Author: Tom Piper

October 3, 2016

We are on the road again. I am no longer an RV driving virgin.  Yes, I finally drove, towing the 5^th wheel.  Piece of cake.

We left Minnesota Sept. 19^th and drove to Austin, MN, where we took in the Spam Museum.  Did you know there are 13 different kinds of Spam and Spam is sold in 44 countries with over 8 billion cans of Spam have been sold.  Personally, I have not eaten Spam in 40 years but tried their low sodium and lite, and liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Austin we traveled through beautiful Iowa just missing the terrible flood waters by a day.  We camped on the Rock River in E. Moline, IL, where we met my niece and her family in Le Claire, IA, on the Mississippi River and we had a lovely visit.   We also had the opportunity to visit the retail store of the TV show, American Pickers.  It was smaller than we expected but had quite a few interesting things, including an Indian motorcycle that had been buried in someone’s backyard for 70 years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we headed out for Springfield IL where we toured the Capitol and Abe Lincoln Library.  Time well spent and we highly recommend both.  The architect that did Springfield’s capitol building also did the capitol building of Iowa, both very ornate and beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Springfield we set off for Cave City, KY to see Mammoth and Diamond Caverns.  Interesting and lovely but somewhat underwhelming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From KY, we drove to Athens, AL where Tom’s sister Barb and her family live.  We left our RV there and drove 3 hours to Cleveland TN for a long overdue visit with our friends Buck and Leslie.  Lot’s of laughter and catching up.  We played golf one day at Cleveland CC where Buck is a member, Leslie and I spent Friday on a lovely drive through the Appalachians to Murray, South Carolina, for a girls day out while the boys played golf, both breaking par  – LOL.  Tom said the only good balls he hit all day was when he stepped on a trap rake.  Poor baby.

 

 

We bid our friends a fond farewell Saturday morning and set off for the famed Baggage Claim Store in Scottsboro, AL.  Here again underwhelming but we at least can say we stopped.

 

 

 

 

We arrived back in Athens in time to help celebrate our nephew’s birthday and get caught up on family happenings.  We went to a super Mexican restaurant and had a real fun night.

 

 

 

 

 

We met friends in Huntsville Sunday to tour the Space Camp Museum Center.  Wow, what a day that was.  So much to see that we spent the whole day here learning about our rocket/space programs.  Strongly suggest a visit to this facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we are off to our final destination in Dade City, Florida, for the winter.  We are looking forward to it.

Sept. 2016

Our time here in NW Minnesota is coming to an end.  What a lovely summer it has been.  Our home has been on the shores of Strawberry Lake since mid – May, where we have enjoyed fishing and kayaking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have also traveled the countryside visiting many communities and generally taking in the sights.  One of our favorites was Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, which is very close to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been most impressed with the agriculture.  We witnessed the planting of crops while on our trek north from Texas.  While here in Minnesota we have watched those crops grow, watching the fields turn magnificent colors of bright green to gold while they yield their crops of wheat, corn, sugar beets, and soy beans to mention a few.  We have seen sunflower fields and pastures strewn with huge bales of hay.  Herds of cattle, dairy cows, pigs, sheep, horses and, yes, even llamas and alpaca.  The crops are now being harvested and the fields are once again bare, awaiting the first covering of snow to supply and retain the rich nutrients for next season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minnesota claims to have 10,000 lakes but we think it is more.  We visited some beautiful lakes like Bad Medicine, Mille Lacs, and of course Lake Itasca which is the Headwaters where the mighty Mississippi begins.

 

 

 

 

 

Our camp hosts Dan & Dawn Sullivan and their lovely family have been most hospitable.

All in all it has been a wonderful, relaxing summer and we are glad we decided to come here.

In two weeks, we will be off for more travel adventures headed for Alabama for the winter.

 

Today, August 22, 2016, marks the 1 year anniversary of Mary and I starting our travel adventure.  We packed up the RV, hooked up the truck and said goodbye to our sticks & bricks home in Rochester Hills, and headed out.  These last 12 months have been fun, interesting, educational and relaxing, and we are looking forward to the next stop on our journey.

We will be leaving Woodland Trails around the 19th of September, but we are not sure yet in which direction, but you can probably figure it will be toward somewhere warm.  Our primary rule of “No Snow” is still in effect and will not be violated.  We have a couple ideas in the works, just haven’t firmed anything up as yet.  More in the next post.

