Join me in wishing my wife’s Grandma Jean a Happy 92nd birthday! We hit the road last weekend to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to celebrate Jean with family. It was great to see everyone that made it to the party. Grandma Jean is in good health, and I enjoyed chatting with her. She’s active on Facebook and often interacts with the things that we post.

The weather was picture-perfect before the recent heat arrived, and that little Wisconsin town was busy! Has Prairie du Chien always been a popular tourist stop? I’ve been going up there since I first started dating Kasey in 2009 (I would have been 25 or 26 when I first went up there–I turn 40 in September. Ah!). I was shocked at the traffic on their roads and the line outside of the world-famous Pete’s Hamburger Stand (a place you 100% need to try if you’re up there). Prairie du Chien is beautiful, and you can’t beat their setup along the Mississippi River. According to 2021 census survey data, 5,487 live in the city.

The drive from Muscatine isn’t exactly a straight shot. We go through several small towns like Monticello, Petersburg, and Colesburg, to name a few. Spending nearly five and a half hours in a vehicle with three children can be challenging, but our kids did well. Things only got a bit chippy towards the final 20 minutes of the trek up. Henry and Teddy loved being able to fish while the party was going on, and Lucy had a good time talking to Grandma Jean and the other family members.

I had strong relationships with my grandmothers, and I miss them dearly. Grandma Marge (my mom’s mom) and Babe (Catherine, but she was called Babe since she was the baby of her family. I know I have shared stories about her in this column over the years) were role models, and I have such fond memories of time spent with both of them. That certainly plays into how I felt seeing and talking with Grandma Jean. I hope to see her (and the other Wisconsin family) more regularly. Happy birthday, Grandma Jean, and here’s to many more!