Time to head back to Minnesota so on May 6, we got into our rig for the first time since late January and left Casa Grande. Our first stop was Goosenecks State Park outside of Mexican Hat, New Mexico. We had stayed there before and it was beautiful. The drive to get there was fantastic and we took a lot of pictures along the way.
Goosenecks sits on top of a canyon where you can see the winding San Juan River wind its way below. It is breathtaking. It was also very windy and I think we are still cleaning fine red sand out of everything.
The next day, we left the rig and drove to Monument Valley. This had been closed due to Covid the last time we were in the area. Again, the views are so fantastic it is hard to imagine. Along the way, Dave had to take a selfie where Forrest Gump abruptly stopped his long, long run in the movie. I was never a fan of that movie so chose not to be in the picture. I offered to take the picture but he wanted a selfie.
The drive through Monument Valley takes about 2 1/2 hours and the road is not an easy drive. They tell you that you need a 4 wheel drive vehicle. That is probably not necessary but you do have to be a good driver. We had our normal picnic lunch but almost had it in the truck because of the wind and sand. We were finally able to find a spot with The Three Sisters in view and the truck shielding us. We had to occasionally grab our food and table as a wind gust came along.
On Wednesday, May 8, we got to Four Corners. This is the spot where 4 states all meet in one spot, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. It is on Navajo land and also was closed because of Covid the last time we were here. I had been looking forward to seeing this but at $8 a person, it was a rip off.
We continued to Albuquerque where we had a Harvest Host stay for the night at Starr Brothers Brewing Company. A classmate and friend of mine from Mankato lives in Albuquerque and she had agreed to join us. It was great to see Rachel Foreman Justus again after all of these years.
May 9 found us in Amarillo, Texas for a 2 night stay at A-Ok Camper Park. We had stayed there before. Previously, there was a long horn steer, emu and llama in the pen. Now there is an emu and donkey.
One of the reasons we planned 2 nights in Amarillo was to spend time with my friend Wanda Garcia and her husband Fred, as we did 4 years ago. However, they were out of town for a family event. We did visit the famous Big Texan Steakhouse for a beer and appetizer the first evening. The next afternoon, we went to the Pondaseta Brewing Company where Boo could come along to the patio. We met an interesting guy there, Brandon and spent a couple of hours chatting with him.
On May 10, we reached Oklahoma City where
we spent 2 nights at the Oklahoma City Fairgr
ounds.
The next day, May 12, we had tickets for the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, where Timothy McViegh and Terry Nichols used a truck bomb made from fertilizer to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. A total 168 people died including 31 children as there was a day care center in the building and over 700 were injured. Cousins Hans and Nettie had told us about this memorial. It was so sad but we were glad we had gone to see it.
Later, we had a beer and played some Bingo at the Angry Scotsman Brewery. We finished our Mother’s Day by sharing a quesadilla at Barrio’s.
May 13 brought us to a one night stay at an Army Corp park in Lawrence, Kansas. We had a site overlooking the lake and a pretty red neighbor.
May 14 found us at a Harvest Home stop in Lohrville, Iowa, Sweet Honeymoon Winery. This had been our first Harvest Host stay 4 years earlier. We enjoyed the usual wine tasting and then retreated to our rig.
We reached our summer home on May 15, Sawmill Campground in Mankato, Minnesota. We will spend the time visiting family and friends and getting caught up on our medical and dental appointments.
Boo is also having fun visiting old friends and making new ones. Sadie is not sure if she wants to be friends or not and thinks she is very ferocious!
As usual, I took Dave to Pagliai’s for a pizza supper on his birthday. We always order a large pizza because we really like it and wanted left overs.
After pizza, we went to the Mankato Brewery and listed to nephew Fletch’s band mate Tyler Herwig. He was performing solo that evening and is awesome.
Dave and I were guests of Thrivent at a Twins game on May 29and invited Galen and Dar. We were seated in Legends Landing and had free food. We played the Royals. Unfortunately we lost! Oh well, it is always fun to go to a game and to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law.
