Family and Friends Odyssey in the Midwest - August 2022
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We made a family and friends odyssey during August 2022.
We traveled to Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin in the Moving House.
The catalyst for our journey was a planned gathering of the extended family in
southwestern Minnesota. It had originally been planned that the Norwegian cousins we’d
met at Fjällbacka, Sweden, in 2018 would visit in 2020 and the American cousins
would gather to greet them. Lyon County in Minnesota was chosen as the location because
that was where the first relatives - Andrew, Otto, and Alfred Holm - had settled and
because the Minnesota Holm family had a tradition of gathering there on alternate years.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and all our plans were scuttled.
By 2022, Covid seemed to be dying down so the gathering was rescheduled.
Sadly, the Norwegians relatives cancelled because of illness in the family.
Others who had planned to attend also cancelled during to planned
surgeries or other planned activities at the time.
Nonetheless, a dozen of us committed to attending.
Gail and I decided to make a vacation of it. We scheduled a stay near the
Twin Cities to get together with family and friends. Then we headed
to Marshall, Minnesota, for the gathering. Next we spent some time in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to have quiet time and to visit family and friends
still living there. Finally, we visited another friend in Madison, Wisconsin,
and then we headed back home.
During evenings when we were not otherwise occupied, we watched lectures about
Homer’s Odyssey by Elizabeth Vandiver distributed by The Teaching Company.
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We were away from home for twenty-five days, and were traveling during eleven of them.
We pulled the Moving House 3,137 miles and
drove locally another 781 miles.
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“ Getting there is half the fun.” Really?
In previous years, we often drove as much as 400 miles each day, but we are a little
older now and more accustomed to napping after lunch.
During our first leg, we started out tired and then drove three days for more than
300 miles each day. That was tiring. During the middle part of the journey, our distances
were smaller but we still got tired. We drove longer distances again coming home.
Our longest day was 369 miles during which we had an hour delay due to an accident blocking the
Interstate ahead of us.
In northern states, summer is road repair season. That’s why people use GPS systems
to let them know how to avoid delays.
We have a Map/GPS application on each of our smart phones as well as an old Rand-McNally
stand-alone GPS unit.
The problem was knowing what algorithm each unit was using to select routes.
Sometimes they might select shortest distance, sometimes shortest time.
Sometimes they might avoid any freeway, sometimes they only wanted freeways.
Sometimes they would reroute us from the obvious route because future road work was planned.
Drivers need to be in control of their own destiny!
Willow River State Park
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Gail at the Willow River Falls
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We scheduled a stay near the
Twin Cities at the Willow River State Park in Hudson, Wisconsin.
The park has nice roomy camping sites, a scenic water fall, a lake
for swimming and boating, and plenty of hiking trails. This
section of the Willow River also was the subject of an important 1898
U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Willow River V. Frank Wade that required
navigable rivers to be “forever free to all”.
From our campsite, number 126, the trail to the falls was not long, but
it was very steep. It was easy to get there, but not so easy to get back.
There we saw a flock of Cedar Waxwings darting about on the other side of the
river, probably feeding on insects.
Our first day at the park, Bill, Gail’s long-ago supervisor at the University of Minnesota,
visited us. He, with his wife, son, and grandson, even brought the makings for dinner.
The second day Eunice, Al’s third cousin, treated us to a delicious lunch of
Swedish meatballs, potatoes, green beans, cake, berries, and ice cream. That evening,
we joined Gail’s brother, Guy, and his family at their favorite restaurant.
We enjoyed our camping and visiting, but the next day we had to hurry off to
southwest Minnesota.
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Julie, Michael, Bill, and Peter Burke with Gail and Al Holm
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An immature Red-Headed Woodpecker
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The 2022 Family Reunion and Camden State Park
In southwest Minnesota, we stayed at Camden State Park,
next to my sister Terri and brother Wayne.
This park was sandwiched
between a busy rail line and a state highway, but managed to cram in nice camping
sites, a river, a small lake, and plenty of hiking trails in varied environments.
Our purpose in this part of Minnesota
was to attend a grand, multi-family, multi-nation gathering
of descendents of Olof and Eva Andersson and of their
children: Anna Maja Longstrom, Carl Johan Holmberg, Andrew Holm,
Fredrik Olofsson, Alfred Holm, and Otto Holm.
Andrew, Alfred, and Otto immigrated to southwest Minnesota.
The children of Fredrik immigrated to Canada and the United States.
Some children of Anna Maija and Carl Johan also immigrated to the U.S.
Olof and Eva came to the U.S. in their old age, but he died
shortly after arriving.
Seventy-four years earlier, in 1948, my grandfather had traveled to
this region of southwest Minnesota to
reunite with his uncle Otto Holm and cousin Gustave Longstrom.
