Finne's Follies: October in Minnesota

It can be risky spending the month of October in Minnesota. Blizzards have been known to occur in this month from time to time. The temperatures can bounce all over the place and the weather is always unpredictable. So we were a bit concerned when we learned that our grandson had chosen the latter half of this month for his wedding.

What's a grandparent to do? We weren't about to let unpredictability keep us from a wedding. Besides, the chances were just as good for good weather as for bad.

So we parked our coach back at the Pettit "back lot" after Door County and hoped for the best.

It turned out to be a surprisingly mild October. As a matter of fact, there were more 70 degree days in a row in October in Minneapolis than in any other month this year-- eleven, to be precise. (I know this because I am currently working on a temperature blanket for a certain Minnesota-born grandchild.)

So we took advantage of the nice weather and attended yet another car show with my brother and sister-in-law, George and Bev. This show was put on by a local car club called "The Frankensteiners." It was held at the Cambridge Fair Grounds, and all the participating vehicles put out buckets of candy by their cars and trucks, and the visitors brought their children, dressed up for Halloween, to trick-or-treat. George thought he had over-bought on the candy for his bucket, but ended up running out before 11:00 a.m. (the car show runs until 5:00). Mark enjoyed the event more than I did, mainly because Mark cares about cars. I left early and let him hitch a ride home from George. Still, it was nice to get out in the sunshine and visit with family.

George's '39 Chevy

Bev & George

We left our RV parked in Isanti the weekend of the wedding and drove the car up for the event.

Our grandson, Riley and his bride, Mari, chose an absolutely beautiful venue for their wedding in northern Minnesota near Marcell. We stayed in a cabin in Marcell with Mark's daughter, Melanie, and her family. We arrived Friday afternoon and were there until Monday morning. The wedding was on Saturday. The cabin was beautiful, and well-stocked with towels and bedding, and cooking/eating necessities. Melanie cooked all the meals for us, except those connected to the wedding-- a Groom's dinner and a post-wedding breakfast where the couple opened their gifts. On our last evening there, we built a fire outside, roasted hotdogs, made S'mores, and listened to the eerie shrill cries of foxes in the woods.

Our room at the cabin in the woods

View from the sliding door of our room at the cabin in the woods

The wedding was fabulous! I've never seen a more beautiful wedding venue. The ceremony was held outside under the pine trees. Check out the video. The swaying trees were absolutely mesmerizing.

It was chilly and breezy but the hosts passed out lap blankets to everyone to help keep us warm. After a short ceremony, we all went inside where the heaters were to enjoy beverages and hors d'oeuvres.

Here comes the bride!

The bride and groom chose a western theme for their wedding clothes and decor-- horses (Mari is an equestrian), jeans, cowboy hats and boots, western style vests for the guys, and plaid everywhere. It was adorable.

Horse corral

From the right: Riley, Mari, wedding party

I've included lots of pictures below. Dinner was pizza... not especially "western," but more affordable than feeding a hundred people steak, I suppose. If costs were cut, that was the only place...and really, who ever remembers the food at a wedding anyway?

We arrived back at our RV on Monday afternoon, and Tuesday we packed up and headed out of town. Next stop was Choudrant, Louisiana, where our esteemed mechanic, Ronnie Wolfe, would tackle our non-working generator, and our non-working basement A/C.

I'll just tell you the good news now: The fixes were made, the cost was relatively low (lower than we expected), and it only took one day to put us on our way again in good order. Ronnie's a genius-- I keep saying that, I know, but it's true! Eventually we're going to need work done on our bedroom slide--the motor needs to be replaced. But that will have to wait until next year, and we're trusting God to keep it working until we have the money to fix it.

That's it for now. More pictures below. Safe travels to one and all!