We packed up Boo and a bunch of clothes on Thursday the 28th, to spend a few days with Teresa’s family in Blooming Prairie. We were there to help Teresa get ready for Cameron’s graduation. On Thursday, we did some arranging in the garage and discussed what needed to be done. We also hung up a few decorations. Meanwhile, Teresa was making Jambalaya for supper. Yummy!!!!
On Friday morning, Teresa and I went to Rochester to shop for food for the party at Costco. I had never been to a Costco and that was interesting. We also did some setting up of tables in the garage and a bit more decorating. Dave grilled burgers for supper.
Friday was more of the same but the high light was Cameron’s graduation in the evening. Although Teresa lives 1/2 block from the high school, we still had a block wide parking lot to cross and it was raining so we all drove. There was supposed to be a parade of seniors after graduation and Cameron was going to ride in Grandpa Lindberg’s Mustang convertible. Because of the rain and poor communication, it was not clear if the parade would be held. Apparently it was after all but Cameron did not know in time so she was rather disappointed.
Saturday was a day to REALLY get busy with finishing setting up and decorating the garage and cooking taco meat. I did most of the cooking of 12 pounds of hamburger. Later, Dave and I took Teresa and her kids to supper. They chose Perkins in Owatonna. I had fun trying to embarrass the grandkids but Cameron thought I was funny.
On Sunday, we had to get an early start, chopping vegetables, heating the taco meat in crockpots (some had to go in the oven on warm), making fruit salad and rice for the party. The main food was going to be Walking Taco’s. Angie’s friend Brenda had made the cupcakes.
The party was a great success. Along with Teresa’s ex-in-laws and some of mine, my brothers and their wives came. My niece and her husband, Liz and David even came from Chicago!
We spent a couple of weeks laying low. The weather has not been great. It is either cold, rainy or windy. If it is nice enough to be outside, it is buggy with gnats and mosquitoes. So far, this is not the best Minnesota summer.
On Friday June 14, I went to another Twins game. This time I went with Angie and Sierra. We played the A’s. The first half of the game was pretty boring with not much action and we were way behind. Then, our team came alive and we ended up winning. It was very fun and all three of us had a good time.
Mankato Brewery holds a Barks and Brews event on Wednesdays in June where dogs are invited to the patio (actually they are always welcome there) and live music starts at 6. Many of the people that stay all summer, every summer in Sawmill went out together. That was another fun evening. Attending besides Dave and I were Shari and Bob along with some of their family, Mary and Kathy.
We went to supper at Turner Halls Rathskeller in New Ulm for supper on Tuesday, June 18. It is always good to see Scott and Linda.
June 22 came and it is our 7th anniversary of meeting.
One night in late June, the brothers, Dianne and I gathered at the Circle to listen to The Murphy Brothers and visit with Fletch. Andre came too!
A few days later, I had an incident at home and got my very first black eye. Let’s not talk about how I got it and no, Dave did not do it!!!!
We went to Teresa’s house in Blooming Prairie for the 4th of July. We watched most of the parade before the heavy rain started. All of Teresa’s kids were there; Angie, Sierra and Parker; Galen, Dar and Cris; Dan; Harry and Karen. We had a potluck supper and no one had discussed what we were bringing so both Dar and I brought enough deviled eggs for an army and there were a lot of desserts. Yum!
Dave and I were staying overnight with plans to watch fireworks that evening. We played some corn hole with Teresa and Dan. By then, we were all tired so we all went to bed without seeing the big show!
We went “Up Nort” in early July. First we spent two nights at Dean and Karen’s cabin. The weather did not cooperate for a camp fire but we took several pontoon rides. Boo loved those. Dave also helped Dean with some inspections and plans for maintenance under Dean’s cabin.
Then we spent two nights with Hans and Nettie in their cabin. We took in more pontoon rides and played lots of games which we really enjoy.
The last day, we stopped in Spicer at the cabin of friends of Al and Carol Fischer where we enjoyed supper with them, Al’s brother and his wife… and of course a pontoon ride. It was a fun 5 days.
