Day 2: We are now Facebook friends with Paul and Babe

Good evening, Bloggerland!

The boys should be all tucked into bed and dreaming about their scenic drive tomorrow through the vast panoramas of North Dakota that await us tomorrow. Yee-haw!

It was another very good day. The day started like most any other Sunday, with an early morning meet-up at the church before performing three songs during the service. The boys did well, but there are always a few untimely yawns and scratches at these things.

While the boys were in the service inside, Rodney, our outstanding coach driver and myself were looking for his passport outside. He had taken it out of his luggage to give to me to put with all the other passports for safe keeping while he was at the motel this morning. Unannounced to him, Andy Misiura, had picked it up, thinking he was supposed to give it to me. Anyways, we spent most of the service making phone calls and re-checking suitcases for this passport - when it was in Andy's pocket the entire time...crisis averted!

After the service, we boarded the bus and made the short drive up to the shores of Lake Bemidji. Paul and Babe stood tall for the pictures as the boys climbed all over them and had some fun. I think the boys were surprised by the size of these statues. It was also pretty cool just being on the edge of the water, where these stand. (For those trivia buffs at home, this picture is about 40 yards from where I met my wife four years ago...)

Every once in a while, when we take goofy pictures like this, there is something deep inside the picture that makes us giggle. As we were scanning through the pictures from the day, this little gem popped-up. If you look really closely, you can see Austin Scott wrapping his arms around Paul's leg. I blew it up so you can see it better - it made me chuckle out-loud to the point that I think I may have woken Aaron up just now...

We had a few minutes of extra time before we had to leave, so instead of doing the responsible thing, like journaling or going over the words to our songs in our heads, we decided to go spend mommy and daddy's hard earned money buying hat pins and stuffed fake birds (that have nothing to do with Bemidji) in the adjacent gift store. The lady there could not have been happier to see us. When I saw that not only was nothing in the store bar coded, but every transaction had to be written-out by hand AND there was a table to look-up the sales tax, I was less than thrilled. What was supposed to be a quick 25 minute swing through a gift shop turned into an hour at a register. Oh well, it was worth it in the end and the boys all got nice souvenirs from one of my favorite places in the world. On top of it, we made a friend! The cashier from the store absolutely adored the boys and called this "the highlight of her day."

About 30 minutes later than we planned, we hit the road through the Red Lake Reservation and up to Roseau. We had a 2:00 tour planned at the Roseau Pioneer Village, but were not due to arrive until 1:50 and we had yet to eat our lunches yet. We hurried to get our famished bodies to the picnic area, only to realize the tour guide wasn't there yet, so we instructed the boys to commence the chewing of their food, instead of straight inhalation.

Our tour guide arrived about 15 minutes later and gave us a great tour of the facility. The boys learned about the turn of the century (this is the 1800's-1900's, for those of you confused as to which "turn of the century" it may have been), and discovered life in a northern town. (Hay-na-na-na-na) They were also able to sing in the old church at the site, which was pretty cool, and the tour guide was very appreciative. After literally buying the gift store completely dry, we boarded the bus and headed two miles into town for our concert.

The people of Roseau were very excited for the boys. Former Choir parent, Mona Hedlund, (some of you may know her as former Prefect Cullen Graner's mother), is from this area and has a sister who served as a go-between for setting this site up. The concert was very well attended and the people just adored the boys. Four of the boys are staying in the host home of a family I stayed with when the choir was here in 1995. I will wait until tomorrow to tell you who they are, but trust me, it is worth checking back for. 

Aaron's mild snoring is taunting me, so I am going to hit the hay. Tomorrow is one of the biggest drives of the tour, clear to the other side of North Dakota. We have an early start about 7 short hours from now....blah.... 

PJ