winter weekend ~ part 1

A couple weekends ago we experienced our first taste of winter.  My grandfather passed away on December 11th and knowing that we wanted to attend the funeral, travel plans were in the works.  We would be traveling to west central Minnesota during the middle of December.  Never an easy feat.  Traveling anywhere in the winter is difficult let alone the snowy, icy midwest.  The weather reports weren't looking very promising but we wanted to give it a go.

We decided it would be best to drive to Omaha Wednesday night, stay with my sister, and then she would join us for the travel up north.  It was great to have her along and she did a great job keeping Nora company in the back seat.

Driving to Minnesota, I was reminded by how spoiled I am living through winters in much milder Missouri.  Granted we have very chilly days, see both snow and ice, but as we were driving down the snow-packed, icy, frigid highways, I was thanking my lucky stars I didn't have to grip the steering wheel so tightly on a daily basis.  Finally after 9 hours of driving, we arrived at our destination --- snowy Battle Lake, Minnesota.  We stayed at the home of my uncle and his fabulous friend and this was our view from their sitting room.

{the frozen lake...lots of ice houses and cars and trucks DRIVING on the lake!}

Even though we were there for a sad reason, we had the most wonderful time with family.  We don't often travel up to that area so it was a very needed time to catch up with everyone and introduce them to Nora, who was a huge hit!  All of my Dad's 4 siblings were there with their kids and grand kids, and many stories and laughs were shared.  Nora even made a new friend.

{my cousin's son}

She also had lots of cuddle time with her Grandma and Grandpa and her Great Aunts and Uncles, who were all pretty smitten with her.

{nora's honorary great auntie}

After two very short days in Minnesota, we hit the road again, dropped my sister off at her home, and stayed the night with some great friends.  I was so happy to spend some time with my buddy, Leah, and Nora was thrilled to spend time with her boyfriend, Archie!

Nora spent 24+ hours in the car over the course of 5 days and was FABULOUS.  We couldn't have asked for a better traveler.  She was even willing and ready to get back in it on the way to her sitter's Monday morning.

First major {winter} road trip was a success!