Don'tcha know North Dakota

Well, if you don't, you can ask me as I took the grand tour of the state recently for my family vacation. It started in hot and windy Kansas City as Kelly, Matthew and Dad picked me up for the long drive to Lake Metigoshe. Pretty uneventful drive, as long as you don't count the two massive detours we had to take due to Interstate 29 having flooding. That and a no hotel room availability in Fargo due to...a wrestling tournament. Still shocks me that we couldn't find a room, but hey, Grand Forks welcomed us to the, and I'm quoting this, the "Settle Inn." Who said there isn't humor in North Dakota?!?!

We got there mid-afternoon Wednesday and immediately headed to the lake to meet up with Uncle Jim and take a pontoon tour of the lake. Yup, we even snuck into Canada for a brief moment. Shockingly, that's the only other country I've been to besides the U.S. I really need to get my travel more turned to international. We got a hotel room at the lake, after spending some time with family, called it a night.

Ended up heading out with my cousin Jill's husband Pat to golf the tourney site, Bottineau Country Club, in preparation for the tournament that weekend. Course was actually in great shape, it's just a 9 hole course, but it brought back some memories for sure. It had probably been 15 years since I had been there and wow, it just felt different. As a kid, I remember playing 72 holes of golf there one day. just me, a golf cart, and no one else on the course. Things like the tee box on hole 1 with this daunting downhill drive turned into a small mound as an adult. But the greens still rolled towards the city and everything was as I remembered it, just a bit smaller.

Flash forward to the tournament and I got paired with my father, Kelly, my aunt Sherry and my cousin Carrie's boyfriend Craig. I thought we had a really good shot and let me tell you (because it's a blog and that's what I do, tell you things) I was on fire. Crushing drives, keeping us alive, making some great shots. We bogey the par 3, which was my fault, but I birdied 9, the tough hole on the course, all alone and we're 2 under after 9. Back 9 is going well, sans the 15 minute rainstorm we had to weather, and as we get to the last hole, we're at -4. And I proceed to melt down. Hit the biggest banana slice of my life and we end up with a bogey. Come to find out, we're one shot back from my cousin Bob for the championship. Once again, so close, but no victory for me still in the Lervik Classic. Good news though, 2013 will be in Colorado, which will be awesome! Can't wait for a change of venue and some fun in a new part of the country. Here's a shot of sis and I afterwards at the awards ceremony. Hey, they had Boulevard Wheat at the store, so I was happy. Not a "smile with my teeth showing" happy, but close enough.

Sunday my immediate family headed out to the farm. Now, no running water there, but we've got electricity and a lot of fun times. I ended up hopping on the small lawn mower, popped in the iPod, and just cruised, cutting grass for like two hours around the property. Bordered on the highlight of my trip, just me and open fields, so peaceful. We grilled out, checked out all of the cars and other memories from when my father grew up there, and then played cards for about 5 hours. I ended up hitting it hard, bed at 3 AM, up $50, with an early wake-up and a not so fun visit to the outhouse. I'll spare you the details. But I'll say this, there's something about the farm that brings out what I love most about my father. Here's a shot with him after the tournament on Saturday. Need to make sure we get him up that way as much as he wants. He deserves it.

Big thanks to my cousin Brittany for taking photos, which are what I used in the blog. Here she is with my nephew, who I have to say was perfect during the trip, drive included. You never know with a 5 year old, but I was proud of the kid.

The rest of my trip was spent with my cousin Jill at her house, worked both days and just recovered from the weekend. Mike got to the house Wednesday afternoon for the drive back to Charlotte. Ended up helping him with the parents as they are retiring in North Carolina. Only a couple of events that were memorable (truck gets a flat tire about 50 miles into the journey, Mike's mom forgetting her purse at the hotel south of Indy, causing Mike and I to not have to drive the truck that last day at all) and the rest was very typical for a 1,700 mile trip and unload in Charlotte. The rest of the weekend was a blur, just trying to recover from the vacation.

Lots of fun events upcoming, check out where I am on the left-hand side for more. Thanks to the family for a great visit, looking forward to the next one!