Then the Norwegians
cancelled because of illness in the family. Others who had planned ot attend
also cancelled during the summer due to surgeries.
Still other cousins had other
planned activities at the time.
Other factors stifling interest were a resurgence of Covid-19
and the increased cost of travel as inflation took off.
In the end, our grand reunion had only a dozen attendees,
representing descendents of Andrew Holm, Fredrik Olofsson, and Otto Holm.
We started off on Saturday, August 13, in Marshall, Minnesota.
Mark hosted us in his antique-filled home.
He displayed old family memorabilia, photos, and history.
Others contributed some photos and stories.
After dinner at Key Largo, a traditional meeting place for the Minnesota Holm reunions,
we traveled to Bethany Lutheran Cemetery in Lake Sarah Township
where our common ancestors are buried.
Our next day activities began with lunch at Bitton’s Roadhouse in Garvin, another
traditional Minnesota Holm reunion place. From there we visited the Hoiland Lutheran
Cemetery, the Rialson Cemetery, locations where Andrew Holm’s family members had lived,
and the
Wheels Across the Prairie Museum,
where they had Eunice’s grandmother’s wedding dress on display.
Descendents of brothers Fredrik, Otto, and Andrew
with their family members gather in Mark’s backyard in 2022
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Otto Holm with Fredrik Olofsson’s son Victor Holm and
Anna Maija Longstrom’s son Gustav at the 1948 family reunion
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Mark with a framed photo of the children
of his great-grandfather, Otto Holm.
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Copy of a photo of our great-great grandmother Eva Anderson
taken in Tracy, Minnesota
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Gravestones for Eva and Olof Anderson, our common ancestor
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The descendants of Olof and Eva Anderson who attended the reunion
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Terri could not attend most of the reunion events because she was looking after
her newly adopted puppy, Teddy. We did get to visit with her over Friday evening
supper, long, leisurely breakfasts, and a Sunday evening after reunion.
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Teddy really, really wants to be your friend
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Gail, Terri, and Teddy, who has found a stick
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When she was a little girl, our daughter, “Carrie”, had enjoyed the
Little House on the Prairie stories so we had to visit Walnut Grove where
the Ingalls family had lived twice.
There is a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in town as well as the site of the
family’s dugout a little north of town
All that remains of the Ingalls’ family dugout is a dip in the ground
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Plum Creek, on whose banks the family lived
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Up North to Bewabic State Park
After southwest Minnesota, we headed to Bewabic State Park on Fortune Lake in Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula, stopping in Chippewa Falls and visiting the Lienenkugels Brewery along the
way.
In the UP, we visited Al’s sister-in-law, Ruth Ann, nephew Chris and his wife April, and
niece Melissa with her husband Mike.
They gave Al custody of some family treasures that Al’s brother Carl had
preserved until he died.
We also visited our friends the Brennans and the Campbells.
We had a little time left over to hike
on the trail in Bewabic Park and on the Apple Blossom Trail.
Gail even got in a little swimming.
In May, I had volunteered to give a talk about the James Webb Space Telescope in Iron
County, but was turned down because their schedules were already full.
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On our way from Iron County to Madison, we stopped to visit Gail’s
dear cousin, Rae, and her husband Bruce.
Rae and Bruce have a very nice display of the six all-family photos from the
1998 Busse Reunion.
Bruce and Al
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Rae and Gail
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Lake Farm County Park
On our way back to Maryland, we stopped for two days in Dane County, Wisconsin.
We camped at the Lake Farm County Park, which is southeast of Madison, and
visited with our friend Maija. On Thursday she took us for a hike in the
Toten Creek County Park, where we had light rain and the freshly mowed grass
clung to our shoes. On Friday, Maija took us to the Toten Creek Conservancy,
a different place and one that she had not visited before.
Friday evening, we visited the Orton Park Festival in Madison to see a
Cycropia Aerial Dance Performance. We arrived late, after nearly all the
space around the performance area - a huge tree - was taken. We found some space
near the bike racks on Few Street, but had a poor view because the flood lights
illuminating the performance were pointed at us.
Here is video taken by someone who was much better placed than we were.
Surprisingly, part way through the performance a young woman behind us
asked, “Is that Maija?” She was the daughter of a woman that Maija
knows.
Maija and Gail after walking in light rain
at Toten Creek County Park
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A Turkey followed by her pullets at Toten Creek County Park
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Viivi wants her picture taken
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Viivi also wants some coffee
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Inspecting gravestones at the Token Creek Cemetery
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Our view of the Cycropia Aerial Dance Performance
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Potpourri
Some of the places we’ve stayed
Site 126, Willow River State Park
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Site 94, Bewabic State Park
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Site 23, Lake Farm Park
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Some older structures in Iron County, Michigan
Prepared by Al Holm, 31 August 2022; updated 6 Sept 2022
