2014 Family Heritage Trip

The family.  We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~ Erma Bombeck

2014 Family Heritage Trip or Our Excellent AdVANture.
My Mom's side of the family is Norwegian.  Her Dad's ancestors immigrated from Norway and settled in South Dakota.  They lived on a farm.  Life was hard.  The weather was harder.  We wanted to learn more about the history and life of our ancestors that is so different from our own.  The family name is Sneve (rhymes with gravy).  My grandfather, just prior to WWII, was sent from his home in South Dakota to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for training in the US Army. My grandmother met him at a USO dance, they married and the rest is history.  History is interesting and by studying it, we learn from it.

My Mom figured it would be a good idea for our family to embark upon a pilgrimage back to South Dakota, to the old family farm and home place, to learn about our family heritage and perhaps to learn a bit about ourselves in the process. Mom & Dad rented a 15 passenger van for the journey and also have a chase vehicle that would serve as a 'time out' vehicle, if needed. In addition to Tricia and me and our three kids,  the pilgrims included my sister and her husband and their six boys, ranging in ages from 5 to 15,  My brother and his wife, and my Mom & Dad.  That makes 17 of us.  Lots of people and suitcases...

The Van

We prayed for traveling mercies prior to embarking on our journey and then hit the road, planning to make it somewhere in Oklahoma by nightfall.

May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back...

Bathroom breaks are hard logistically when travelling with a large group as sometimes restrooms aren't built to accommodate you and this results in long lines, but this minor inconvenience was dealt with in a patient and in orderly fashion. 

I've got to go!

We reinstated an old family tradition that my grandmother (Bumby) used to do for us when we were kids on family vacation to keep us from becoming too impatient on the drive.  At various intervals, Bumby would have bags for us to open with trivia, games, snacks and other things to keep us occupied.  We called them 'Bumby-bags' and at each new State we entered, we learned about the state flower, state insect, amphibian, tree, we sang the state song and then enjoyed a snack that had something to do with that state.  We also passed out papers with all the state names on it and commenced the 'license plate game' where we began marking off the names of all the states as we saw a vehicle from each state.

Opening the Bumby bag

We stopped at the Texas Welcome Center for lunch and picnicked, eating lots of leftovers from the holidays.  It was a huge spread of food, but our merry band consumes copious quantities of food.

Packing a picnic lunch

That night we drove to a hotel just south of Oklahoma City before we stopped and we unpacked the luggage and occupants of the vehicles.  It was a long trek and we weren't near there, but we were excited about the adventure that lay before us. 

Unpacking

The very next morning we were awakened to something that had the pilgrims worked up into a frenetic frenzy - SNOW!

A wintry wonderland

We wiped the windows clear and loaded up, ready to make it to northern Nebraska or South Dakota on the very next day.

Washing the windows

After the first day, we had driven 500 miles and gone from 71 degrees to 30 degrees. We were seeing landscape that was different from south Louisiana - rolling hills and wide open spaces.  We sang country music... loudly.  We ate lots of chex mix and spit lots of sunflower seed shells into cups. Aside from a few close calls, we were all still talking to one another despite very close proximity to one another and foul smells from the back of the van that I won't go into any more detail about.  After the first day we learned that while we are all different, we all share a common bond and a love for one another.  Who are we?  Where did we come from?  Is it possible to develop a craving for lutefisk?  Answers to come as we head further north.