Our Trip up North . . .

Well, we made it. It was such a whirl wind trip. Our plane was scheduled to leave Columbus at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday and take us to Detroit then to Minneapolis to Bismarck. Well, the connecting flight in Detroit was scheduled to board before we were even suppose to land in Detroit so I was a little concerned if we would make our connection (only 37 min. in between). There was a flight leaving Columbus at 1:45 p.m. out of the same gate we were leaving. Well, their flight was already delayed so I was worried if our flight would get out on time. So, Jay asked the gate attendants if we could get on the earlier flight -- long story short Jay was able to get us on that flight which gave us just under an hour in Detroit. With that little adjustment, our flight to North Dakota became less stressful and we enjoyed the flights.

We arrived on time in Bismarck at 9:30 p.m. and it was still daylight- it was just then starting to get dusk. Yes, the sun was still shining. Evidently the summer season is short, but the summer days are longgggg!! We were told in the summer the sun doesn't go down till almost 10:30 p.m. in the month of June. That will definitely take some getting use to. We would so lose track of time while we were there because of the sun.

As many of you know, Jay has already interviewed with the congregations that he would serve and this trip was an opportunity to meet members, for Jay to preach, and for us to look for housing. If this happens, Jay will serve as the full time pastor at Peace Lutheran in Lincoln, ND and a part-time youth pastor at First Lutheran in Bismarck. We were so busy . . . Sunday Jay preached at Peace Lutheran then we went to First for a meet and greet potluck. Then we drove and toured around the Lincoln/Bismarck area for several hours before heading to Peace for a dinner potluck to meet the members there. That's right two potlucks in one day . . . Jay said it was the next best thing to heaven.

Here are a few pictures of the area . . .



This is the Missouri River. We were standing in Bismarck and across the river is Mandan.



After our dinner potluck, we traveled to a member's house to see her ostriches. Yes, you read right - ostriches in North Dakota. Evidently they use to raise them to sell them for their meat and they use to have 80 of them. Over time it hasn't been very profitable and evidently they are not the brightest birds, so when they would have to travel way down south to sell them they would trample each other and the majority of them would be dead when they would arrive to their destination.

Well, anyway Kathy was nice enough to show us the four remaining ones she has. As we approached closer to the corral the male was very agitated and he was strutting his stuff. Of course I wanted a picture of the birds. Kathy invited me to stand close - right next to the barrier (metal walls basically between me and an angry bird) on a stack of something. No thank you, but I knew my husband would oblige. So he got up there as the male wasn't right there, but it didn't take him long to charge the wall - my husband - and let him know he was the boss!! Jay jumped off and away as Kathy duck to get out of the male ostrich's way, this is the picture Jay snapped as he jumped . . .



I think the man of the pen was a little pissed!







Then Kathy showed us her horses. Cassie loves horses and they are everywhere out there. Well, after checking out all the animals we headed back to the house where we were staying for the duration of our trip. When we arrived at Patti and Kevin's house, we had a glass of wine and nice conversation before turning in for the night.

Monday was another fun filled jam packed day. We spent time driving around Bismarck and the surrounding the area to try and find a house to rent.



While driving around a neighborhood we thought we saw peacocks, but they weren't peacocks, they were wild turkeys. Really, wild turkeys walking around the neighborhood. Crazy.





We found this little place just ten miles east of Bismarck.



Our trip was great. The people are very nice and we got to stay with a wonderful couple. We had really late nights because of activities and then with the sun never going down and then early mornings as the sun is up by 6:00 a.m. Monday night we had an awesome steak dinner (t-bones) with sweet potatoes, vegetables from the garden, and homemade bread at 9:30 p.m. central time. We don't normally eat that late, but the food was good, the wine was tasty, and the company and conversation was great.

Well, we had a very nice time and feel very comfortable in going to Bismarck if that is where we are meant to go. Tomorrow both churches will vote on whether or not to have Jay come. If they vote yes then the struggle will be to find housing that is affordable and accommodating to our family needs. So until then we are still here in Ohio. Once we know more I will let you know more.