My trip to the U.S.A....first stop-Minnesota!

The day before I came back to the Netherlands, my father-in-law (in California) was hospitalized for pneumonia in San Jose. He wasn't expected to make it through the night. My daughter was in touch with the doctors and they kept her appraised of his situation. He did make it through the night and may recover....however, he will be released to either hospice or a skilled nursing facility. He is 89 years old and has had pneumonia at least 12 times now.  Because of the prognosis, I decided to go ahead and travel back home to the Netherlands rather than fly back to California.

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I was gone for three weeks traveling in the U.S.  I left on Sunday, September 16th at 1330hrs....with a direct flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. My plane landed around 1530hrs. I rented a car (Toyota Yaris) and because I no longer have a car in the U.S. I have to pay for the insurance for rentals. The insurance has a cost of about $45 a day-and the car rentals I've been able to get for about $20 a day through Hotwire.com. It's a great little car, very roomy for it's size and it gets great mileage!

When I left the airport I drove to my sister and brother-in-law's home in Stillwater. Stillwater is a beautiful town on the St. Croix River (divides Minnesota and Wisconsin).  It's one of my favorite places to visit!

That first night, we went out for dinner at the Luna Rossa Restaurant, which is constructed around the old Stillwater caves. We had a delicious dinner there!

The next day, I headed up north in my little rental car to visit our parents.  My sister followed the next morning. It's a beautiful drive up there, especially since the leaves were starting to turn.  It took about an extra hour for me to drive, since I drive slower and stop more frequently now....since my head injury. Otherwise, I just get too tired.

I saw this sign on my way up and had to stop......you don't see Off Sale liquor signs much anymore!

My parents have a house on a lake, which is beautiful and serene. They have worked very hard on their property and have beautiful gardens. I love to walk around and look at all the little villages that my Mom has placed around...it's like seeing little pockets of surprises around every corner!

We had lunch at a local restaurant where we each had a Rueben Sandwich!

Because it's a bit colder up north, the leaves are more colorful......

While visiting my parents, I was able to get a lot of information from them about our family. They gave me all kinds of documents and pictures that I will be able to add to our family tree!  We talked for hours and I heard lots of stories. While we were talking about our most recent trip, my Mom showed me a souvenir plate that her Grandmother had brought to the U.S. when she came over from Norway. It's a plate of Neuschwanstein Castle...from 1910!

After my sister came up we went for a ride on the boat around the lake......it's so beautiful!

While we were there we had burgers and onion rings at a local restaurant for dinner one evening...delicious!

Thursday morning, we all headed back to the Twin City area. On the way we stopped in a little shop where they sell cute plaques:

My parents and I stopped at my other sister's house to have dinner with her, her husband, my nephew and his wife and their children. It was so nice to spend time with them! My sister also likes to have little pockets of fun in her yard!

After dinner, I drove back to my other sister's house, in Stillwater...and my parents headed back up north. Thursday morning, I went to see my brother who lives about a 45 minute drive away from Stillwater. That evening, our niece met us in Stillwater and we all had a nice relaxing dinner together.
While I was gone, my sister went out shopping and got supplies for the next.....we planned to have some family over for a get together, since it's too difficult to drive around to see everyone.

Saturday morning, we went downtown Stillwater, where my sister and brother-in-law took me to the gallery where my sister has some of her art displayed. She does beautiful work!

Then we stopped in at my brother-in-law's Mom's house to say "hi"! Around 1400hrs everyone started to arrive for our family gathering. It was great to see my aunts and uncles, nephews and cousin's! One of my niece's wasn't able to make it, so unfortunately I didn't get to see her on this trip. My brother-in-law cooked burgers on the grill (delicious!) and we all had a nice relaxing afternoon together.

The next morning, (Sunday, October 23rd), I was off to California! My flight left from MSP at DFW at 0645hrs.