Visiting Family up North, Part 3

My immediate family and I spent all of today driving back from the family reunion. After breakfast, we checked out of our room at the Park Street Inn, which was an excellent place to stay. (If you're looking for a place to stay in or around Nevis, I highly recommend it.) On the drive back, I got some more practice with the manual transmission; I managed not to stall the engine at all today.

The relatives sent me this picture of two cousins helping me try to water-ski:

Trying to get the skis aligned properly

Tomorrow, it's back to the online class work.

Visiting Family up North, Part 2

Today was the second and main day of my visit to Akeley, Minnesota for a retreat with the extended family. I started the day by going around the neighborhood to see the attractions, including the statue of Paul Bunyan:

The world's largest Tiger Muskie

An unfortunately-named funeral home

Shortly after arriving at the lakeshore, I made my first attempt at waterskiing. I was not at all successful even after several tries, but in my defense the lake was unusually wavy. Along with the large group of extended family members, I walked the trails by the cabin my grandfather owned.

After lunch, I played the card game Bang! with several cousins. I had played only once before, but I like the game very much and have previously tried to recreate it as a networked PC game. (I might restart that project sometime.) That was a good deal of fun. Wandering about and watching things happen around the lake occupied the remainder of the afternoon.

The day was wrapped up by attending a show at the Woodtick Theater. It was a lively collection of songs in an assortment of musical styles; I enjoyed it very much.

Tomorrow will consist entirely of the drive back down to western Illinois.

Visiting Family up North, Part 1

Today my immediate family and I made a nine-hour drive up north to visit some extended family in Minnesota. The drive itself was without notable incident, but when we arrived it was already fairly late.

I've only been up here two hours, but in that time I met some cousins, uncles, and aunts I more or less forgot that I had. I also went canoeing on a beautiful lake with my father.

On the agenda for tomorrow is, among other things, water skiing, which I have never done before.