very good for the soul.  We were amazed at the lack of bugs that allowed for nice sunset walks without having to take a DEET bath.  Below you can see a picture of Karen running with Rover the trusty dog.   

Although my kids just got to play the entire time - I do think they got a decent sense of life of the farm and the hard work that goes into that lifestyle.  I doubt any of them will be anxious to spend their summers on the farm like my Dad did back in the day but I know they will have good memories of this place. 

We could not have had better hosts during our time on the farm - although there is always a long list of chores on the farm - and worries of getting enough rain for their crops - all of the folks were focused on making sure we had a great experience.  Especially Lance and Pat - who sheltered and fed us for our stay on the farm.  It was a short visit but the memories will last a lifetime.

Stage 1 - Minnesota

The only snafu on our flight to Minnesota was that I did not realize that we were landing in a different terminal than I had rented a car.  So we had to schlep our bags across a parking garage to the light rail to get to the main terminal.  During this I got the first "I knew this trip was a bad idea" look from my lovely bride.  

I have been in Minnesota the last two weeks for work - so it was difficult to get the vacation vibe going - especially since I had to go into work for a couple of meetings in the morning before we could really kick off the vacation.   We went to a 50's style diner for lunch.  My wife got a salmon burger - which I am pretty sure was not a staple of the 1950's.   

It was then off to the Mall of America - the biggest mall in country with an amusement park in the middle. We met my sister Nancy and her two kids at the mall. 

The kids had a fantastic time at the mall and we closed the place down at 10pm.  Brett thought it was ridiculous that they were not open to "at least midnight".

 The next morning my Dad, Jake and I got up to go to breakfast at Al's Diner.  Al's is a legendary place down by the University of Minnesota that was placed in a alley between two other buildings.  There is room for 14 stools and if they are full you have just enough space to stand behind them and wait your turn for a seat.  We then went to Jake's first official college tour at the University of Minnesota.   They young lady leading the tour told us that on average - students admitted to UofM are in the Top 15% of their class.  I hope Jake was listening...

We then headed over to my Mom's for lunch. My Uncle Gary joined us for lunch and a game of Kuub (a traditional Swedish lawn game).

The final stop of the Minnesota leg was the Twins-Indians game.  This was the third Twins stadium that I have been to - as my Dad took me to the old Met when I was young and I have attended several games at the Metrodome.  It was a perfect night for baseball and my sister Nan gave us some great seats in the club level.  The Twins won 11-0 and there were fireworks after the game.  A perfect end to a very busy first two days.

My MO is that I usually need a vacation after my vacation but the early pace of Westward-O is not sustainable.  Outside of breakfast - I don't think I stat down for more than 2 minutes at my Dad's house.  Looking forward to slowing the pace down a bit when we hit South Dakota.

Westward O - Prologue

Basic Primer on the Westward-O Roadtrip.  The blogs for the previous H2Olen and WestCoast Roadtrips can be found earlier in this blog.

Who:  The Olen family (Karen, Greg, Jake (14), Kelsey (12), and Brett (10).   The kids were looking forward to the trip as much as they look forward to a trip to Ikea.  My wife thinks anyone who would voluntarily spend 9 hours in a car is a few fries short of a happy meal. 

What:  This is the great American roadtrip that requires long stretches in a car briefly interupted by majestic wonders and tacky roadside attractions.

Where:   The basic route can be seen in the map below.  The route was chosen to provide a diverse set of experiences and landscapes. Certainly spots that I wish we could have fit in but I feel that we have maximized the alloted time.

When:  25 Days.  Commencing July 25th in Minnesota and Ending on August 19th in Seattle.  Hopefully I am still employed when I return.

Why:  As the immortal Clark Griswald proclaimed, "This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest."  The other quote that comes to mind is "what does not kill you, only makes you stronger".  I am looking foward to a mighty strong family after 25 days.

How:  Huge thanks to my Dad for not only letting me use his van for the trip but also his help in driving it back to MN from Seattle.  If we had to plan a circular route - that would have limited our sites and having his help is a huge reason we are able to get this done.