September 18, 2007
Took a day off of blogging. Here's an update since we left Kasson.
First picture is of the Zumbro Church sanctuary. The second is of the Mississippi Valley above our rest stop south of Minneapolis. Third and fourth are of the Wisconsin Dells.
I failed to fully explain the Wigen/Gustafson experience at South Zumbro church. The sanctuary was built in the 1860’s, the altar and railings, again solid oak, are from that time period as well. The baptismal font used to baptize Sena (my grandmother) and the railing on which she knelt as she was confirmed in 1900, are still used today. I did not have the Zoar Lutheran experience as the church was full of people. But I definitely felt to be in a very special and hollowed place. I attached the picture of the bulletin in that Sunday’s hurried blog. The picture depicts the verse of Luke 15:9. “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’” I know that Jesus was referring to lost sinners in that piece but I immediately applied it to the last 2 weeks. I fought tears for a few minutes after just glancing at the bulletin cover. I wonder if even Jesus knew that his words would apply to a person finding his ancestral roots and sharing that joy with his friends and family via a blog.
Also, on leaving church we again visited what is referred to as the “Neseth Farm” where grandma lived until 1901. The story goes that grandma had an older sister whose name was Hansena. She was born in 1860, died in 1872. She was buried on the family farm “by the fence”. I walked around the house area and saw no evidence of a grave. Grandma was named for her deceased older sister.
I wish to thank Linda Sharp of Alaska for helping me find my Wigen/Gustafson roots. Our ancestral lines cross 4 generations back in Kasson, MN and she actually visited my home church in Lacrosse a few years ago. Linda has thoroughly investigated her lineage and was eager to share applicable information with me. Linda and I have been in email contact for over a year. She contacted South Zumbro to let them know that I was coming therefore information was readily at hand. I have never met her, but she is a now a close friend and confidant. I look forward to meeting her, perhaps this spring in Arizona, her winter haven.
Barb and I spent last night in the Wisconsin Dells. We had planned to stop by, view the unique geological formations here, then press on and stay the night south. But, the beauty of life on the road in an RV is flexibility. Sunday night Barb and I thoroughly discussed the next two weeks on the road. We have an October 1 date of meeting the Ornesses and the Moellers in Acadia National Park, ME. We had planned to spend a few days in Chicago but now we will defer that to another time. Chicago is a great city and I don’t feel that we would give it justice with a one or two day visit. We will use our miles to fly there sometime. We will stick to the backroads, visit Canton and Cooperstown, the falls, and join our friends in Maine.
Oh, and the Dells. Well, this beautiful geological formation has caught the eye of developers and has turned this place into a mix of Vegas and Seaside, Oregon. It is a vacation retreat with some of the outrageous architecture reminiscent of Vegas. There must be 47 T shirt shops, a host of fast food joints, and even the “magician in the box, Zoltar,” from the Tom Hanks movie BIG, is here. But it has a Walgreens. Therefore we could stop and print the pictures of our granddaughter Janie that we had just received via email. A stop justified. A stop rewarded.
We rose early to take a boat tour to the upper Dells. Thank you again, Susan Larson, for this ti
p. It was beautiful and such a juxtaposition from the glitz of the town. Calm waters, sandstone cliffs, and no human noise save our tour boat. Definitely a piece of America preserved.
We left at noon and traveled down south then turned east. We are sitting in a rest stop near Joliet, Illinois and may spend the night here. It is not the rest stop on the Mississippi. It is hot, trucks are running their engines and it is very crowded. We may yet, travel to a nearby RV campground.
First picture is of the Zumbro Church sanctuary. The second is of the Mississippi Valley above our rest stop south of Minneapolis. Third and fourth are of the Wisconsin Dells.
I failed to fully explain the Wigen/Gustafson experience at South Zumbro church. The sanctuary was built in the 1860’s, the altar and railings, again solid oak, are from that time period as well. The baptismal font used to baptize Sena (my grandmother) and the railing on which she knelt as she was confirmed in 1900, are still used today. I did not have the Zoar Lutheran experience as the church was full of people. But I definitely felt to be in a very special and hollowed place. I attached the picture of the bulletin in that Sunday’s hurried blog. The picture depicts the verse of Luke 15:9. “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’” I know that Jesus was referring to lost sinners in that piece but I immediately applied it to the last 2 weeks. I fought tears for a few minutes after just glancing at the bulletin cover. I wonder if even Jesus knew that his words would apply to a person finding his ancestral roots and sharing that joy with his friends and family via a blog.
Also, on leaving church we again visited what is referred to as the “Neseth Farm” where grandma lived until 1901. The story goes that grandma had an older sister whose name was Hansena. She was born in 1860, died in 1872. She was buried on the family farm “by the fence”. I walked around the house area and saw no evidence of a grave. Grandma was named for her deceased older sister.
I wish to thank Linda Sharp of Alaska for helping me find my Wigen/Gustafson roots. Our ancestral lines cross 4 generations back in Kasson, MN and she actually visited my home church in Lacrosse a few years ago. Linda has thoroughly investigated her lineage and was eager to share applicable information with me. Linda and I have been in email contact for over a year. She contacted South Zumbro to let them know that I was coming therefore information was readily at hand. I have never met her, but she is a now a close friend and confidant. I look forward to meeting her, perhaps this spring in Arizona, her winter haven.
Barb and I spent last night in the Wisconsin Dells. We had planned to stop by, view the unique geological formations here, then press on and stay the night south. But, the beauty of life on the road in an RV is flexibility. Sunday night Barb and I thoroughly discussed the next two weeks on the road. We have an October 1 date of meeting the Ornesses and the Moellers in Acadia National Park, ME. We had planned to spend a few days in Chicago but now we will defer that to another time. Chicago is a great city and I don’t feel that we would give it justice with a one or two day visit. We will use our miles to fly there sometime. We will stick to the backroads, visit Canton and Cooperstown, the falls, and join our friends in Maine.
Oh, and the Dells. Well, this beautiful geological formation has caught the eye of developers and has turned this place into a mix of Vegas and Seaside, Oregon. It is a vacation retreat with some of the outrageous architecture reminiscent of Vegas. There must be 47 T shirt shops, a host of fast food joints, and even the “magician in the box, Zoltar,” from the Tom Hanks movie BIG, is here. But it has a Walgreens. Therefore we could stop and print the pictures of our granddaughter Janie that we had just received via email. A stop justified. A stop rewarded.
We rose early to take a boat tour to the upper Dells. Thank you again, Susan Larson, for this ti
p. It was beautiful and such a juxtaposition from the glitz of the town. Calm waters, sandstone cliffs, and no human noise save our tour boat. Definitely a piece of America preserved.We left at noon and traveled down south then turned east. We are sitting in a rest stop near Joliet, Illinois and may spend the night here. It is not the rest stop on the Mississippi. It is hot, trucks are running their engines and it is very crowded. We may yet, travel to a nearby RV campground.
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