This past month has been a whirlwind of family, friends and weddings. We departed Storm Lake, Iowa, and made a two-day jump to Aberdeen, S.D., where we spent a few days with Julie’s aunt Mary Joan and her daughter Kim. We had a great time there visiting and, of course, enjoying some good food.

We then moved to Bismarck, N.D., to visit Frank’s mom as well as numerous family members who live in the area. Both of us originate from the Bismarck area in the days before our military days, so it is always fun to go back there and visit. We also had a number of projects to take care of for Frank’s mom, who still lives at home.

We flew, with mom in tow, to Orlando, Fla., to attend the wedding of Frank’s nephew Jay to his new wife, Niccole. We enjoyed ourselves in the area. We were able to indulge our seafood cravings both at the wedding and the few meals we had to eat on our own.

Following our return to Bismarck from the wedding, we packed up Mom in the motorhome and headed west at a pace that is uncommon for us. We moved in two days to Livingston, Mont., where we rested for two days and toured the Yellowstone National Park.

We then made a two-day move to Prosser, Wash., where we plan to meet up with our son Sam, his wife, Vicky, and two of our grandchildren as well as some old friends for a weekend of wine tasting, food and fellowship. This past week we have been in all four time zones of the U.S. mainland, lower 48 states.