Family Time in Minnesota

We made it to the Twin Cities in time to participate in a great-nephew's baptism and a great-niece's four year old birthday party. It was fun because I have lots of family in Minnesota and this gave us the chance to see many family members! Everett cried through his baptism and Genevieve was overwhelmed with all the presents! It was a fun day.

My brother and I laugh a lot when we're together, and my sister-in-law is such a good grandmother. Linnea is my niece and has a son, Caedmon, so I got to see new members to the family!

 

Spent Monday at the Mall of America - you can't go to Minneapolis without going to the Mall of America - and then off to see more relatives for dinner. More laughing and reminicing. Tuesday was spent with another nephew and family. Then Thursday we went to the Minnesota State Fair. Very different from what we're used to! For one thing, almost all the food served at the fair is on a stick. Pizza on a stick (see below), alligator deep fat-fried on a stick, twinkie on a stick, buffalo on a stick, etc. etc. etc. They also have a birthing center, and we were lucky enough to see three lambs less than 30 mins. old. Then we went to the dairy pavillion and saw the butter sculpture. It was fascinating and different.

Minnesota was fun, but we're off to Door County (north of Green Bay, WI). My next blog will talk about that!!!

So Much to See

Let's see...Yellowstone was the last place I talked about. After a white knuckle ride down the mountain east of Yellowstone (I kept asking Ken to hug the yellow line) we drove through Wyoming and into the Black Hills of SD! Ken had never seen Mt. Rushmore and it's been 40 years since I was there so it was a great day. Of course it rained and the sculptures looked like they were crying, but it added to the look!

We saw more wildlife in Custer State Park and drove through six natural tunnels. It's a good thing we were warned not to take the motor home because some of the tunnels were shorter than the motor home!! There was one tunnel that was so small we weren't sure the Durango would get through, but Ken's great driving made it possible. The natural beauty and design of the Black Hills was wonderful to see.

From the Black Hills, we went through the Badlands of SD. Ken had a good description for them: a combination of the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ!! What do you think?

Driving across the rest of SD was loooong. We have seen enough corn, wheat, hay, sunflower and soy bean fields for a lifetime!! Mitchell, SD even has an auditorium named the Corn Palace with pictures created out of corn on the outside of the building. This country is very diverse and different from what we're used to!!

Got to Minnesota on Friday and spent the week seeing family but I'll wait and write about that in the next few days. Ken's waiting to go explore the sights!

On the Road - AGAIN

After 10 weeks in Medford, we started down the road again on Tuesday. The first stop was Bend, Oregon where we toured the downtown area, had dinner alfresco at an old school building and drove out to see Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters.

We took 2 days to get to Newport, WA (above Spokane) where we saw friends we met in Anaheim! RVing opens up so many opportunities to meet new people and share stories of life on the road. Paul and Linda have been a wealth of information and we enjoyed our time with them. We also enjoy all the different scenery each day outside our window. This is breakfast in Washington

and this is lunch in Montana

After a cold night in Deer Lodge, MT we drove through Yellowstone Park today. The scenery was beautiful, the animals out and close to the road and the roads were very narrow.  Ken did a great job driving and we are glad we made the side trip. Next stop - Mt. Rushmore!

The coach is FINALLY done and we are in the process of cleaning it and moving back into our newly remodeled motor home. We should be on the road again in a few days but we wanted to show off the new look. For those of you who saw the coach before, this new desk is where the couch used to be. Look at all that storage!!! The couch fits perfectly on the other side (behind the passenger seat).

In the bedroom, we had the flat screen TV moved to the cabinet where it is now and a whole new cabinet with slide-out drawers and extra storage built in. You can never have enough storage in a motor home and we have increased that by at least 20%. Of course we have also pared down what we're taking so the combined effect makes it seem like a lot more. But most important, we have put our stamp and personality in the motor home and it feels like our home now. We made some other changes too. The TV in the front of the coach is now on a swing arm and flush with the rest of the cabinets. Ken was always bumping his head on the corner of the TV when he entered the motor home, and now that is no longer an issue. I had pull-out shelves built in under the stove and over the sink so that really increases the storage in the kitchen!

On a lighter note, I got to experience flying in the small experimental plane that Ken has flown in. Rick (the pilot) came by last Saturday and we went flying. The plane is very small and we flew with the doors open in order to see better, wave at boaters on the river, and have some fresh air! I held onto my shoulder straps but enjoyed seeing the valley from a different perspective. What fun to try new things. We buzzed the house coming and going and Ken took pictures.

Our next stop will be Mt. Rushmore!