Our summer vacation started off rather hectic. Rather than driving the Alcan Highway back to South Dakota we flew the whole way. The day following our arrival back in South Dakota we headed for a wedding at Sanborn, Iowa. The following morning we proceeded north to Wheaton, Minnesota, where the son of friends was graduating from high school. We had a great time visiting with long time friends there.

Two days after returning from Minnesota, we climbed into our old chevy van we call our hippy wagon, and, along with our 25 year old son, Marc, headed for Washington, D. c. Marc's former high school classmate and long-time friend was getting married there.

We had a great time at the wedding and party that followed. However, people are somewhat different out East. The first thing I noticed was that people didn't smile very much, probably because life is more stressful there because of the high concentration of people and traffic. We were glad to finally get back to our own home in South Dakota because there was a good deal of yard work and mowing to be done. This kept me busy for the rest of the summer. Janice and I did some landscaping and built a rock garden where she planted a variety of decorative plants. I also went fishing several times on the Missouri River with my neighbor who owns a nice fishing boat and invited me to go with him.

Before leaving South Dakota we went to another wedding in the western part of the state. The bride was brought to the ceremony in a horse-drawn buggy, and the wedding party was dressed in western style hats and clothing. Guests were seated on wooden planks set on blocks of wood. The site of the wedding was just down the road from historical Fort Mead. It was like traveling back in time.

We soon found ourselves back in Marshall again where it was good to see everyone and receive such nice warm welcomes.

By: Richard Olson

Interviewed by: John Tikiun Jr.