October, 2012

We arrived in Mankato at the Good Counsel motherhouse to visit until 10/17.   While we were there we:

• Enjoyed yummy caramel and cinnamon rolls at the Amboy Cottage Cafe in Amboy, MN.   
• Celebrated Jean's 50th high school reunion at Loyola with 29 of her classmates.   The class has definitely spread out! - Rapid City, SD, Arizona, San Diego, CA, Raleigh (us) and locations all over the state.   It was awesome to see everyone.   
• Enjoyed a cookout with Jeans nieces and nephew and their families 
• Visited with friends from Belle Plaine,  Buffalo, and Amboy, MN
• Attended the Good Counsel Craft and Garage Sale with hundreds of like-minded bargain hunters.  The talents of the sisters are awesome!
• Were piggies at Jake's Stadium Pizza in Mankato where we wolfed down two HOUSE SPECIALS!   
• Loved our time with Jean's sister and the nuns who seem happy to see us when we come (or maybe they are just good actresses????)

On October 17 we left Mankato and started our journey toward North Carolina and home.    Our first stop was in Madison, WI where we ended up staying an additional night as the truck died (ended up being a small issue, so we happily spent the afternoon exploring a shopping mall).  

Crawfordsville, IN KOA was our next stop - just an overnight.   We were thankful we could get in, as it didn't look too promising when we arrived.   

Saturday we stopped at the Renfo Valley KOA in Mt. Vernon, KY.   They were celebrating Halloween, so we saw a lot of little ones dressed and parading before getting their treats from the willing campers.   We were also asked if we would show our trailer to a couple of young women who had been admiring the trailer as we pulled in.   They were awed.

On Sunday we arrived in warm, sunny Swannanoa, NC and enjoyed two days there.  We visited the Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock, NC and enjoyed our favorite German restaurant in Black Mountain, NC.   

We are currently camped at Fort Mill, SC at the KOA and are enjoying the company of our friends from Raleigh who have moved here.    

On Friday, October 26 we will head for Raleigh and a reunion with family and friends.   It's been a great trip!    

Pictures - MT and ID

Falls at Twin Falls, ID

Idaho Falls, ID

Doll House at Butte, MT

My new buddy - Idaho

Jack's new buddy

Jack at Rock Creek Station in ID

Side view of the station

Minnesota 9/24- 9/30

From Iroquois, SD we drove to Worthington, MN to visit with the Burkard side of the family.   We enjoyed seeing our nephews and their wives and Jack's brother and sister-in-law and seeing all the bean and corn harvesting that was taking place.   To be honest, we also enjoyed breakfasts at the Hy-Vee in Worthington.   It's one of our favorite grocery chains, and we enjoy having their fresh bakery.   We always camp at the Olson Campground in Worthington, which is right on the lake and it has a wonderful hiking trail along the lake.   We made very good use of the trail and so didn't gain weight eating all the homemade goodies we enjoyed while visiting.

One day we drove over to Pipestone, Mn to see the Pipestone National Monument where Indians of many different tribes would come to quarry for the red stone used in making their peacepipes.   The Indians consider the area as sacred ground, and even warring tribes were there at the same time to quarry.   No fighting was allowed in the area.   To this day Indians still come to quarry the stone, and the Park Ranger said there is a 10-year waiting list to come and quarry.  

On Saturday we drove to Fairmont, MN to visit friends and stayed until Oct. 1.  

South Dakota 9/15-9/24, 2012

We traveled on 9/15 from Sheridan to Rapid City, SD where we stayed at the KOA.   On Sunday we headed for Mt. Rushmore to revisit the Monument.   We hadn't been there since the 1980's when we took our girls to see it.   My, what a big difference!   Since our last visit a new granite front entrance had been put on it, and a new amphitheater was added, as well as two book stores and a Borglum Museum.    We took many pictures and enjoyed the gift shop and book stores.    While in the gift shop, Jack met one of the men who worked on the the sculpture and bought an autographed book by the man.   It was nice to see that they had a "made in the USA" section to the gift shop, although the majority of the clothing and souvenirs were made in China :-(  

After Mt. Rushmore we drove the 16 miles or so to see the Crazy Horse Monument.   When we were there in the 80's, only the "armpit" was being worked on.   Since then his face is done, his arm is outstretched, and they are beginning to work on the horse's head.   They now have an Indian museum, a gift shop, and an area where the Native Americans may set up tables and sell their crafts.    What impressed us the most was the fact that they DO NOT ACCEPT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE US GOVERNMENT!  All work is paid for by donations and admissions to the site.   As Crazy Horse is quoted as saying:  The only promise the EuroAmericans kept was the promise to take our land,  and they did!"  

On Monday we stayed in camp to take care of household chores, and to pack away some of our summer clothes and get out our warmer clothes, as the evenings were getting down into the 30's and the days were only getting up to 50-60 degrees.   Brrrr.

Tuesday we left Rapid City for Mitchell, SD and drove through the Badlands.   We were fortunate enough to see some wildlife on the side of the road, and stopped at the visitor's center to see the movie on the Badlands.   We camped at the KOA in Mitchell - no tv, no wi-fi signals so rented The Hunger Games from Redbox and watched it.  

From Wednesday to Monday the 24th we visited with relatives in Iroquois and Brookings, SD.   We celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary with Barb and Rollie Walter and went to dinner at Tailgate restaurant in Huron, SD.