Iowa and the Journey Home

On Friday, I washed up, packed up and took Dolly to town, had breakfast and then dropped her off at home. We said goodbye, then I headed to Aurora, IL to visit my cousin Becky. Becky and her niece Tina (Tina is my oldest cousin Harry's oldest child) and I went out for lunch. We had a short but great conversation. It's always good to see Becky and Tina! I hit the road again and ended up at my cousin Gene's little acreage in Plymouth, IA for the night around 8:00 PM. My Aunt Lois (Gene's mom) dropped in to say hello. On Saturday, I went to Lois' (who lives very near Gene) with Gene for breakfast. I visited my cousin Lois Jean with Gene in Mason City. Later, I visted my cousin Harry and his girlfriend in a nearby town with Uncle Bud. That evening Lois and Uncle Bud, Gene's girlfriend Jane, my cousin Vicki and her husband Clarence came over to Gene's, and Gene hosted a big and tasty steak dinner. On Sunday, again went to Lois' for breakfast with Vicki and Clarence, then Tina and her daughter Tina came over, and we all headed to the Plymouth 1st Methodist for Sunday service. Afterwards, Vicki and Clarence left for home (about an hour away) and Aunt Lois took me to the Mason City Cemetery where I have a lot of relatives and ancestors buried. Tina (the same one mentioned above) hosted a wonderful Mother's Day dinner at her and her husband Dave's place in Mason City. Aunt Lois, Uncle Bud, Tina, Dave, Harry, Sue, Tina's kids Josh and Sara were all there. I played football in the back yard with the kids afterwards to burn off some cals : ) On Monday, had breakfast with Lois, lunch in Mason City with Gene and my cousin Richy. I headed to my cousin Lexie's where I looked at her computers (they're on the fritz, I wasn't able to get them going for her :( and met her wonderful children Ben, Joey and Jesslyn. Ben and Joey work on a nearby dairy farm, and I got a personalized tour! I hooked up Lois to the internet (per my Dad's request :) For dinner, we ate at Lois' with Lexie, her kids, Lois, Bud and me. Tuesday, I got up, cleaned up, packed and headed to Lois's for breakfast. I'm blogging now, and will head to Mason City to pick up my jacket (left at Tina's on Sunday). I am very blessed with a large and loving family. I didn't know my family in Iowa very well, but this trip has made me a lot closer with a lot of them, and they all are wonderful people. The final leg of the journey begins today! I should be home Thursday or Friday. I'll post more pics and a wrap-up post when I get home. Stay tuned (at least for a little while longer) Greg