the education of henry

Up North

2023-05-21

This week started out normal - I went to LEGO Club on Monday after school.

At LEGO Club.

But on Tuesday morning we all drove over to Grandpa Al and Grandma Wynne's house. Dad and I borrowed their new car (that Grandpa bought the night before) to go up to Bob's. Dad was going to help get fiber internet installed for Bob and help with some computer stuff. I went along so I could ride in the tractor with Trevor.

Ready to hop in the new car and go!

Reading a little local history when we stopped for a break.

I thought we were just going to the farm, so I wasn't expecting to see a giant viking.

Dad surprised me with this big guy.

Then we spent some time at the Runestone Museum, looking at the stone and some of the other local history.

There is the Kensington Runestone behind me.

The translation.

A disply of a viking home.

It was nice to get a break, but we had a few more hours of driving left. We stopped at Culver's for supper and dessert, and still had another hour to go!

Our first day at Bob's we went out to the old farm by the river - which was still kind of underwater. Then I hopped in the tractor with Trevor for the day. Well, we did take a break when the tractor got stuck, but it didn't take too long to get it out.

Breakfast before going out to the field.

The water is still high - halfway up the dike.

This part of the old home place is a lake right now.

In the tractor with Trevor.

Me and Trevor.

Checking out the top of the air seeder.

On the way to the next field.

A clip of the tractor on the move.

We had rain on Wednesday night and off and on all day Thursday, so no more tractor rides. Dad spent most of the day working on stuff for Bob, so I entertained myself.

Friday morning was sunny, so we checked out some of the sheds, made a trip to the tractor store, and did some practice driving in the Gator (no pictures - Dad was too busy giving me instructions).

Checking out the one big tractor Bob still has.

Sitting in the '49 Chevy pickup Dad learned to drive on - I can reach all the pedals...just sayin'....

Saturday morning it was time to go home. We took a spin in the golf cart, said goodbye to Bob, and hit the road.

Me with Bob.

Taking the golf cart out for a spin before we left.

On the way home, we made a few stops. The first one was at the big tractor store, where Bob and Dad bought me a 1/64 air seeder like Trevor's (you'll see it at the end of the post). Then we stopped at Culver's for lunch before going to...another museum? This one had something bigger than a runestone, though.

It's a viking ship!

A view from above.

Me standing by the massive rudder.

We read and watched the story of how the Hjemkomst was built in an old potato shed by a guy who had never sailed, and then how a crew of mostly amatuers sailed it from Duluth to Norway. It's an amazing story.

And there was more than just the ship...

The replica stave church in the museum's backyard.

It is awesome inside, too.

The Queen of Norway.

Some paintings.

They had some Viking gear, so of course I tried it on.

I really want one of these swords....

In the covered walkway around the church.

The church was built with no modern metal fastening devices - everything was fit together the traditional way, and all the carvings were done by hand. And the tour guide said that when people died in the winter their bodies would be stacked in the walkway around the church until the ground thawed enough to bury them.

And then we were back on the road again.

After a long day in the car, we stopped for Noodles before the last leg of the drive on Saturday.

Setting up my air seeder once we got to Grandma Wynne and Grandpa Al's house.

Dad and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for the night, and then Grandpa drove us home in the morning. What an adventure! Dad and I needed a day to recover. Dad maybe needed two.

And Mom had an adventure while we were gone - she mowed the lawn for the first time, had to replace our wireless router, sorted a pile of LEGO, and planted the garden.

That was my week. Take care!