Our Week in Geneseo

October 31 to November 5

We had a fun week in Geneseo.  We took Uncle Gary (Mom’s brother) out to lunch every day. 

One day we took him to Long John Silver’s for Fish and Chips.  That is one of his favorite places to go.  Afterwards we went to John Deere Headquarters in Moline, IL.  It’s an interesting building and the trees were beautiful. 

Dad and Uncle Gary looked at tractors.

Mom and Uncle Gary checked out the combines.

Another day we went to a place where you can sit outside and look at the Mississippi River.  It was 75 degrees, which everyone tells me is almost unheard of in Illinois in November.   You may notice that I’m not in the picture.  That’s because I had to stay in the car, but I had a nice view of the river from the parking lot.  We saw barges moving down the river full of grain and empty barges moving up the river to fill with grain and take it back down the river.

A lot of the time, Mom was busy meeting with people on business related to the farm she and Uncle Gary own.  She seems to think that it all went well and she is looking forward to the year ahead.

This week, we also got to visit a lot of Mom’s relatives.  Monday, October 31 was Mom’s birthday.   Mom and Dad spent the evening at Mom’s cousin Gregg’s house with several of Mom’s cousins.  They had cupcakes and Mom got to blow out a candle and everyone sang to her. 

One night we went to Cousin Jane’s house.  Jane is Vinnie’s Mom and I got to meet Vinnie.  He’s a cool guy.  Even taller than me and I’m pretty tall in the Poodle world.  We had a fun evening together.  He even let me chew on his bone.  We were such good boys that Jane gave us Oinkers.   Here is a picture of me with Cousin Vinnie, Vinnie's Mom (Jane) and my Mom. 

We had a great time camping on Kevin and Karen’s farm.  I enjoyed being off leash, barking at the barn cats, and running in the corn fields.  Here is a picture of our spot in front of the corn crib and next to the barn.

I’ve learned a lot about farming.  I’ll tell you all about it in another post.  The one thing I didn’t learn is how to slide the barn door open far enough so that I could get to the cat food.  After the first time I got the cat food, the humans ganged up on me and kept the door closed almost all the way.  The cats are skinny and could still get in, but I didn’t fit.  Gotta work on a plan before I go back.  If anyone has any ideas, drop me an email.

Saturday, November 5 – I had a great time visiting everyone in Geneseo and living on the farm but today it is time to move on.  Today we drove to Normal, Illinois.  Yes, seriously, there is a city in Illinois called Normal.  That’s where our cousins Carol and Mel live with their daughter Kris.  Mel and Carol came to visit me in Washington when I was 2.  I never thought that I’d ever get to go to their house and meet Kris.  I really enjoyed my visit with them.  Mom and Dad went out to dinner with Carol and Mel and we spent the night in Normal. 

Here is an updated map of our journey.

View Full Size Travel Map