Minnesota: rain, humidity, mosquitoes, oh my! Welcome home?
- Ann Fritz
- Jul 25, 2024
- 2 min read
We were born and raised in Minnesota. Even within our home state of Minnesota, we had the pattern of not staying still too long and tended to move about every five years. The move to San Diego, California in 2014 was a "big move" for us, followed by a move to Riverton, Utah a quick two years later. We now have been away from Minnesota for 10 years. Wow!
Based on the title of this post, you can guess that there are parts of Minnesota life we do not miss or at the least had forgotten were part of life here!
This spring brought heavy and frequent rains to our home state, and as we crossed the border into MN, the flooding was apparent. Farming is a way of life here, and almost every field we saw had extensive areas of water that had overtaken the crop. Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but this year that number has at least doubled with the wrath of Mother Nature.
Baylor Regional Park was the first campground in MN, located in Norwood Young America. It's a beautiful park, but we soon realized our 40' behemoth was a lot to fit into the sites there. The rain had made things very soft and muddy and it was a challenge to get leveled. The camp host was super helpful and he and Chad fashioned some 2x10s to raise our driver side. The mosquitoes were the welcoming committee as soon as we exited our home on wheels, and they stayed around for the entire week! They are often referenced as the "state bird" for a reason! Fogger and mosquito spray were part of our daily routine.
Ann's side of the family was able to connect at her sister's house. All five siblings were there and various family members joined in, as well. Thanks for hosting us all, Sherene! We had a full dance card that week, reconnecting with some high school, college, and work friends. Great conversations were had for sure, but there's no picture proof. Oops!
The week of 4th of July we stayed in our old stomping grounds of St. Cloud, MN. Our two kids made the road trip from Utah to come celebrate with the extended family. July 3rd we hung out with my brother Jon and his wife, Angie. They live in a 1920's era house on a lake. It was a beautiful day and the nearby town shoots off fireworks at the ball field across the street. We had perfect seats from their driveway to watch the show.
July 4th was spent celebrating with the Smith side (Chad's mom's family) for the annual 4th Fish Fry. Chad's cousin and wife, Kyle and Jenna, hosted the clan at their place. Even with torrential rains that day, they had an awesome converted garage space that held us all comfortably. It was so good to reunite after a 10 year hiatus (on our part)! We all enjoyed a classic midwest potluck. Yum!
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