10/21 Friday

We have arrived home - about 2PM with 3,461 miles under our belts over 3 weeks and a couple days. We stopped on Wednesday just south of Birmingham (I think we stayed at that rv park before)after going through terrible city traffic. We still needed our electric blankets. Thanks to Jack for that great idea. Our last night was Valdosta GA, then an easy ride home today with typical heavy FL traffic.
I must say it was an adventure in several ways. Highlights were family and friends in Dubuque and Minneapolis. You already know the low points. Oh well, all circumstances beyond our control. My theory is that we should not start a trip with a date to be somewhere. That never seems to go well for us. Had the weather been better, we might have been able to salvage some of the trip home. We covered a lot of familiar territory in our path of least resistance to get home. Good news is that mean there is still a lot of uncovered territory to explore.

10/18 Tuesday

Well, another one of those days. We did make it through Missouri. We are at a casino along the Mississippi in that little tag of Missouri that hangs off its southeast corner. It would have been a great ride EXCEPT heavy, heavy, dark gray clouds the entire way. Needless to say accompanied by rain and wind. UGH. Enough already.
We were so close to getting to the rv park - 20 minutes which took us almost an hour on the interstate! Learned when we got here that someone was transporting some huge equipment that had the interstate slowed down to a crawl. What a mess. Picture is through our new windshield and we were going so slow I did get a picture of the white "flowers" ie cotton in the fields - through the rain of course, and yes it was that foggy here along the Ole Miss.
Too bad, we passed several things we would have normally stopped to see and the leaves would have been beautiful with just a little bit of sun. I would go out of my way to get back to Hermann, MO which is between St Louis and Columbia. Old Missouri River town fantastically done. Looked like a fabulous winery, shops, b&bs, etc. My kind of place. But we were there about 8:30 AM and nothing open. Seems to be my theme this trip.
We were hoping to get back to Wind Creek State Park in AL and spend a couple days. We stopped there on our way north BUT looked at weather and high for the rest of the week is 50. Not enough for pleasant camping so we are going to make a bee line for Tampa.

10/17 Monday

We were headed to Lake of the Ozarks but such a dreary, icky day that we checked the weather there. High 60 and low 30. Soooo, decided not worth it and headed towards Cape Girardeu MO instead. However, it kept getting darker and darker so we stopped just in the nick of time near Columbia MO. Terrible thunder and lightening. We are just not having any luck. But settled nice and cozy -- and dry.
However, on our way out of Kirksville, MO, we made a stop at the "motherhouse" of osteopathic medicine. Really a nice little museum, so not a total waste. It's the A.T. Still (the father of. . ) School of Osteopathic Medicine. Having trouble uploading photos, slow connection.

1/16 Sunday

Yeah, we feel we are finally back into the rv groove. Essentially spent the day traveling south through the midpoint of Iowa. Did Mason City (as in Masons of historical meaning who founded it). Home of Music Man, Meredith Wilson (closed on Sunday of course) and, believe it or not the Park View Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Looks wonderful but how it ended up here, not sure. Onward to Ames, IA to see Iowa State. Not too impressed, but I'm sure there is more to it than we saw.
Continued south to Pella, IA which is home of the tulip festival. Obviously, off season and everything closed on Sunday. Strong Dutch and religious influence here with 4 religious bookstores around the town square and a Luthern high school. Also a guy reading his Bible on bench along the sidewalk. I would have had a great time on Saturday with all of the boutiques, bakeries, etc.
Continued south through Amish country. Saw several horse drawn carriages and a group of guys playing some game to the amusement of a group of young girls. They were all attired in white shirts, black pants, and suspenders -- the guys. Would have been a great picture.
We crossed into Missouri where fireworks sales seem to be the big thing. Ended up in Thousand Hills State Park which is near Kirksville, MO. Home of osteopathic medicine so I hope we get to museum tomorrow.
Had dinner at the marina in the park. Great view, so-so food. Deer was at the edge of our rv site. Unable to post pictures, I will try later.

10/15 Saturday

Yeah, on the road again! I missed it. Left Willmar, MN about 11 and made it to Clear Lake, IA which is not far from Mason City. Some sprinkles when we got here, otherwise a good ride throlangeugh miles and miles and miles of agriculture. Stopped to stock up and found landjaeger sausage! This is a big deal to Jack. Apparently made for hunters to nosh on. And, we saw a few hunters along the way, walking in the fields, pheasant hunting. The guys at the blackjack table told Jack the pheasants are imported from China. Big laugh about that.
Anyway, tentatively, we are headed south through Missouri, hang a left along the southern border of TN, through AL and then home. Low in the 40s and high in the 60s so FL is looking good. We don't know when we will get home.

