Sires Homestead Travels

It always amazes me that no matter how many times we explore and re-explore areas of Northeast Iowa, it never gets old.

We recently joined Jerry and Nancy (my father and mother-in-law) on their annual trip to visit original Sires homestead properties along with graves of Sires family members that I only know by the stories Jerry tells us. Our trip took us through several small towns, the primary ones being Dorchester, New Albin, and Lansing.  This was our second year going along and it was so much fun!

Jerry is passionate about history in general, but especially when it comes to his family. Although he's talked us through the family history before, it's extremely neat to have him tell us about it in the actual places his family was born, raised, and in some cases, still inhabit.

Jerry showing Joel an old photo of what this street in Dorchester used to look like.

If you look really hard, you can see "Sires Bros" imprinted in this cement slab in Dorchester.

My favorite part of these trips is visiting the cemeteries. Many of them are small and tucked away in the woods. And a lot of the headstones are very old, so they are weathered and beautiful. Such a peaceful setting to reflect on life then and now.

The house pictured below is located on the homestead of all Sires homesteads, the cream of the crop. This is where it all started. It's the most beautiful home (to be clear, not the original house) in the most beautiful location. We also made a few new friends, see the pups off to the right.

Along the way, we made some pit stops at antique shops and pumpkin patches, ending the adventure at the Irish Shanty for a Gunder Burger...and a half n' half! All in all, a wonderful day with some people I love an awful lot. Can't wait to do it all again next year!