The Johansen Cousins

Last weekend was the annual gathering of the Johansen cousins, this time in Des Moines, Iowa.

I left home Friday morning for the drive.

As I rounded the front of my yard, I saw this beauty standing in the yard, munching on some weeds.

As it turned out, this was one of the few deer I saw on my 800 mile drive.

I stayed in Altoona, IA at an AirBnB.

The host, Donna, was a very nice woman and we had a couple of nice chats,

I got her whole life story & she got mine.

The room and bathroom were spotless and comfy.

I will stay with Donna again when I go to Des Moines.

The cousins gathered at Grand View Park in Des Moines.

It was raining all morning.

Nancy rolled Aunt Johanne through the rain when she arrived.

But, by mid day, the rain cleared and it was a pleasant day.

It was a good day of visiting.  

Aunt Johanne led us through some stories and answered many questions about our ancestors, both in Tyler and in West Denmark.

Cousin Bob's children Timothy & Amanda joined us for the day, they were immersed in learning the family tree and likely overwhelmed by the many stories.  It was good to get to know them and share the day together.

On Sunday, a few of us met up at Aunt Johanne's building and had lunch together.

It was a nice ending to the weekend.

My drive home was uneventful.

I tired of the Interstate traffic at Owatonna and took state highways the rest of the way home.

That worked out great, and I will take that route again.

By luck, I was about to drive past the driveway of Coors pal Ann, so I drove in.

She was home and we had a short reunion.

She sent me home with some Lily of the Valley to plant & some sample beer from her brewmaster son.  Certainly worth the stop!

I arrived home before dark which was my goal.

We will host the reunion in Luck/West Denmark next year.