The main reason for the USA trip was to reconnect with family in New York City and South Dakota after a nearly three year absence due to Covid.
In SD we ‘rotated’ around the siblings’ accomodations and visited the mother on a regular basis and went on a clothes shopping spree with her. Thanks for the coupons!
Sister Karyl drove in from Montana to complete the set.
But one of the first things we did on arrival was get our Omicron specific bivalent vaccination shot. It was not available in Australia before we left. It was free in pharmacies with no nationality restrictions.
In Elkton we caught up with sister Kelly and Mark as well as their daughters’ families.
A bit of excitement was the multiple sighting of a mountain lion in the close vicinity.
Hunted but no trace found.
I got to go out to the family farm to ride the combine harvesting soya beans.
Love big machines.
A couple of the grandkids are into football so we spent an hour at the South Dakota State University stadium in freezing temperatures watching them run around. Despite the cold it was fun.
And a house in the vicinity had their usual OTT Halloween display
At Lake Hendricks with brother Kevin and Lisa, autumn was beginning to show and despite a few windy days it lived up to its reputation in the sign below.
It was beautiful out on the lake and we got the traditional tour thanks to the bro keeping the pontoon boat a little longer in the water than normal. Boats and docks are pulled out of the lake when winter approaches. The co driver got to do some paddling as well trying SUP.
Kevin and Lisa arranged a get together with their sons’ families. It was a full on day with lots of food, laughter and an important football game on TV to watch. Lisa was into the Fall and Halloween decorations. I’d never seen pumpkin carving being done before and the grandkids were really into it.
At Trent, Kay and Scott had organised a mini Thanksgiving dinner with their daughter, her husband and grandchildren which turned into a bit of an extravaganza which I didn’t mind at all. It was all very delicious.
Scott took me for a ride in friend’s oldish red Mustang convertible which has always been on my bucket list. We ended up at a local winery for a tasting and enjoyed a flight of reds. Even bought a few bottles.
Kay runs an on line quilt fabric supply site and every Saturday morning presents a live webcast on Facebook for about 30 minutes or so. It’s very chatty in a way only quilters seem to do. As a bit of variety she asked me to introduce the program. No doubt it was a surprise for regular viewers to see a man with a strange accent there when they tuned in. But it was fun. And, no, I won’t be supplying the link. The embarrassment of seeing myself doing that has not yet abated.
During this time we ate out with family and friends at two lovely venues, The Knotty Pine in Elkton and in The Stone House and Quarry Lounge over the border in Pipestone, Minnesota. The co driver and I did our usual date night at Morries’s in Sioux Falls. Still as good as ever.
An observation in the few wine shops we went into. Australian wine was generally on the lower quality and cheaper side and on the bottom shelf which was a bit disappointing. Regrettably mail ordering wine into South Dakota is not allowed by law so I couldn’t get the folks to sample some better ones.
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