July 6, 2018

Rochester MN to Minneapolis MN

The last morning with family in Rochester.  While Dick packed up the car, Aunt Patti drove nephew, Josh, to the Rochester Athletic Club for his tennis lessons.  Josh, who is 15, has been playing tennis since he could walk, with Patti’s dad as his first teacher.  He and his brother, Matt went to the MN State Tournament this year, with their team coming in second, narrowly losing to a school in the Twin Cities.  We have been watching these guys play for years, but it was fun to see Josh working hard with his coach, getting ready to play in a tournament in Dallas later in the month.   Josh has shot up in height this last year and his tennis continues to get stronger.  Go, Josh, go! Matt has just graduated from high school and will be playing on his college team this next year.  Go, Matt, go.

We enjoyed a last lunch with Joan, Patti’s mom, and then it was time to hop n the car to drive to Minneapolis for the next part of our Minnesota stay. We have made this drive MANY times. It is nice to be on familiar ground.

We arrived midafternoon at our dear friend Randy’s house in South Minneapolis.  Randy has generously hosted us for many years as we make our way back to the Twin Cities to visit with friends.  We have now been in California for 20 years, but still have many strong relationships in Minnesota.  Randy’s home makes a great “home base” where we can rest, check in with so many friends, and spend precious time with him.

We had a great visit and dinner with Randy catching up on stories from our trip, as well as all that the three of us had been doing since getting together last.

Patti was especially happy to hear that Randy’s epic raspberry patch was at peak ripeness, and we had fresh picked raspberries and ice cream for dessert.  Randy always remembers our love of berries and has things totally ready for our arrival. Yum!  So nice to be at our home away from home in the Twin Cities.