10/13 and 10/14 Thurs/Fri

Well, good news is that Jack and I are all caught up with our work. Semi-bad news is that truck driver called our repair guy who reported he was running 2 hours behind. Good news is we expect to pick up the rv around 10AM and be on our way tomorrow.
Casino is crowded tonight. $19.95 seafood buffet (only the second time they have offered it) seemd to be a huge hit. Mediocre really but it was, hopefully, our last hurrah. I do like the hubbub in a busy place.
I expect to be writing from a new location tomorrow.

10/12 Wednesday

Absolutely nothing to report. I tried to take a picture to post but too rainy and dark. Everything is ready on the rv so just waiting for windshield delivery. Installment should be relatively quick.

10/11 Tuesday

Highlight of the day -- 99 cent broasted chicken dinner --quite good, breast and leg, mashed with gravy, and corn. Couldn't finish it. There are advantages to being a member of the Prairie's Edge player's club :) We are getting to be familiar faces.
Another big group of seniors today. I got a lot of a consulting report done today and took a big walk. Warm but very strong breezes. No word from our repair guys who were going to work on fixing the hood today.
We've decided to go straight south through Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and then hang a left to Tampa. Still lots we haven't seen and we like that part of the country. That is, if we ever get on the road again, probably 10-14 days to home. Jack played $2 Black Jack today with so-so results. His joke of the day: Guy says, " that's a lot of BS". Jack says, "that stands for beet sugar around here, doesn't it?" Got a huge laugh. He was the only one who was not a Tuesday regular. Oh, well. Apparently 12 was Jack's frequent deal of the day. If you don't play blackjack, that also became a joke. 12 plus a face card is a 22 hand -- loser!
We are comfortable and hanging in there. A week lost in traveling, essentially, but we are making good use of our time. Ah, togetherness! Cribbage tonight.

10/10 Monday

Well, everybody on board today. Connected with supplier for windshield and Geico claims. We then drove back to Bird Island (35 miles) to get the stuff we forgot on the rv. Seems like no one minds the distances between things, but seems like a long ride to us. We are feeling optimistic that things are under control. Windshield has significantly sagged and barely intact. They applied some sticky plastic film on it to hold it together. Hope it doesn't rain.
Now it is just a matter of being patient until the windshield is delivered -- day or two, they say. Hope to be on our way by Friday. Jack got a lot of law work done today and I'm busy as well with USF course and other consulting. You know us, never bored, and there's always tv.
A busload of seniors arrived at the casino today. Seem like a fun group whooping it up when someone wins. Some of the slots are the old ones in which you actually insert coins and get paid in coins.
I had walleye pike for dinner. Yum. I don't think I had it before and it really tastes different than saltwater fish. There is really no where else to eat but the casino.
I reserved our room through Thursday because the hotel is filling up with construction workers, for roads and railroads as far as we know. So someone is working on the infrastructure!-- at least in Minnesota,yawh, shure.

10/9 Sunday

A nice day, so Jack and I decided to venture beyond the casino walls. Drove to Montevideo MN where there stands a beautiful statue of the man who won Uruguay's independence - Jose Artigas. Sent to the town from the citizens of Montevideo, Uruguay. It's a very old little town with about 2000-3000 population so Jose sticks out like a sore thumb. We wanted to go to Chippewa Village which includes pioneer buildings collected as a museum. It closed on Labor Day and everything else in town was also closed. Really, only one gas station open. The sign on the JC Penney's next to the statue said it is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Some cute shops and a couple restaurants, but oh well.
We drove a few miles back to Granite Falls which is only 3 miles from the casino. Everything here closed as well except the gas station. Totally dead, no one on streets. Kind of spooky. Their museum also closed but sounded interesting -- deepest, biggest granite formations, fossils, etc. They must have blue laws or something in this part of MN. We did see the dam and falls. Developed in the 1920's to generate electricity.
Not much luck with slots but Jack is going to try his on the Texas Hold 'Em tournament later.

