2016 Family History Tour

Day 1

Out 2016 trip started on a Thursday driving to Rapid City South Dakota. We had both worked that day, so we figured that we could make the 3-4 hour drive to Rapid fairly easily and get in at a decent hour. We wanted to be getting a jump start on our leaving Rapid the next morning.

We walked in the hotel room and there was a 2+ person bath tub in the living room! There was a full bath room as well!

Day 2

When we woke up the next day it was rainy and windy. Looking at the weather report it looked like a long day's drive to Huron South Dakota. We drove out of Rapid at 0800 after gassing up.

We ended up driving for over 2  hours in the rain, in the same thunderstorm as we were traveling east and it was traveling northeast. Finally, we parted ways with the storm just over halfway through South Dakota on Interstate 80. It was wonderful to see sunlight!

We turned north off 80 and had lunch at a small cafe in Plankinton South Dakota.  We ate at Commerce Street Grill and Bar. I ordered a quesadilla which was lacking in taste. We left Plankinton and started north on the first of many two lane roads.

When we drove into Huron our first stop was going to be the Riverside Cemetery. Our goal was to find my grandmother's family - her grandparents, cousins, and uncles. I had contacted Larry the owner, in February before our trip, and talked with him only once by phone. I called two more times in the month before the trip, and left messages as when we would be there. When we met him there he took us to 3 different areas where I took pictures of multiple "Teubers". He said that it was very rare for him to take people around the cemetery, but we had come such a far way, and I had so many people there in the cemetery that he wanted to show us.

Larry owns the cemetery through a nonprofit organization which I donated to for his time.  After 45 minutes, he went back to work and Brian and I went to the cemetery behind Riverside. He was geocaching and I took pictures of graves for BillionGraves.

Since it was still early in the afternoon, Brian dropped me off at the Huron Library, where I looked for obituaries for both Max and Al Teuber.  Both brothers were fire fighters, and both were fire chiefs there in the Huron Fire Department. They both died of heart attacks after having worked with the department during a fire. Before Max died in the 1930's, both were in a quartet and would sing at events there in town. I found Max's obituary on the front page. The picture I found was of Max wearing his dress uniform including his hat so I didn't get a good look at him.

When checking into the hotel we asked "where should we eat?" We were directed to the "Prime Time Tavern." They serve one item a night, and different every night. Both Brian and I agreed we had the most delicious prime rib dinner ever! I practically licked the plate.

Day 3

The next morning Brian took me back to the Library where I went through different dates trying to find anyone else. I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss anything.

We left Huron and decided to drive the back way into Minneapolis. We saw more than our share of cornfields on the back roads. We knew there were farms tucked in among the large trees (probably 100 years old). It was mostly flat with some gentle rolling hills. 

We didn't get too far from town when we realized that we were where Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up. We stopped at the historic homes in De Smet. The houses there included the one that the family lived in during the long winter that Laura wrote of. The schoolhouse they went to was there too. The railroad was just across the street. 

After talking with the ladies in the gift shop, we went to the De Smet Cemetery, and found Charles and Caroline Ingalls gravesite. Their daughter Mary, was buried there as well as Laura's and Almanso's infant son. We spent an hour there in De Smet, and then decided to continue on to Minneapolis. 

We drove through many little towns and villages along the way and finally got into Minneapolis at about 1700. We checked into the hotel and ate at another steakhouse where they had an ongoing game of Bingo on premises. They don't gamble - they play Bingo.

Day 4

We spent this day going to  Union Cemetery in Maplewood (a bedroom community to Minneapolis). It was warm and humid. We found Brian's great uncle and aunt, and their son, Gus, Anna, and John Gilbert were buried on an "island" of green grass, surrounded by other people of Scandanavian descent. I took pictures for BillionGraves. I just kept taking pictures and finally Brian said "Ok, I am leaving now." I said that I was making my way back to the car. I always seemed to find someone with a interesting headstone and or inscription and take another picture. When I took pictures I would kneel on the grass and clean off the headstones with my hands. I left with dirty knees and muddy hands.

After we left Union Cemetery we went to Minnehaha Falls.   It is a beautiful park where families would picnic or eat at the restaurant there. We walked done the 5 flights of stairs to the falls.We took pictures of the two us in front of the fall similar to how my great grandparents did more than 100 years before. Above us on the other side of the falls was a couple getting married!

We then went to the Mall of America and went through the play area where I looked at the American Girl Store and the Lego store.

We decided to have dinner at the "5-8" club and have a "Juicy Lucy" stuffed cheese hamburger. The name of the restaurant came from a depression era speak easy. I must be spoiled by the "Cheesecake Factory" hamburgers as this one wasn't the most exciting I have eaten.

Day 5

This was the day that Brian was waiting for! Fair Day! He has been planning this day since February when he saw an episode of "Bizarre Food" America. The host lives in Minnesota and took viewers through the fair and what to eat.

So, Brian had deep fried alligator as well as an alligator hot dog on a stick. We also bought a bucket full of "Sweet Martha's" chocolate chip cookies which was overflowing with cookies and we had to eat them so we could close the bucket!

