Minnesota.....Ahh How I Miss You.....

Recently, we took a quick weekend trip up to Minnesota to see family and attend my nephew's graduation party.  We decided to fly, since we can do it for free...even though it is standby.  Rainman had been checking flights and while they weren't empty, it seemed like there were plenty of flights that we would be able to get on.

Then, the night before, he announced that the flights were now all overbooked!

Seriously....I LOVE Minnesota and all....but how many people actually decide they need to fly there at the last minute....from Atlanta?!?  Apparently a LOT of you!

We ended up having to fly to Milwaukee, spend 3 hours at their airport and then continuing on to Minnesota.  That was fine.  I will fill you in on our flights home later, because this was really not meant to be a post where I whine about something we get to do for free.  Honest.  It was meant to talk about Minnesota.

I really didn't take any pictures of our weekend in Minnesota.  (I took some at the Milwaukee airport though.)

The fact that I have no pictures of our time there and the people we spent it with bums me out...even though I am the mook who chose not to take my camera out and capture those moments.

I think my excuse is that I was so enjoying being there...being in the moment.....watching the kids run around with their cousins....just sitting there talking to my mom and sisters....playing Buzzword.....that I didn't want to interrupt that stuff with the camera.  I don't know.  I guess I don't really have an excuse.

Somehow, I forget how much I love those people when I don't get to see them.  If that makes any sense.

I loved seeing my kids run laughing and giggling with their cousins.

I loved playing games with my sisters and being accused by Rainman and my kids of having had too many drinks because I was laughing so hard I was crying. (By the way....I hadn't had a drop of alcohol.) We are really funny when we are all together....even if we are the only ones that think that!

I loved driving near my sister's house and being flanked by the farms....the growing crops....seeing the silos in the distance.  I even tried explaining to Rainman that I missed that view.  I missed the feel I got from driving around surrounding by the farms.  He sort of got it...I think....for him....a city boy.  He said, "Yeah, we don't really have those down in Georgia.  I can't think of a single place where it looks like this."  He is right.  With our house, I have been able to find a place that is similar with trees and the lake....but, not driving through farmland to get places.  Oh well, guess you can't have it all.

On our way back from my sister's place, we even stopped at the very same Baker's Square where Rainman and I met on our first date.  We ordered our pies to go, this time.  But, it was fun reliving what each of us remembered from that night for our kids and my mom.  And, the pie was, as always, phenomenal.

We even attended services at the little church I grew up in before heading to the airport.  My mom asked me to sing.  So, I did.

We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport, where apparently everyone had also decided that a last minute trip to Atlanta was just the thing for a Sunday afternoon/evening.  Uggg....

There wasn't room for us on the next 4 flights, which is where Rainman decided to get creative.  In looking at our chances for Monday morning flights...things were not looking good either.  So....we took the last flight out of Minneapolis, to Chicago....got a rental van and 15 minutes before we got there....surprised his mom with overnight guests!  Yes, all 8 of us! (Funny side note:  Our normal van that we drive around in at home is a big, full size, extended top "party" van - as my friends call it.  My kids were enamored of the mini-vans that we rented on our trip.  The little kids are convinced that we should get one and drive around in it all the time.  The big kids understand how foolish that would be, but appreciated the ease of having doors on both sides of the vehicle and that it was kind of fun to sit right next to people that you were teasing instead having to be a whole arms length away!)

When I say that Rainman's mom had "overnight" guests, I am using that term loosely, because we got to her place about 11:00 and then headed back to the airport at 4:30 the next morning.  But, it was fun for the kids to see both their grandmas in the same 24 hour period.

I have felt behind and sort of internally hectic since we got home.  Partly because I had to cancel things we had scheduled for Monday, from the road.

I have just felt sort of.... paused.... between my two worlds.

My Minnesota life has a different vibe than my Georgia life.  Neither is better than the other, I think. Just different.  I miss my Minnesota people.  I miss my Minnesota scenery.

Whenever I think about missing my family back in Minnesota, I think about the pioneer days and the fact that, when people moved away from family, many times they actually never saw each other again.  They only had letters.  I have e-mail, Facebook, Skype (but I have yet to be truly successful in getting that to work right), and yes standby flights  - that might be inconvenient and annoying - but eventually, I do get to actually see and hug my people.  So, I can't complain too much, can I?