Its about a six hour drive altogether, give or take. Good thing neither of us tend to run short of words to say. We played lots of tunes along the way- The Eagles, Johny Cash, Flogging Molly, Def Leppard, and even Frank Sinatra.
We stayed overnight in Bemidji with Sue and Brian. Teresa, Sue, and I went to high school together, and we've known Brian for more than 20 years. We had a great time catching up and having a beverage or two, chatting until late in the evening.
In the morning, Brian got up and made us coffee and omelets to order. He's really good at making omelets. Then, we headed out to the garage to see the model T that he is restoring, and to the garden, where he loaded us up with tomatoes and jalapenos to bring to John for salsa makin'.
It was time to hit the road again, to go see John at the Northland Threshing Bee in Statcona. Teresa has known John since forever, when they used to beat each other up in martial arts. :) And I've known him since my freshman year in college. He's one of the nicest people I know, and that's saying alot, 'cause I know lots of high quality people.
Anyhoo, I was super excited about going to the Threshing Bee. For starters, I'd never been to one before. For those of you who aren't familiar, its kinda like an old-time farming exhibit, where they have demonstrations of things like soap making, blacksmithing, weaving on looms, steam engines, and more. There is also an old schoolhouse and an old store. And of course there's lefse and rumagrot and potato dumplings, cause there's lot of good Norwegians up there. 
My favorites are the demos of the big equipment like the thresher and the saw mill.
John and his dad and his brother Earl run this saw mill, which has been in the family for a very long time. Its amazing to watch them feed in a giant log and have it come out in these beautiful boards. Might not sound like it to you, but I thought it was fascinating to watch.
I also love the tractors. Go ahead; make fun of me. Tractors remind me of my Grandpa Johnson, who farmed his whole life. He was an incredible man- unwavering in character, dependable, honest, and quiet (yes, I realize that last trait bypassed my generation.) Its been a number of years since he's passed, but I miss him dearly.
They had two tractor parades on Saturday. I was so excited!
I really wanted to ride on one. Here I am on John's dads tractor.
That totally made my day. We watched the second parade with his dad, and brother, and brother-in-law. I got to hear lots of stories about life on the farm, up north. And every one I met was so incredibly nice. You hear about people in small towns not taking kindly to strangers, but everywhere we went, we were welcomed with open arms. It was such a fun day!
Here's a picture of me and Teresa looking adorable. It was pretty windy out (that's what hats are for), and a tiny bit overcast, but perfect for walking around.
It also happened to be John's birthday that day- so after the Bee, we headed across the field to the cabin- they call it Camp. They built this place, and it is very impressive inside, with vaulted ceilings and a loft, a bunk room, a nice sized kitchen, and a common room where the whole family fits comfortably. John's awesome mom and sister Angie joined us there, and we ate a wonderful dinner of ham and grilled veggies and potato dumplings. Everyone was so warm and kind, it felt like being at home.
When it was getting closer to sundown, Teresa and Earl and I hopped on the front of the ATV, and John hopped on the back, to drive to the woods and change out the video cards in the cameras, and see the hunting stands. It was beautiful back there.
We were having a great time. Hopefully, years from now, we'll be able to laugh about what happened next, but I can't yet, because it's still too fresh in my mind. The short version is that John fell off the back of the ATV, was knocked out cold, and we ended the evening in the hospital. Thank God everything turned out okay! (Except for the concussion and a sore back.) Good thing he is pretty tough.
Teresa and I stayed with her folks in Williams that night, and hung out with her brother Mike, sister-in-law Nettie, and their 3 year old son Pete, the next day. Mike made us all sausage, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast before church. I really enjoyed getting to know Nettie, and Pete is such a cool kid. He wanted to see my pictures from the Threshing Bee, so he climbed up on my lap, and looked at them for the longest time, pretty much having a comment for all of them. (I think he should go to the Bee next year).
After church we went to Nettie's folks place to see the log home that Mike built, and to pick some eggplants, and see the chickens. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the morning.
There was just enough time before lunch, for Teresa's dad Larry to show me how to drive the tractor.
I got to drive it into the woods to clear the trail. It was pretty exciting for me, even though I was super cautious and was driving about the speed of molasses. I'm sure the local 7 year old boys would be laughing if they saw me driving that slowly. ;)
We headed back to the Cities after lunch, with a car full of stuff (tomatoes, eggplants, apples, jars of Brian's garlic pickles and salsa, a couple of souvenir cedar planks from the Threshing Bee) and a bunch of new memories to to hold onto.
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