Meanwhile, we’ve been fishing quite a bit.  I managed 3 bass,  4-1/4 pound, 3.5 pound, a 2.5 pounder plus a mess of sunfish.  Mary hasn’t fished as much but she has caught a few northern pike and really enjoys being out in the boat. She also has really gotten into kayaking on the calmer days.  

Summer marches on and as this post is being written, we are just finishing up the July 4th weekend here on Strawberry Lake.  Lots of kids, swimmers, kids, fishing, kids, skiers, kids, jet skis, and did I mention lots of kids.  Everyone seems to have had an enjoyable and safe weekend .  Everyone has tried their best to make use of the 3 beautiful days we’ve had and go home tired out!  We are lucky that, at least for the next 10 weeks, we are already home, and can enjoy all this every day.

Since the last post we have visited the towns of Perham, Frazee, Mahnomen, and Pelican Rapids in Minnesota, Fargo and West Fargo in North Dakota.  Each town has its’ own special identity, (like the world’s largest pelican in Pelican Rapids) but the common theme for all is the up-north, by-the-lake, kick back, relax and enjoy atmosphere that is everywhere.  There is the feeling that everyone is here to veg-out, get some sun, maybe do a little fishing or just cruise the lake.  All done with a sense of genuine friendliness rarely seen in the big city.  Very refreshing.

Disappearing Sun on Strawberry Lake

Fishing has been pretty good. Tom has been out more than Mary and we now have a freezer full of sunfish and bass.  Mary did catch the biggest one so far, an 18″ northern pike.  Being truthful though, we really just enjoy going out in the boat where it is quiet, away from cellphones, TV, and just soaking up some sun.

Golf hasn’t been on the front burner lately, somewhat due to the sometimes windy, sometimes rainy weather but there is so much else we try to see and do that it hasn’t been a priority.  Tomorrow (July 5th) is our anniversary and we might get out for a round.  There is also a possibility we might go to St. Cloud for the day.  We’ll keep you posted.

We finally rolled into Detroit Lakes a few days early since it seems the weather is improving earlier than expected.  We spent 2 days at Country Campground, then on to Woodland Trails, about 30 minutes NE of Detroit Lakes.  The campground is about 160 acres, of which about 20 acres are used, and they are spread out along Strawberry Lake.  Strawberry is a 1,500 acre, spring-fed, all-sports lake that is in the top 1% of all Minnesota lakes for cleanliness and clarity.  You can actually see the bottom in water between 15 and 18 feet depth.  There is also excellent fishing with sunfish, crappie, bass, northern pike and walleye.  We have use of a small boat with outboard so we expect to do some fishing in our off-time.  Tom was able to catch a few small sunfish and bass one evening.  Can’t wait to go out for the “big ones”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our duties here are fairly simple: Tom is responsible for cutting and trimming grass throughout the camp; Mary tends the lodge store on Saturday and Sunday.  This gives us Monday through Wednesday to explore the area.  The camp owners, Dan and Dawn Sullivan, have been here for about 16 years, and are really pleasant to work for.

Since we are really “out there”, TV and Internet are a challenge.  There is Internet in the lodge which we can “boost” with a range extender.  It’s not fast but we can get email, Facebook and look stuff up online.  TV is over-the-air only and the stations are in Fargo so it too is a bit erratic.  However, we really like it here and we enjoy venturing out, so we don’t want to trade where we are and the unique summer ahead of us for faster Internet and cable TV!

One of our first day trips was to Lake Itasca State Park and the Mississippi River headwaters.  This is where the Mississippi starts its’ 2,552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.  Discovery of the headwaters was claimed by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft in 1832, but many people knew about it before then.  In reality, there was an Indian guide named Ozaawindib who took him to it.  In any event, the site was pretty cool and very interesting.  Fun fact: the Mississippi starts at Lake Itasca and actually flows north and then east before heading south.

 

 

 

 

 

We also went to the city of Bemidji where we saw the 18 Ft. tall Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox statues.  Bemidji is the first city on the Mississippi. We didn’t have a lot of time there, but we will definitely return later this summer.  Also on our list are Duluth, Fargo and maybe even Canada.  Stay tuned.

 

May 7^th

We left Iowa by way of Illinois where we met Mary’s niece and her family from the Chicago area in Moline, Il, for a nice but short visit.  We hit the road for the longish drive to Prior Lake, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis.  We are at a lovely RV site at the Mystic Lake Casino/Indian reservation.

