calves, curds & a LOT of words!

If you have followed my blog this year

you may remember that my daughter and I 

drove from Washington State

 to Pennsylvania in April.

As a 19 year old,

she is experiencing life away from home

for the first time....and thriving!

Today, as I was looking through our trip pictures

and missing her, I thought of all

the fun things we shared together that week.

Like the Semi truck that tailgated our teeny tiny car at 85 mph....eeek!

She never complained about my ooooo

and awwwww's when I'd spy a 

big white farmhouse and red barn in the distance.

She would grab the camera & shoot!

We laughed while searching for radio stations, 

belting out lyrics to sad country songs...

all the while connecting in a special new way.

 I felt her enthusiasm and anticipation for

a new start. I remembered being 18

and living on my own for the 

first time. 

She is starting her own story now,

and I couldn't be prouder!

While we drove through the states, I shared stories of

growing up as a Air Force "brat".

Like the time we moved from North Dakota to Washington 

when I was 8. My little sister and I laid in the

over-the-cab bed of our camper watching for

the "mountains" that we had never seen before.

With every big white fluffy cloud in the horizon, I would

ask my parents "is THAT a mountain"?

Finally, the Rockies emerged in all their magnificent splendor.

The highways in North Dakota are very "wavy" and

we laughed as our tummies "tickled" traveling 85 m.p.h.

over the bumps, much like mine did when I was

5 years old.  I would stand in the middle of the 

front seat of my dads old truck saying "tickle my tummy, daddy!"

as he would speed up on the old dirt roads.

"Wheeeeee" I would yell out.

Minnesota reminded me of age 12, and the short 6 months we lived in

northern Minnesota.  The snow was as deep as our

rooftops, and the "no see ums" would 

eat us alive in the spring.  The town celebrated

"St. Urtho" day with giant grasshopper float.

And for some reason I remember singing along to the

Bee Gee's as I tried to stay awake for the 7th grade

sleepovers.

But by far the state with the most memories of my

early childhood was Wisconsin.

My parents met there, I was born there and

my mom's family is from there.

While we were there we visited with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Dale.

Barb is my fathers sister. She moved from Arkansas to

Wisconsin when I was very young. She never left.

I remember living in a single wide trailer in a small park

just across the field from my grandparents 

corner store.  My sister and I would walk across 

the field as my mom watched from the front steps.

There was a "scary" house along the way with a

crab apple tree.  The crabby lady would yell

at us to stay away from her tree. Perfect tree for her, I guess!

Gramma and Grampa Hunt had a lot of penny candy.

 I especially loved

the root beer barrels, candy necklaces, and bazooka gum.

This is where gramma and grampa's store used to be...
now its a big gas station

ok, this is a creepy photo...but the white trailer is where ours used
to be and the car is where I wrecked my bike...after 35 years,
the park is still there.  A little creepier...but hey.

It was in that trailer park that I got my first stitches.

You would think it's common sense to not close your eyes

and let go of the handlebars while playing follow the leader

on your bike.

 yah, I know....

I have a scar to prove it.

As a child,

we spent alot of time at The Eau Claire Dells

 catching tadpoles in the spring

 and jumping into piles of leaves in the Fall.

When Aunt Barb took us there in April, I was flooded with memories

of my mom and I in the park.

Funny Aunt Barb and my daugher at the Dells

 

We also saw the saw bags on the Maple trees as

the farmers were collecting sap for

Maple Syrup.  I remember going

to a Maple Syrup farm when I was in 

kindergarten.  WAY back then

the farmers used metal buckets on the trees.

I think the bags probably keep a lot more bugs out!

Sap bag on Maple tree

"Honey, I bought us a vacation home in Wisconsin" hee hee

We visited Uncle Dales family dairy farm.

My daughter said they were the biggest cows she had 

EVER seen. 

She really enjoyed seeing

 (not so much SMELLING) 

the dairy farm.

Especially the sweet little calves.

I told her to stick out her fingers....

This little black cutie thought she made a good snack too.

Of course, all that sightseeing made us hungry!

You can't visit Wisconsin and not get

fresh cheese curds!

We visited Bonnie, my moms best friend since childhood.

  When I was in 7th grade

we lived near Altoona.  My sister and I would go to 

Bonnie's after school and watch Loony Tunes.

 We thought she had the best toast.

Weird the things you remember!

We drove by the house my Aunt Bobbi lived in

before moving to Arizona. Even at 13, I appreciated 

things like a old staircase and built in cupboards.

I remember BBQ's in the backyard with my cousins.

A few blocks away was my grandma Hunt's house.

She could play the piano so beautifully. She

always listened to Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story"

and had a ton of M.A.D. magazines for us to read.

I am so grateful for the time I spent with Aunt Barb and Uncle Dale!

It had been 30 years since I'd been back.  It meant 

so much to share these childhood memories with my daughter.

After a few days in Wisconsin, we drove to PA.....

but I will share more about that leg of the trip

tomorrow.  Come back to hear

"the rest of the story"

xoxoxo

Jodi