10/8 Saturday

Yawh, shure. We are definitely in Minnesota, accent-wise. The casino, Prairie's Edge, is nice and pretty crowded tonight. Seems to be a favorite of the locals for the $10.95 prime rib buffet. Not bad. Some dishes I never heard of including a beet/thyme croquette and somekind of casserole with corn and ham, almost a hash. Pumpkin pie was overwhelmed with nutmeg. There is even a wedding reception here! We did a little computer poker and slots. Not very lucky. Although we shouldn't be surprised given the way things are going.
Did laundry in the nearby rv park. Too bad we didn't make it there -- very nice. Also graded USF papers and Jack was able to settle one of his cases. So productive day. Otherwise, warm but dreary weather and dropping to high in the 60s by week's end. Rained pretty hard last night and I slept until 8:30. We may do some exploring tomorrow.

10/7 Friday

Well, after Jack met with one of his Solosez lawyer listserve friends, we departed Minneapolis about 10:00 or so. Moving along just swell towards Brookings SD, and then. . . Believe or not, for the second time the hood flew up and smashed the windshield. Not as bad as the first time and we made it to Bird Island MN, about half way across MN. Very high winds and a speeding truck towards us on a 2-lane highway are the contributing factors. If it were FL you would think a hurricane was approaching. We were going very slowly just to control the rv. Ugh! It never ends on this trip.
So, repair guy was nice enough to drive us 30 miles north to Willmar to get a rental car, Learned a lot about sugar beets, corn, seed farms, and duck huntin' along the way. We had dinner and then drove west to the nearest hotel at the Prairie's Edge Casino in Granite Falls, about 50 miles from the SD border. We are beat so haven't seen the casino yet. However, we are fed and hotel is very nice and comfortable. Lots of lightning and weather forecast is rain all weekend, which is fine with us.
So, again a waiting game. Can't reach insurance adjuster until Monday and then have to track down the windshield. Assuming we can get it fixed, we will head back to FL. This trip just doesn't seem to be in our stars. Will keep you all posted.

10/6 Thursday

Another great day. We took a scenic ride along the Mississippi to beautiful Lake Pippin. On the way, we stopped at a great orchard/winery, went on to shop a little in Stockholm, had lunch overlooking the lake in Pippin, and visited the eagles at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. Weather is gorgeous, leaves not quite into full color.

10/5 Wednesday

A wonderful, whirlwind day. Started out visiting U of Minnesota's new alumni center. In their history room, one wall is lined with textbooks the university has required. Wonderful architecture. In the PM had lunch at the Walker Museum of Modern Art where the reception for funeral of Walter Mondale's daughter was being held. It was designed by the same man who did the museums in Bilbao Spain and LA. It's right next to the bridge across the Mississippi that goes from the Minneapolis to St Paul campuses of U of M.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Museum of Art. It is fabulous, and we didn't even make a dent. On exhibition is the St John bible. The first handwritten bible since the printing press was invented. No pictures allowed but I did include a picture of a seder plate made of empty cans. We could spend days there. Would definitely come back for that.
Finally, on to the Guthrie Theatre where we had dinner at the Sea Change Restaurant. Just fabulous and we all had something different. Finally, finally we say Much Ado About Nothing. Staged in 1900's setting. Lots of fun but very long. Didn't get home until after 11 PM. Much thanks to Dick Pfohl, our wonderful guide today.

10/4 Tuesday

We made it to Minneapolis on a beautiful day through some beautiful countryside. We had made the trip before. It was fun recalling that ride that took us to the houseboat we rented for our trip on the Mississippi a few years ago.
Beginning to look like fall. Leaves are beautiful but not quite peaked in color. Our hosts the Pfohls put us in the mood with their pumpkin decorations. We got so caught up in the visiting with the Kresses and Pfohls last night, that I forgot to blog after our great dinner.
Almost forgot another highlight. Jack was stopped for speeding - $200 fine. Neither one of us can figure that one out. I'm not one for bouncing around in the rv so it's hard to get to 70 mph and the claim is we were doing 73. I think it was a speed trap that us out-of-towners didn't know about. Hardly anyone on the road, hilly so easy to speed up when going down, etc. Dang it!