We have been here for a week having a wonderful time.  We discovered the “light rail” Metro will take us from Mall of America all the way to Target Field (home of the Twins), and from there all the way to downtown St. Paul. Some of the sites we saw from the train were Fort Snelling and the National Cemetery that is said to have 70,000 grave site.  It is so big, it just goes on and on filled with uniformed white markers.

We went to St. Paul Cathedral where we had a great tour by a man who did his homework and made it very interesting.  The State Capitol is closed for much needed repairs, but we did visit the Science Museum, Minnesota History Center, & Foshay Tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of this was a trip down memory lane for Mary as she used to visit this area to see family as a child. We also visited the cemetery where Mary’s grandparents and other family members are buried bringing back even more memories.

We did a fair amount of walking in Minneapolis and St. Paul to and from the train so we got to see a lot of the two cities divided by the Mississippi River.  We even drove out to Chanhassen to see Paisley Park, Prince’s estate.  Lots of memorials left, lots of people milling around.  We also stopped in the charming village of Jordan for breakfast and to take in the local sites. A highpoint was a visit to Minnehaha Falls that Mary had visited as a young girl with her parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we toured the area of the two cities we were impressed by how clean it was and the public transportation was awesome.   The bike trails are endless, filled with riders everywhere.  Even the trains accommodate riders with stalls to put their bikes.  We were also amazed at the construction going on especially in the Minneapolis area which includes the new Viking Stadium being built by U.S. Bank.  It is huge.  We missed the Twins as they were out of town.  Along the way we have met lots of nice folks who either spotted us as tourists or we stopped to ask directions, talking to us and offer up places to visit. A very friendly area indeed and one we will pay another visit to this summer.  Sunday we are off to our final destination for the summer near Detroit Lakes. We are looking forward to it.

If you have a bucket list, we suggest you put a long weekend in Kansas City, MO, on it.  So much to see, do and enjoy.  While in KC, we toured the Federal Reserve, World War I Memorial, Union Station where we enjoyed lunch, and picked up a trolley tour of the area.  Two of the reasons we put KC on our itinerary was Harry Truman‘s Library and to take in a Royals ballgame.  As it turned out they were playing the Detroit Tigers, beating Detroit 4 to 0.  The Royals are an exciting team to watch and they did not disappoint the night we saw them.

Truman Library was well done.  The lilacs were in full bloom at their internment.  Mary’s father could not stand Harry.  Not sure why other than he was a dyed in the wool Republican.  When they were transferred to Eau Claire, Wis., back in 1955 they looked for a home in a new subdivision called Putnam Heights.  All of the streets were named for presidents.  Her mother fell in love with two homes one on Tyler and the other on Truman. Guess which street she grew up on?  Too bad dad, we think Harry was a cool dude.

There was so much more to see that we have to save for next time as we moved on to Des Moines, Iowa.  Here again another really nice area as well as the State Capitol which we toured.  The public transportation is awesome so we took in the downtown area which is extremely well done and ate at a cool French Restaurant, “Django”.   We finished out the day by going to the Iowa Cubs minor league ballgame.

The last two days we finally hit inclement weather took in a movie and relaxed.  Tomorrow we are off to the Science Museum.  Friday we are off to Iowa City to see the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library which will bring us to seven presidential libraries so far.

We have met some really nice people along the way.  Everyone is so friendly and helpful.

Hello to all,  we have a lot of catching up to do on our blog.  We left the Rio Grande Valley March 30^th.  A very different place, hard to get used to some of its’ “attributes”. For instance the wind – OMG does it blow! – makes it hard to play golf. We did play golf at a couple of nice courses and got our games back on track.  For Mary, personally, if she never eats Mexican Food or BBQ again, it will be too soon.  Tom on the other had could eat it daily.

The good side of staying at Llano Grande for five months was no snow and all the nice people we met.  Tom was able to play pool and start a small computer service.  Mary learned how to make jewelry in a lapidary class as well as a beading class.  She then found a place in McAllen where she learned to loom, knit and crochet. She is presently make hats for babies and homeless people who will be dropped off at shelters along the way.    

 

 

We were three miles from Mexico so we visited Progress Nuevo a few times.  Going to Mexico with all the vendors is best defined, “shopping for what you did not know you needed and then buy it”.  Good thing storage is limited in our RV.

