June 26, 2009
-
Sightseeing…
We went to Minnesota, of course, for the “family and friends of Tiana’s family,” reception, but we were there for 3 days.
We actually did some touristy stuff, starting with the Runestone Museum, in Alexandria. This is a neat little museum, basically a county effort to preserve the history of the Kensington Runestone, a large runestone found near Kensington, MN in the late 19th century, and the fascinating story of not only the Vikings who so incredibly sailed across the Atlantic and through the Great Lakes to Minnesota in the 14th (yes!) century but of the man who, with his children, found the stone on his farm long before the true significance of such finds was understood. We enjoyed that visit very much. The museum also preserves the history of the first settlers to the area, with a small church, general store and school, among the several other buildings which have been moved to the site from other locations in the county.
Faron was excited to see this among the early pieces of farm equipment:
Know what it is? It’s a potato digger – a piece of equipment Faron and Peter are going to wish they had once the half-acre of potatoes they put in comes ready!
Also, here’s the local’s tribute to the Vikings who visited the area so long ago:
We’d planned to snap pics of each of us standing in front of Olie, but by the time we dragged ourselves out of the museum, I was hot and tired and ready to take a nap, and Faron had heard that Fred was home from work, and he could think of nothing but hooking up with him so they could “play,” so we contented ourselves with this shot through the car window.
So, we went up the road and registered at the motel and Faron got directions to Tiana’s folks’ house, while I got comfy for a nap. A nice long one! When I got awake Faron was there to take me back to have dinner with Fred, Alaine, Jason & Tiana, on their beautiful patio. Lovely evening. Don’t know why I didn’t take any photos, but I didn’t. But you’ll see it all in the account of the reception…
Another entry!
me<><