10/3 Monday

Another gorgeous day in Dubuque. A shot of the Apel's house in East Dubuque IA and their view of Dubuque, IA. A little shopping and then Chris and I had a "private showing" of "Winter's Tale". We got to the theatre a little late and so they started the movie just for the two of us. I don't understand why it was made in 3-D? But enjoyed it. So will start packing up for the next leg of the trip to Minneapolis.

10/2 Sunday

Well, finally an uneventful day and a rest from our road adventures. And a gorgeous day, too. Started with a wild turkey sighting in the Apel's back yard. Took a walk with Chris, Jack's cousin, to Gramercy Park that is the site of 26 Hopewell Indidan mounds. Very nicely done with a great view of the river. Pix to follow tomorrow. Ended up with great dinner at Steph and Ron Hahlen's. Steph is another cousin known for her pot roast and she made a new mark tonight with yummy peach pie. Ron is getting ready for his 20 Dirty Hands pottery show. Joined by Mary Ann Steiner, a cousin-in-law with lots of good discussion. Weather is so very pleasant although Jack is in 3-layers of clothing - in the house. I must admit I also feel a chill.

10/1 Saturday

Yeah, we made it to Dubuque. Ended up crossing the Mississippi River 4 times today! Leave it to the Charmin' Garmin. We just decided to go with the flow which started with a ferry ride across the Ole Miss for heaven's sake. Then up to St. Louis, cross again into Illinois. Bridges and traffic are disgraceful there by the way. Talk about the need for infrastructure repairs! Then across again at the Quad Cities into Iowa, then finally cross again from Dubuque to East Dubuque Illinois where our hosts, Jack's cousin, live.
Cotton crops have moved to corn, big time. Corn pickers in action and fields, fields, fields for as far as you can see. Really something when you think about it. We saw over 50 wind turbines (the energy of the future) all in one place.
By the way, the doctor who first treated Jack for his burns when he and Jack Bergmeir's boat blew up on their trip down the Mississippi a long time ago, was from Hickman, KY where we got the ferry this AM. What goes around comes around.
Enough already with the riding. Glad for a few days of not moving.

9/30 Friday

On the road all day so not much to report. Speaking of roads we were on the Jim Nabors Highway (remember him?) and the Rockabilly Highway. And, about those peanut plants? Well, I looked it up because we saw even more fields, and even larger fields up through Tennessee. It's cotton! My clue was the sign we saw for a cotton museum. TeeHee on us, but they did look like white flowers. Wonder why it isn't being picked? Unless there is a white flower before the cotton?? More to look up but now I vaguely remember that from the Cotton Exchange in Memphis!
The other thing is that we often forget what an agricultural country this still is. The way things are farmed is different, bigger, but so much of the land is crops with big, beautiful mansions up on hills.
Also, at every little crossroad, every little town there is at least one church. From one room storefronts to huge, huge churchs. So, also still a very church-going country. And, we were also struck by the many bill boards with Bible references against abortion, homosexuals, and warning us about hell and some other things I didn't even understand. Plan to make Dubuque tomorrow. Taking our time and enjoyed getting off the interstate. Maybe another trip to hit the things we missed. We passed up the Jesse Owens Museum and Helen Keller's home along the way.

9/29 Thursday

We ended up in Wind Creek State Park near Alexander City AL, which you can see is a lot nicer than where we spent our first night. We left at 11:30 AM and made good time on our new tires and front end alignment. I am a lot less shaken around now. We traveled through Jimmy Carter country in GA surrounded by peanut plants in full flower -- for as far as you can see white flowers. This leg of the trip was redoing a lot of familiar territory. Love this park. Over 600 rv sites! Have to come back.

9/28 Our First Day Out

Well, we got a really early start, 6AM to beat the heat and traffic. Which we did and it went downhill from there. About 95 miles out, on I 75, we had a blowout. Thanks to Jack's good driving skills, we made it safely to the side of the road. Geico, as usual, very accomodating and we had new tire on wheel in about an hour or so. Then to the shop to balance wheels, etc.
There we discovered the need for 4 new tires and front end alignment. Long story about depending on and trusting our Tampa mechanic - so that's the end of that. The owners of the repair/tire shop hooked us up to electricity and we are spending the night here, right off the interstate exit and up on stationary jacks. Yikes! But very nice of them and really not a lot of options. We're comfortable and expect to be on the road by noon tomorrow.
Good thing we built in some cushion travel time. Expect to still make Dubuque by Saturday. Sorry the pictures are in reverse order. Have to remember that.