Once or twice a year I find myself
squeezed in a sedan with my mom, dad, dog, sister, and usually one other person
(in the past it’s been my grandma-in-law or my sister’s boyfriend) as we start
the 7-8 hour drive to northwest Wisconsin. When I was little I looked forward
to the car ride because I could sleep, watch movies, and laugh/ argue with my
sister for a whole day. Now I don’t enjoy it as much because I’m older, wiser,
and realize that 8 hours in a car is a little uncomfortable and can get boring
(although luckily now I can be the one driving which is more interesting and
I get to pick the music). The thing that makes these drives worth it is the
family that waits for us in Wisconsin.
My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and three of my
cousins live in the same area of Wisconsin. My parents usually stay at my
grandparent’s house while my sister and I stay with my cousins. I know lots of
people say their grandma’s cooking is “the best”, and I’m not claiming that my
grandma’s is better than others but it’s pretty freaking good. Some of my
favorites are her coffee cake and krumkake. Krumkake is a thin, sugary
norwegian waffle that’s rolled into a cone and we eat usually with fruit or ice
cream. We have this everyday and before, after, and during every meal that I’m
in Wisconsin at my grandparent’s house. Highly recommend.
A big reason that I love visiting Wisconsin,
however, is my cousins. I have a lot of cousins on that side of my family and
most of them I only see every few years, but I’ve been great friends with three
of my cousins since we were born. It helps that we’re all within 5 years of
each other. My cousin Emma is one month younger than me, Sophie is 19, and my
sister Sara is 22. I feel pretty lucky to have cousins that I’m such good
friends with. When we were younger we were worried that as we grew up and went
to college that we would grow apart, but by now my sister is out of college and
we still talk to our cousins everyday. When we would hang out we would make
music videos and plays, which we don’t make anymore (thank god, they’re super
embarrassing), but when we go up to visit we watch all the old videos and laugh
at ourselves. Wisconsin has created some great memories for me and I’m looking
forward to visiting again in a couple months.
I really relate to the part about road trips being a lot more fun when you're young. I used to be able to just annoy my sister and play video games on long road trips and time would just fly by, but now I just sit and silently cry to myself as I watch my phone battery drain away. It's also really cool that you have family members your age that you can stay in touch and have fun with.
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