Before we ran the Chicago marathon we made a stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to visit my father’s cousin, Audrey.
We arrived at Chicago O’Hare Airport on a Thursday, picked up our rental car and drove to Kenosha.
Kenosha is located north of Chicago on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and is about one hour away from Milwaukee to the north and Chicago to the south. With a population of just over 100 000 it is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin and the fourth-largest city on Lake Michigan.
My grandmother (my father’s mother) came from Dønna in the northern part of Norway and was one of ten siblings, and five of her siblings emigrated to America. Kaia emigrated in 1913 when she was 14 years old. Her uncle in Clarkfield, Minnesota, sent her the fare, but she had to work on their farm for a year to pay for the ticket. She then went to relatives in Stoughton, Wisconsin, where she met her husband who was also from Dønna in Norway. They married in June 1919 in Chicago and they later moved to Kenosha.
Klara, Alf and Otto emigrated later and the four of them settle down in Kenosha, but later Klara moved on to California and Alf moved to Minnesota. Amanda emigrated to Quebec, Canada in 1927.
Audrey is Kaia’s daughter and we have visited her several times and she has visited us in Norway, but this was Mr A’s first visit to Kenosha.
Love these old photos – Kaia, Amanda and Klara
We started our first morning with a run in the neighborhood and we passed my favorite house….. just had to stop for some pictures.
After breakfast we went shopping at the Premium Outlet at Pleasant Prairie, an outdoor center with over 90 stores like Polo Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Coach, Levi’s, Michael Kors, Ugg and many more.
In the afternoon we had a picnic in the Petrifying Spring Park.
Looking at photos….
It is always great to meet Audrey and I wish we could have stayed longer, but on Saturday it was time to say goodbye to Audrey and travel to Chicago and get ready for the marathon. More about the race in my next post.
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