My Diaries

Just before hitting the road again for Denver, and then flying back to Paris, I wanted to say a quick thing of the great stay that we’ve had in Mandan in North Dakota (near Bismarck), at Pete’s dad’s house.

It was the first time I met Pete’s dad, Jeff (it was about time!) and all I can say is that now I understand my husband even better! Just as Pete’s mom, Ellen, brings to Pete his natural love for the world around him and his great spirituality, Jeff, for his part, is the kiddish part of Pete: laughing about anything at anytime, having this sparkle in the eye that finds humour and love and fun everywhere, and be ready at any time to embrace the opportunities life brings us (”Ok let’s do it well!”).

Beverley, Jeff’s wife, totally fits with this spirit, and her generosity is unlimited.

So basically, I’m very glad I finally got to meet Pete’s dad and step-mother, and, together with Tom (Pete’s elder brother) we all had a wonderful time.

When we arrived on Friday night after a twelve-hour car-ride with Tom (who picked us up at the Denver airport), Beverley had made for us a wonderful, very professional-looking wedding cake for our anniversary. It was delicious!

On Saturday we had a great bacon and eggs breakfast, went shopping around Bismarck (actually at a food center and at Lowe’s, a type of Castorama store for those who know it!) and just spent the rest of the day relaxing at home, since it was raining a little bit outside. At night two friends of Jeff and Beverley’s came to share the great home-made lasagna, and the boys watched (American) football on TV while Beverley and I chatted and sipped some tea on the deck.

On Sunday the sun was out again, so we went for a little walk around the neighborhood. Beverley and Jeff actually live near a missile silo from the cold war (where they fire the missile from)!!! I’m glad that it is deactivated… For dinner we shared a wonderful greek meal with two fun friends of Jeff and Beverley’s. Later at night all the Austin’s relaxed in the hot-tub on the deck, with cool blue light, bubbles and water jets, all this under the starry sky!

Today, 1st monday of September, is Labor Day, a holiday in USA equivalent to our French “Fête du travail” which on the 1st of may. So Jeff and Beverley were not working and it was actually a pretty busy holiday! We’ve had a big breakfast around 11, then went for “putt-putt” which is miniature-golf, or “mini-golf” in french. We also went karting although the karts were old and nothing like the karts we have in France. Kids can actually drive the karts, that’s how not very powerful they are! Still it was a great lot of fun! We went back home after a short stop at the local Walmart and we barbecued traditional hamburgers and hotdogs, served with beer and lemonade (actually delicious raspberry “iced tea”). After a bit of posing for group pictures, we tested our communication skills on the game “Taboo” until bedtime. Lots of fun!

And here I am, ready to go to bed. Tomorrow we get up at 6 o’clock for the last leg of our trip: driving back to Denver and from there take the plane back to Paris. We’ll actually stop to see the famous Mount Rushmore which (good surprise!) happens to be almost exactly on our way back to Colorado. I’ll keep you posted about that!