We also had Swedish pancakes called Lefse. It's a Swedish pancake filled with sugar, cinnamon, and butter. It reminded me off Virginia making pie crust dough and the leftovers were baked with cinnamon and sugar.

That evening we went to a concert called "Happy Together" which featured Gary Puckett, Mark Lindsey, The Turtles, The Cowsills, and Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night. I actually knew the majority of songs and sang along.

We spent the day at the Fair mainly walking around and checking out the exhibits. I bought Mom a Christmas present of warm socks and some garlic infused olive oil. the socks were made by a lady who lives within 10 miles of the Canadian border. What else do you do in the winter? She makes beautiful wool socks, hand warmers, gloves, and hats.We got to the fair at noon and left at 2200 that night! Luckily we made it to the bus in time so that we didn't have to wait for the next one.

Day 6

We left Minneapolis about 0800. We ate breakfast at the hotel and took off for Illinois. On the way through Wisconsin I realized that we were coming very close to where Grandma Hildegarde's parents and sister were buried.

The cemetery is in Wyeville which is just a township. Again Brian and I took pictures and placed a small pebble on the headstone so it would not be knocked off by a law mower. (The pebble was represents that "I" was there and that they are remembered. We did the same at the Union Cemetery in Maplewood as well as in Illinois.) 

On the way to Rockford Illinois, we ended up in another thunderstorm. This time it was for about 30 min, but we had to slow down as the visibility while driving was sketchy. We entered the storm outside of Janesville Wisconsin and drove out of it before entering  Rockford.

I had talked with the people at the Scandanavian Cemetery and it was so nice to talk with them in person! They gave us a map as to where my great grandmother Ida was buried and found where her son Carl was buried as well. They ended up being next to each other "by the fence". We found them both and left a pebble with each. We then tried to figure out what to do next and where to stay in Illinois.

We decided to stay in Sycamore Illinois that night. After getting lost in Rockford (hard to believe - easy for us!) we finally made out way to Sandwich and found Pine Mound Cemetery where Eleazar and Chloe/Clara/Clorintha Fisher are buried. I took more pictures there for BillionGraves after finding them as well, as my 2nd great grandfather George Franklin Leonard who is buried next to his mother. They were all in a row. While there we left pebbles and also took pictures of Lydia and Duncan's headstone. We left at 1700 trying not to get wet by another storm. On the way to Sycamore we stopped in Hinckley Illinois (famous for the buzzards coming back in November). I took pictures at another cemetery and Brian found a cache. It was getting dark when I started taking pictures. we finally made it to Sycamore and checked in for the night.

Day 7

I drove to the courthouse in Sycamore (not even 5 minutes) and got a death record record for Eleazar. I told Brian to sleep in and that I would be back. We checked out of the hotel after breakfast. That was when I really realized how close to Chicago we were. We left town and headed for Aurora Illinois to get my grandmother's birth certificate. As we were driving back, trying to get to Interstate 80 again I realized that I could get a marriage certificate for George Leonard but it was back in Sycamore. We went back to Sycamore and got it and I wish I had known what an opportunity Lydia would be or else I would have gotten more!

We drove to Kiron Iowa, stopping in at the Lutheran Church in Odebolt. I had communicated with the Pastor there to see if I could look at their baptismal records. When we got there the only records they had were the financial records of the parish. She suggested that we got to the Lutheran Church in Kiron. We raced there as the lady there had an appointment in Dennison. I was able to open their small safe and brought out their church records. Unfortunately, our family wasn't in there. The record books didn't contain much but enough to make someone's day. They hadn't been out of the safe in 5 years at least! I am trying to get the records microfilmed.

We went and Brian got a cache just south of Kiron, and then went to the Kiron Cemetary to put pebbles on my great grandfather's and 2nd great uncle's headstones. Brian found St. John's Lutheran cemetery as there was a cache there and I took more pictures for BillionGraves.

It was getting late in the afternoon so we went to Interstate 80 again. We stopped to walk a cemetery in Rock Island before crossing the river. Brian found a cache nearby and I took more pictures!

After that he drove through to Sidney Nebraska (after eating at the Texas Roadhouse in Grand Island). The only reason we got in at 2200 that night was because we crossed into Mountain Time! We were exhausted. The room we got was the biggest one on our trip. We had a bathtub for 2+ people in the living room (again) not counting the one in the bathroom.

Day 8

We left Sidney at 1000. I wanted to sleep in and enjoy the huge hotel room and not push it. We were both still tired after driving from Aurora Illinois (the farthest east we got) to Sidney in one day and stopping in Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. It had been a long day to say the least.

We got home at 1630. Tana was still there with Mom and we talked about what we did and how their week had been. We were glad to see them both and of course Ayla and Chloe!

I am already planning our next trip east. On the list - maybe Huron to place pebbles and eat at Prime Time Tavern again; Sycamore Illinois to go to their library and look at newspapers; Aurora Illinois to see my 2nd great grandmother's grave; and then to Indiana to Cambridge City to check out Brian's clan there. Maybe we will come back through Missouri to check out Gentry and Ray County as well.

This was our longest trip so far so I could see us going for 2-3 more days next year!