This weekend we drove down to Galena, Illinois with my Mom, Aunt Ruth, Aunt Phyllis, Uncle Mark, and cousin Allison.  The trip is an annual pilgrimage to Galena during their Country Fair weekend.  The weekend is a flurry of laughing, eating, walking around Galena, and scoping out sweet Craft-wear.  Applique pumpkin shirts?  Check.  Quilt-Jackets? Check.  Bedazzled hats, shirts, and sandals?  Check.  Bedazzled underwear?  Not so much, thankfully.

One tradition that we have carried on is to hike up the Stairs in the middle of town.  The picture doesn’t quite do these stairs justice.  There are 194 stairs, starting at Main Street, and rising up along the hillside of homes.  At least we were smart this year, and didn’t wait until right after a filling lunch or dinner!

We all made it up fairly quickly  (Justin graciously offered to stay at the bottom, you know, to photograph the event) but coming down was certainly the easier of the directions!

Another great reason to head down Galena-way is to connect with our dear friend Angie, who lives with her husband Kurt and daughter Katie in Kieler, Wisconsin, only about 20 minutes from Galena.  Angie and Katie drove over to take in the Country Fair with us.  Katie is always a hoot, and we enjoy a bit of time to catch up.

The one downfall this year was the weather.  As it is the second weekend in October, the weather can be pretty unpredictable, but in years past we’ve enjoyed wonderfully warm and sunny days.  This year that was not the case.  The temperature hovered between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and a flurry of snow started to fall on Saturday.  While colder than we would have liked, we all agreed that we would take snow over rain, and were glad we weren’t soaking wet in addition to cold.

Definitely a fun weekend in a great little town.