We made some nice, hopefully lasting friendships but we were ready to leave and explore new frontiers.  I

 

 

Our first stop was the San Antonia area. We stayed in San Marcos, half-way between San Antonia & Austin.  We visited Lyndon Johnson’s Library and ranch. The hill country is gorgeous! We visited the German community of Fredericksburg on a very crowded Saturday. Mary was so pumped to enjoy a dish of Sauerbraten. Alas after finally finding a parking place and a German Pub, no Sauerbraten on the menu – bummer. The ride to get there was once again through the hill country with spectacular views.  In San Antonio we visited the Alamo, did the river walk boat ride and met our new-found friends for dinner before we all took off in separate directions for the summer. 

 

Our next stop was New Orleans where we camped out on Lake Ponchartrain.  The shuttle took us to the French Quarter where we met Allison, (Tom’s daughter) and her friend for lunch.  French Quarter Fest was in full swing with all the different music venues.  We had a short but nice visit.  We left Sunday morning for Vicksburg, MS, spending a couple of days there getting caught up on laundry etc., then moving on to Little Rock ,AR. 

We needed to have minor repairs done on our RV at Mayflower RV/Auto Center in Sherwood, AR.   These people were great and the hospitality was warm and welcoming during our three-day stay.  We took in the Bill Clinton Presidential Library, trolley car tour of the area and some great fried oysters and catfish. 

We moved on to Branson, MO. where we are now.  A white knuckle ride to say the least pulling our 8 ton 5^th wheel through the two lane roads of the Ozark Mountains.  A very beautiful area but “hilly” is putting it mildly.  Branson area is also very hilly and getting to our RV park was another white knuckle challenge.  It is also very beautiful here away from the “strip” where there are lots of entertainment venues.  Downtown is full of shops and eateries.  Tee shirts and lapel pins purchased to mark another destination visited.  We are T-Shirt rich!  Today friends we met this winter who live here in MO., are meeting us for a show and dinner.  We will leave Tues. morning heading to Kansas City and a Royals ballgame.

To this point, we have seen some beautiful places and met many nice folks.  We are happy with our decision to “roam” and experience a new lifestyle.

Well, as we begin our final month in South Texas, a few things have changed.  First, Tom moved from the golf course to IT (Information Technology), and he loves it.  His job is to troubleshoot and repair any of the 800+ Internet and cable TV installations in the park.

Next, Mary has really taken advantage of some of the many amenities offered here at Llano Grande.  From shaping and polishing gemstones into beautiful jewelry at the Rock Shop, to knitting stocking caps for needy babies, to making bead jewelry.

A few weeks ago we attended an Oak Ridge Boys concert here at Llano Grande.  They really sounded great and we were told they were just inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  OOM PAPA OOM PAPA OM PAPA MOW MOW!

This week sees us returning to South Padre Island for our 2nd Segway tour.  This time we get down to the beach and more around town.  We’ll have 4 couples this time: Tom & Mary, Ed & Cindy, Lee & Anita, and joining our SPI friends Corky and Dave.

We have really gotten to like it down here so you could say we are now officially Winter Texans and probably will be next year also.

When we leave here the end of this month, our summer headquarters will be just north of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at a smaller RV park.  We will be there through Labor Day, then back to Mercedes.  Our plan is to meander through Central Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota on our journey to Detroit Lakes, taking in some of the sights and a few big-league ballgames too.

This afternoon we went to lunch at Ciro’s restaurant in Weslaco and enjoyed a botana.  We had seen these on other peoples’ table before but never tried one.  It consists of a large platter, layered with quesadillas, topped by mounds or fajita beef, fried jumbo shrimp, fried sweetbreads, and french fries.  Then the requisite refried beans, mexican rice, pico de gallo, guacamole and jalapenos were added on the side.  The pictures don’t really do it justice.  We have enough left over for probably 3 more meals.  MMMMMMM good!

 

Tonight we were invited to a local jam session by two friends, Stephen and Sharon.  The folks in the RV next to theirs had a live country music jam and impromptu picnic.  We met lots of new friends, many from Canada, and had the perfect end to one of the best weekends since coming on the road.  The music was mostly old style country music and was extremely well performed. It’s nights like this that confirm why we are on the road.

 

It’s back to work tomorrow but what a great weekend!