Inked in the Flatlands

Ortonville, Minnesota This weekend we took a quick jog out west to visit relatives in the Milbank, South Dakota area.  We had a great time, and we were treated liked royalty with roast pig, and graciousness at every stop.  Not being a blood relative to this group I was a bit shy on the picture taking, which I now deeply regret, but here are some of my shots from the weekend. Tim and Jeanie's Barn... So in many ways this was a trip to a very different slice of American life.  As you drive west you see the periodic mansion with high ceilings and huge glass windows, but as you travel from one town to the next I saw many people living what I would consider to be hard scrabble lives -- fighting mightily for a comfortable middle class existence.  One of the first sights that jumped out at me where the public parks with a host of flags around the town monument. Once in Milbank we were lucky enough to have a great lunch at Tim and Jeanie's home, complete with a beautiful