Sioux Falls, SD, Sept. 18-22, 2013

We left Mankato on the 18th and arrived that afternoon at the Sioux Falls KOA.   It was a beautiful, sunny day and spent a lot of time sitting outside enjoying the beautiful day.    We visited the Pettigrew home museum on Friday morning.

Mr.  Pettigrew was instrumental in the settlement of Sioux Falls.   He was a realtor, a financier, and was a good friend of James J. Hill.   He was able to pursuade Mr. Hill to extend his railroad through Sioux Falls.   He also built a flour mill on the river so that farmers would not have to take their crops so far, and with the railroad nearby could move their flour and other materials to other parts of the state quickly.  

After lunch we drove to St. Joseph Cathedral to take a tour of their newly refurbished church.   The MOST impressive thing to me was that the parish had raised the total amount needed to do the work before it was ever begun!   The work is totally paid for!   The stained glass windows have been releaded and the statues have all been repainted.   It's truly a beautiful cathedral.

Saturday we pent the morning at Falls Park which is a beautiful park along the falls.   We went up into the observation tower and had a great view of the city and also the falls.   We were surprised at the volume of water going over the falls, considering it has been an extremely dry summer in Sioux Falls.

Sunday we enjoyed a family reunion at Mike and Connie's house in Sioux Falls.   We were also celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary and our 49th anniversary.   It was a wonderful day!

Pettigrew House Museum

St. Joseph Cathedral

View of Falls Park from Observation Tower

The Falls

Enjoying the sunshine at Falls Park

Pictures from Canada and Minot, ND

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Center

 A new member of the RCMP

More Heritage Displays

Troop Review at RCMP Center

This group means business!

Scandinavian Center in Minot, ND

Gol Stave Church

DALA Horse, National Symbol of Sweden

Norwegion Stabbur (Storehouse)

Our new friend

Inside the Gol Stave Church 

Visiting the relatives August 22 - Sept. 17, 2013

August 22 -25 we were in Iroquois, SD visiting our niece Barb Walter and her hubby Rollie.   We always enjoy camping in their backyard.   Barb has a great garden, so we were treated to fresh picked corn on the cob, green beans, and yummy tomatoes!    Jack enjoys going to the store for breakfast with Rollie, so I slept in!   One day we drove to Brookings to see Jack's sister, Leila.   We also did some shopping in Mitchell with Barb and Rollie.

August 26-29 we were in Wadena, MN visiting with Jack's cousins on his mother's side.   We camped  in the city park and had a bit of excitement the first night.   There was a tornado warning, and the police and some firemen stopped at the campground to warn us to take cover and to explain where the public shelter was located.   We opted to join the campground hostess and three other campers in the cinder block bathroom (along with a cat, 2 puppies, and 2 birds).  We had heavy rain, but no wind, thankfully.    

* August 27 we visited with Virginia Malone, Shirley Tabery ? and Jerome and Mary Jane Schmitz.

* August 29 we visited with George and Judy Tabery

August 30 - September 4 we were camped at Olson Park in Worthington and visited with Jack's brother Melvin and wife Betty, Connie and Mike Burkard from Sioux Falls, Rod and JoAnn Burkard of Reading, and Duane and Kathy Burkard from Wilmont.    On Sunday we drove to Tracy, MN to Boxcar Days and toured their museum and checked out the antique tractors.   We invited Melvin and Betty, Rod and JoAnn, and Kathy and Duane to a picnic at our campsite on Tuesday night.    We had a campfire (our first of the year) and enjoyed visiting until 10!

September 5 - 8 we camped in Fairmont, MN and visited with our friend, Helen Kehoe.    While we were there we drove to Spencer, IA to the Clay County Fair.   It was HOT, DUSTY, but fun.   

Helen got me hooked on the game Words with Friends - an app for the IPAD.

September 9 - 17 we were at Good Counsel in Mankato visiting with my sister, Sister Dominic.   Enjoyed our visit, especially the good food at her community, Jakes Stadium Pizza and the Amboy Cottage Cafe.   Dom and I drove to Red Wing to visit our cousin, Joan Brown. We also enjoyed visiting with Art and Charlene Schuch over breakfast and Lisa's Cottage Cafe and were treated to dinner at their house one evening.

Minot, ND August 17-20

We camped at the Rough Riders campground right outside Minot.  Before we were even done setting up a young man came over and peppered Jack with questions regarding the Airstream and so Jack spent a good deal of time discussing the trailer.   When he was all finished discussing the trailer, he said he had one on order!  

After Mass Saturday evening we went to a Mexican restaurant for supper and then settled in to plan our time in Minot.   On Sunday we visited the local museum and on Monday we found the Scandanavian Heritage Park we had heard about from the Canadian Burkards.    We spent several hours learning about the various buildings being shown in the park.   It was definitely worth the time spent.  

We went to the Mall on Tuesday so I could get the latest book in The Walk series.  The mall was much larger than it appeared, and we spent some time walking and window shopping there.

We left on Wednesday, heading toward Jamestown and spent lunch and 3 hours in Steele, visiting with Mary Buchholz, a Mankato friend.