Summer 2019: Dorothy Coe Visits all 48 States

August 21, 2019, Dorothy Coe checked off a goal from her bucket list of visiting the lower 48 states, with North Dakota as the last. Accompanying her were her husband, James, her children Mike Coe (South Carolina) and Julie Ross (Florida), and granddaughter Abby Ross-Kennedy (FL). Grandson Chris Ross even flew in from Colorado to celebrate the big accomplishment. On this trip, they drove 1000+ miles in just 5 days, ate fresh ice cream from the South Dakota State University Dairy Science Hall, walked across the headwaters of the Mississippi Itasca State Park, visited "the prettiest botanical garden" at McCrory Gardens, and enjoyed time with newlyweds Thomas and Demi Coe in Omaha. Scenery included vast farmland that made these travelers all wonder about North Dakotans' lives, an Amish man bailing hay with his mules, and a starry starry night worth stopping for.

On this trip, I heard so many great stories from Pa and Grandma. I learned that Grandma used to pick cucumbers with her cousins and ride into town on their wagon to sell them. It was reinforced that my Pa remembers way more details than I ever will, as he was able to describe exactly how some old farming tools worked at the Agricultural Heritage Museum, in Brookings, SD. I heard lovely stories about my grandparents sleeping under the stars in the Colorado mountains. I love the story of Grandma, at 15 and newly wed, heading out to Colorado on her own by train. Somehow things got mixed up and Pa didn't find her right away, but they found each other in Denver eventually.

And we're off after all gathering in Atlanta airport!

Mississippi Headwaters at Lake Itasca Park

Omaha break

South Dakota Ice Cream Stop- Apparently where cookies and cream was invented

Kroll's Diner in Omaha for some interesting German food and good laughs

Our route. And mind you, from Fargo to Lake Itasca to Worthington, MN was all in one day.

Omaha, NE --> Sioux Falls, SD (AKA Sewer Falls)--> Brookings, SD --> Fargo, ND --> NORTH up to Minnesota --> SOUTH back down to Worthington, MN --> Omaha --> Home

Comments

2023 in Review (Plus 2020-2022, oops)

I am super bummed to realize that I haven't done a yearly review/highlights since 2019! That's FOUR YEARS ago! Pre covid, pre Oregon, pre master's degree, pre return to Florida, pre a million babies being born... So much has changed! It's always to nice to sit back and look at all that happens in a year too. It's now February. I started this post in December and was about to go and try to edit and make it all fancy with links to other posts and all kinds of cool things.... I'm sure there are some mistakes even with the years, things left out... but progress over perfection right? We're just going posting it in 3...2...1... Have fun! 2023 1. Bike bike biking everywhere. To the Grom for tasty lunch treats, Indian almost every week, grocery shopping, to the gym, just to bike around in the sun. It's been great! 2. All the babies came: Lowey-Balls, Krupkas, Bakers, neighbor friends x2, Sarkissians, and even more to come! 3. Finally got the best job wit...

Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Throwing away pictures quickly turns into hours of laughing at old selves and bringing back so many memories. High school friends and I have often wondered what we did in high school since we weren't the typical partying teens. After this picture raid, I realized... we took pictures. In dressing rooms, walmart, cars, kitchen islands... 2. My parents are awesome. I didn't learn this this weekend but it was definitely reinforced. They are just such dedicated, good people. We're also surrounded by some amazingly supportive friends. 3. My dad is so cool. I mean really... Cool guy on the right... Can he get any more awesome? Not to mention that crazy guy on the left, aka Uncle Dennis. I never did get a straight answer about whether he dressed like that on the reg or not. So was that a regular occurrence, Dennis?! ;) 4. Sleepy babies are one of the sweetest things to see. 5. Having adult conversations with toddlers is so amusing to me. Brooks and I d...

Opposite Ends (Atlantic to Pacific)

It's been over a year since being back in Florida. I started thinking of some of these comparisons shortly after returning, but now I have even more to add. And it's more comparing the Oregon Coast to this area, of course. If you're new here, we were in Pacific City, OR a little old town of ~1000 people. Now we're in Atlantic Beach, FL. 1. The amount of laundry. I'd say 3 shirts a day in the summer is typical for this Florida heat and humidity. Go for a morning walk, change shirts... Plant some flowers. Gotta change... Workout, definitely change. Shower, dog walk-- one more change before the night's done. 2. The bank and post office are open on Saturdays here! And restaurants don't close for the winter. 3. Florida neighborhood strolls: Seeing 10+ humans on every walk compared to often only 0. I love the community here! Lovely neighbors, gym rats, baristas. Even my parents! The Padres moved 40 minutes away vs 2.5! Yahoo! Pacific City was just so empty. On...

Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

Search This Blog