Sunday, August 25, 2014 Visit with Tina & Waylon

Today dawned with heavy clouds, although the forecast calls for a high of 91 F. Whew!

At 9:45 we went to Tina's for a visit.  Shortly after we arrived, the clouds cleared and the sun shone. We played outside with Waylon who showed us how to launch a rocket.


Tina gave us a tour of their travel trailer.









We had lunch with Tina & Waylon while Waylon was eager to go swimming as soon as lunch was over.







     

                      Please blow up the turtle, Grampa......












Grampa and Uncle Marcel are both working on it while Waylon looks on.  It is 88 F in the sun and the 'inflators' are seeing stars!














The finished product which never did make it into the pool!




After going home we heard that we were under a tornado watch. Great! Thunder was rolling around by 5:00 and shortly after there was a heavy downpour that lasted for fifteen minutes. The cloud formations were interesting, but I didn't see any tornado activity.





The skies brightened up a little and at 6:30 we went to Olive Garden (Chris' favourite) for dinner. He had his usual Italian Margarita.










                           We all enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Saturday, August 23, 2014, Back to Camping World

At 9:00, we were off to Camping World in Rogers, MN to try to return the Magellan GPS that I bought in Oregon and look at an ice maker that is on sale.

I was amazed. There was no problem exchanging the Magellan GPS for the Good Sam one. I was under the impression that the Magellan was wi-fi enabled but apparently it was not. With the Good Sam one, I can use the internet to find fuel prices along our route. It is a little late for this trip, but will be useful in the future! Also, it was on sale at less than what I bought the original one for.
We looked at the ice maker & bought that also. Marcel picked up some RV parts, so it was a profitable trip (for Camping World).





At 11:30, Chris & I went to Joyce's to help with her lunch.










In the afternoon, we went to Brian & Kirsten's for dinner. Brian cooked a delicious chicken in his smoker. It has a lovely, unique taste!












We enjoyed good company and a great meal of smoked chicken, pasta salad, mashed potatoes, tossed salad and mixed vegetables.The meal ended with a variety of cheesecakes for dessert.

Sorry, we didn't get pics of the rest of the children!

Friday, August 22, 2014, more shopping and happy Hour

We were off to Menard's early this morning at 9:15, to check out the 3-day sale. We wandered around for an hour, looking at things. Menard's was a building supply store, but seems to have evolved to become a full-service store with everything from snacks, frozen meats, housewares and a variety of groceries. Of course, it is also the go-to home improvement store, competing with Home Depot.

After a couple of more stops, we were back home for lunch.

In the afternoon, we went to see Joyce at Kingsley Shores.











We went for a walk-about.













Every Friday at Kingsley Shores is Happy Hour at 3:30, so we joined them for Strawberry Daiquiris, which were delicious.

Thursday, August 21, 2014, Family dinner

There was a light rain through the night, which cleared up by 8:00 am.

We went to my favourite grocery store, Aldi's for a look around. Among other things, I picked up a 16-inch fully loaded pizza for $5.99.





For lunch, we enjoyed the pizza out on the deck, since it has warmed up nicely.

After lunch, it was time for a Costco run where I managed to find a few items that we "needed"!





This afternoon, Brian & Kirsten came over with their 4 children, Colin, Lliam, Kaitlyn and Declan. Christina, Justin and Waylon joined us also.  What a fun time we had! It was very warm and extremely humid outside, so the children played inside.

We all enjoyed a fabulous dinner of strip loin steaks, potato salad, tossed salad and Spinach & Mozzarella Ravioli. Of course, there was cake & ice cream for dessert.

Tina was in charge of the children's table!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014, Savage, MN, cont.

Relaxing day, clear skies & 80 F.
We went to see Joyce after lunch, then stopped at Best Buy where I bought an external DVD writer. My new PC does not have a DVD in it.

For dinner, Chris grilled Walleye (pickerel) that he caught on a fishing trip to Lake of the Woods.











It was a delicious dinner of fish, rice and salad that we enjoyed on the back deck.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014, Savage, Minnesota

It felt downright chilly this morning, as it was overcast and 18.6 C. We were told that we could check in to our next stop after 9:00, so were not in any hurry to get on the road. That and the fact that it was only 16 km to my brother's driveway!

Having slept in Nebraska and Iowa, it was time to affix the stickers on our map, leaving only 4 small states on the east coast that we have not slept in!
We have driven through them, but that doesn't count!

I don't think we will be able to add the Hawaii sticker, however.





After fueling up at the RV park station, we hooked up & were on the way by 9:30 under grey skies, threatening rain.

20 minutes later, we arrived at our destination and settled in on the driveway. The sun has come out and it is 20 C.














We sat out on the deck catching up for the rest of the morning, then enjoyed pulled pork sliders for lunch.

Following lunch, we went to Kingsley Shores to see Joyce. As it turned out, they were taking some of the residents on an outing to Dairy Queen. Of course, we went along!




My dear brother, who loves to cook, BBQ-d some awesome ribs for dinner!

Monday, August 18, 2014, Next stop, Minnesota

Happy 7th Birthday, Jacob!

It is a very humid 23 C as we continued east on I-80 to Des Moines. Fortunately, the highway took us around Des Moines on I - 35 and we exited on I-35 N towards Minnesota.

We passed yet another extensive wind farm with over 100 turbines, gently turning in the wind.

At noon, we entered Minnesota and stopped at the Welcome Centre for lunch.
There was a lovely walking trail behind the building, which gave us a chance to stretch our legs.











We had decided to stay at Dakotah Meadows RV Park, which is next to Mystic Lake Casino and arrived there at 2:30. It is a very nice, clean park with concrete pads and full services, including Wi-Fi. My computer seems to have fixed itself since I had no problem getting online. Whew!

The campground provides a shuttle between the casino and campsites - too convenient! Naturally, we visited the Casino, which has over 4,000 slot machines, the majority of which are my favourite 1 cent machines!
We took the shuttle back to the park to call Jacob on his birthday, then returned to the Casino for the buffer supper. What a spread! After which, we played some more slots. By the time we left, Marcel had broken even and I "donated" $17.00 to the cause. It was a great evening.