madison south dakota

angie is one the friends i met in philadelphia.  i got to know her and her sister kelly while we lived in philly.  they had grown up in madison, south dakota and angie had just moved back to her 'so dak' home only weeks before my arrival - sweet!    i always enjoy seeing where friends live or where they grew up, especially when they are there themselves to tell me about it.   angie and her parents, dave and sony, welcomed me at their house.

i stayed three nights and two days at her parents house.  a lot of that time was used for relaxing on their outside shaded deck which was a great place for chatting, eating our meals, planning, bloging, writing, etc (pretty much everything) while gazing at the lake!

and i got a lot done which felt great.

their dog jose (sp?) liked to hang out too.

angie gave me a little tour around madison.  we went to the local bakery for some yummy pastries.

we went to a wild flower garden.  yellow flowers dominated he scene, with some shades of pink and purple too.  and grass hopers like a plague.

sandwiches at the country cafe.  great burger and conversation - thanks angie, for both!

one evening i went with angie, dave, sony and a group from their church to volunteer at a soup kitchen in sioux falls, south dakota called the banquet.

i got to help with a variety of tasks during my time there.  when i sat to eat i had pleasant talks with a couple people including mary who saw my name tag and initiated a conversation by saying she had a grandson with my name.

after serving at the banquet, we drove to milkyway and enjoyed some ice cream with the church group.

the other evening of my visit we stayed at the house and watched a lightening storm pass over.  i'll have more photos of this in another post.

when i left the house to head for the mountains, angie and her parents left for a ride of their own.  cool.