Destination: Maple Grove, MN (4 hours, 245 miles)
The goal for today is to make it to Minnesota and meet up with Cousin Brandon and Erin. We continued our trend of absolutely disastrous mornings when we do anything but get on the road immediately. Brooke had a full and complete melt down the majority of the morning. With that being the case we canceled our plans we had around Sioux Falls and just headed for Maple Grove.
About halfway through the drive we stopped at an A&W because they don’t exist out east. To help make up a little bit for the morning, I had Brooke buy Jaclyn a root beer float and thank her for everything she’s done for the family on the road trip. We all ordered food and ate our lunches. Somehow we spent like 1.5 hours eating…
While eating we learned that Cousin Brandon was southwest of the city just like us and that we were going to cross paths as he continued SW and we went NE. When we were about to cross paths Brandon texted to me to stop in a town to meet up but I totally misunderstood the text and the next text was him saying “I just saw you guys on the highway, nice cargo box!” Whoops! We had an hour or so to kill before Brandon got home from work so we washed the car and shopped around Old Navy.
Around 5pm, we met up with Brandon at his house. Erin and their 2 year old twins (Bodie and Charlie) arrived shortly after we did. Fun fact: their twins and Beckett share a birthday and are exactly 1 year apart. The twins, Brooke and Beckett were shy at first but then quickly bonded over jumping around in the back of Brandon’s cargo van. After that they were all playing together non-stop.
We got settled in and really appreciated how perfect their setup is to host another family with small children. I think the kids literally played with and took out every single toy. Erin made tacos for dinner and Brooke may have finally learned how to eat a little faster when the twins kept eating her grapes, watermelon and taco right off her plate. Go Bodie and Charlie!
We finally put all the kids down and the adults hung out talking until around 11:30 when Bodie woke up not so happy. It was nice to be back in Minnesota and to have Jaclyn, Brooke and Beckett with me for the first time.
-Jay
You have brought me so many smiles through these pictures and write-ups. I loved seeing a little red-head at the steering wheel of the twins’ car, and that he loves cars and “ducks.” And nice to see Brooke getting along so well with all her cousins (in MN and NM) though I’m not surprised.
Beartooth Highway brought back scary memories of Highway 89A going to the Ghost Town in Jerome AZ. Once on it there was no way off it unless you reached the top–just one winding lane. Wanted to see the trees but afraid of vertigo!
Can’t wait to see you all!!
How are the mosquitos in Maple Grove? When I lived in Minnesota, we referred to them as our state bird! The month of June was always the worst! Hopefully you will all be leaving with your delicate skin intact.
They actually weren’t noticeable. We only stayed out until dusk though so we weren’t outside at night.
That last comment was from Auntie Marlene – not sure why it said Anonymous. But I wanted to make one more comment. I hope that when Beckett was driving, he was able to go “Beep, beep!”