Late in July, we went to Blues on Belgrade with several friends and ran into several other people that we knew. It was fun to listen to the music on a very hot afternoon. Our friends and camping neighbors Bob and Shari Wright had brought a couple of Easy Up sun roofs for shade. Unfortunately, Bob had a situation with the equipment, a wind gust and the curb. He ended up with several stitches over his eye.
Friends Teresa and Dave Dickinson joined us for the afternoon as well as two of Teresa’s daughters. Ashley and Tessie.
Dave surprises me from time to time, for no reason. He really likes to give flowers and I love flowers and I love him. What a great combination.
We went to Lord Fletcher’s on Lake Minnetonka for our annual summer lunch and as always, it was beautiful. I really like to go there.
We bought a couple of vaults at Woodland Hills Cemetery, indoor mauseleum in Mankato. We put my brother Steve and Dave’s son Dan to rest, together, in a vault next to where we will rest some day. Kent, Galen, Andre, Fletch and Beth and her boys came for a short visit, reminiscing and final goodbyes.
This has become our summer for fairs. We went to the Brown County fair in New Ulm where we met Scott and Linda. We also ran into Jimmy, Taylor and Mason. A few days later, we attended the Steele County fair in Owatonna with my daughters Teresa and Angie. On August 23rd, we will go to the State Fair and meet Dean, Karen and Clayton.
We also went to the Henderson Car Roll In recently to meet old friends of mine, Linda and Loren Rist. We never did go look at cars! Plus, we ran into Jimmy and Taylor again.
We had a couple more gatherings to see and hear Fletch perform. One Sunday afternoon, Galen, Dar and Cris joined at Road House on 169. The following Friday,the same group plus Angie returned to the Circle. We enjoy listening to them play and visiting with Fletch.
On August 17th we had a gathering at the campground for some friends (Mike, Rebecca and Jon). Later in the evening Mike and his housemate Jason stopped out. It was Mike’s birthday and we celebrated it with Jo making a mulled wine marinated turkey breast.
We are getting ready for the upcoming family trip in October. My niece Liz thought we should have shirts for the trip so Dave designed them. We left off destination and the year so we can wear them again.
Here is a neat tree in our campground.
Teresa, Angie and I had our annual girl day on August 14 at the Steele County fair. As always, we included Dave so he could be our designated driver. Unfortunately, we have no pictures from that day.
The siblings, Angie and Cris met again on Saturday the 16th to listen to Fletch and the Murphy Brothers perform again at The Circle. It was touch and go for a while with the rain but turned into a perfect evening.
We went to the State Fair on the 23rd to see Dean, Karen and Clayton. We had not seen Clayton since we were all together in Mystic 2 years ago and it was great to see him again. This was another perfect weather day but 3 fairs was a bit over my limit!
The next day, Angie, Sierra and I went out for brunch at Nolabelle and wine tasting at Chankaska. That was another fun day. Sierra had never been to either place and I think she enjoyed it a lot.
We had one more visit to see Teresa and her kids included a visit to the SPAM museum in Austin on the 27th. We picked up Papa Murphy’s pizza as were leaving Austin. I love seeing all of the kids, grand and my own. We even got all 3 grands to play Uno with us!
We love taking pics of our cute dog…
We also saw Mike one last time, taking him out to supper on the 28th. He wanted a good burger so we went to Roadhouse 169.
Another thing we have done this summer is go through all of my “stuff” at Angie’s house. We gathered a lot of my Christmas decorations but the more things I saw, the more I wanted. We are taking back a lot of decorative pieces that can make our Arizona home look like it is ours. I can not believe how we made room for so many things in the trailer, inside and in the outside storage.
We are also taking Dave’s Sleepy Eye print and my North Mankato print, both by Marion Anderson. They are framed slightly differently but that is okay. They will hang over our couch.
We had a last visit with our friend Teresa Dickenson and her puppy Sadie, lunch with my cousins Donna, Linda and Linda’s “person” Tom, and a last campfire with Angie the night before leaving.
Our summer in Minnesota over and we will be leaving on September 1. We are heading to Mississippi.