Trip to North Dakota

When I told people J and I were going on vacation to North Dakota, people would always ask, "Why are you going there?" Not exactly a vacation hot spot. My Dad's family lives in ND. He's the only one who moved out of state; his brothers and sisters live within an hour of each other. The last time I visited family in ND I was 12. I also wanted J to meet my extended family. We made a trip to Idaho last October (I didn't blog, I only posted pictures on FB) so J met most of my Mom's side of the family.

I was a little nervous it was going to be boring, but oh man I was wrong.

Dad's family is ridiculously nice and also hilarious. They put us up for the week we were there, fed us, and kept us very entertained.

We went fishing. This is on my cousin Jeff's pontoon boat. He is the son of my Dad's sister Georgine and her husband Owen.

Turns out J is quite a good fisherman. He brought in a nice haul.

My cousin Jeff manned the net.

Jeff cleaned the fish and my Aunt Georgine fried them up the next day. Walleye are very tasty fish.

Here's a picture of one of the dirt roads. Quite a change from busy Phoenix. Plus, there was water everywhere. I think ND could give Minnesota a run for the title "land of a thousand lakes."

I wasn't used to seeing so much undeveloped land. A lot of it is farmland. I didn't realize so many people in ND were farmers, including a lot of family. It's a good living up there.

All of my relatives have fur children. My Dad's brother Clarence and his wife Bonnie have little Maltese-poodles that are the sweetest, softest, best dogs. This is Mia. I wanted to put her in my carry-on and bring her home.

I am really glad we got to see my Grandma Nyla. I haven't seen her in so long. 

All of the family up in ND have RVs, boats, and four-wheelers. For the holiday we were all up at Devil's Lake and it was a lot of fun. The RVs were awesome - running water and toilets - that is my kind of camping! In this picture I'm driving one of the golf carts around the campground. Being a very careful driver and watching the road, obviously.

At night they had campfires and sat around cracking jokes and teasing each other. I had a few smores and I was in heaven.

This is my Aunt Bonnie. They leave their RVs up there (they have a permanent spot) and they have built a deck around their RV. It provides wonderful shade. This is at my cousin Justin's RV and his deck has a built in bench and bar. I was really impressed that he built it himself.

Here's a shot of what the campground looks like. It's a very popular spot.

Joseph did a little grilling at Clarence and Bonnie's RV.

My nephew Austin (my sister Jennifer's son) playing with one of my cousin's children.

We were riding one of the golf carts around the campground.

My uncle Clarence was cracking my Dad up. Don't they look like brothers?

Uncle Clarence took us out on his speedboat. We went tubing.

I felt a little safer with children on the tube. I felt like there was less chance of a wild ride. I may be a chicken, but I didn't get a bloody nose or smacked in the face - that happened to my cousins on a different boat ride.

The two kids on either side of Austin belong to my cousin Holly. They are seven year old twins Madison and Triston.

We met up with my cousin Justin and J left our boat to go fishing.

Doesn't my Uncle Owen look like the guy in Up?

Men. Make fire.

They lit a lantern right at 11:00 on the fourth of July to honor veterans. I hadn't heard of this tradition, but it was really nice.

Until the panda bears showed up. That was creepy. They stood there staring at us. Then the middle one started to dance, which made me feel better. I'd rather the panda be dancing around than staring at me. It felt like the beginning of a horror movie.

The pandas left to bother someone else and the lantern took off.

Austin and two cousins just younger than him (Colton and Caden, belong to my Dad's brother Kevin and his wife Sheila) set off some fireworks.

The next day, J and I took the golfcart to the bait shop, bought some ice cream, and went down to the lake.

Here's another one of those maltese-poodle dogs.

When we were done with camping, my Dad's sister Florine and her husband Joe took us on a ride around their property.

That's my Uncle Joe.

The lady on the left with the blonde hair is my Aunt Florine. You can see my Dad and uncle on the quads in front. Austin is sitting in the middle and my sister Jen is on the right. J and I were in the back.

My Uncle Joe tried to spray us with mud. He missed both times he tried. And then my Dad accidentally sprayed us with mud.

We saw four different deer. I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Uncle Joe got himself pretty good. He had to shower. Sucker.

I didn't get pictures of all of the family. My Dad has four brothers (Clarence, Kevin, Doran and Rob) and two sisters (Georgine and Florine). I don't even know how many cousins I have. Trying to keep track of my cousin's children was another story. I did, however, learn all of the dog's names. Priorities.

I can't believe how late everyone could stay awake. We didn't go to bed until two in the morning one night and people were still up. The sun didn't set until much later, so maybe that made a difference. Or we are just tired sissies in Phoenix.

It was such a great trip.