Minnesota In Review

No, we haven't been in Minnesota all this time!  Just realizing that the further we get from home, the worse our internet connections seem to be.  Uploading blog pictures with a weak signal... torture.  Our week in Minnesota began as our "typical" visit there... time in New Prague to visit with family.  We spent time with Jeanne's aunt, uncle, cousin, grandma & little second cousins.  For as long as I can remember, visits to MN have included lots of games of Piggy with Bop (who is 95 and just about sharp as ever!) and now it's Natalie & Alayna who beg to play.

Not only is Bop sharp, but oh-so-artistic.  She is always busy painting the most beautiful things and recently began a new project... quilts that have painted squares of all 50 states!  She gave us one during our visit and we think it's made our new home complete:)

Playing with the little cousins was another highlight for the girls.  They picnicked at the park, played dress-up, had spa time and sleepovers. 

Natalie & Alayna with Ana, Ashton & Alivia

We always look forward to Carol's fabulous cooking, and this year she went over the top with an amazing lemonade recipe... so good I have to share:)  

Vintage Lemonade: 

 Peel 10 large lemons, not getting any of the bitter white peel.

 Add 2 1/2 cups sugar.

 Stir lightly and let sit for at least a few hours...

 till it gets like this.

Add 6 cups of boiling water.

 Juice the 10 lemons and add the juice to your mix.

Add another 6 cups of water and refrigerate.

Best lemonade ever!

While staying in New Prague we took the opportunity to visit Bethlehem Baptist (John Piper's church...sound familiar Bible Study friends?!?), visit with long time family friends Mike & Judy, made a trip to Mankato to visit Jim's good friend from college, Derick and his new wife Bridgette and kids, and visit Jeanne's aunt & uncle in Northfield, Ron & Bettye.  We had a lovely lunch with Ron & Bettye and enjoyed getting updates on the extended family and hearing about the Ronning Norwegian heritage.  

We loved staying at Tom & Carol's house for a few days, but were surprised that we actually missed our new home and were happy to be back in our house on wheels!  It's always hard leaving family and especially difficult this time as we left Lucy behind, too.  Tom & Carol graciously offered to take care of her for the year and we know she'll be well loved there.  

Jim could hardly wait for our next stop as it included FISHING!  Mille Lacs is known to be the Walleye capital of the world, so we joined a fishing guide for about 4 hours on the lake.  We all experienced catching fish, and were able to take home 5 walleye and one perch for dinner.  Alayna ended up with the biggest whopper at 25 1/2"! 

The girls were NOT looking forward to our next destination and we wondered if this off-the-route stop would be worth the extra drive.  Turns out Itasca State Park ended up being one of our favorites yet!  Itasca holds the location of the start of the Mississippi which we were able to walk across! 

Did you know... that in 1832 Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (sent by the U.S. government to help negotiate a treaty between the Dakota & Ojibwe) led a group of 30, and with the help of Ojibwe chief Ozawindib, discovered the Mississippi river's source.  Many had searched for it's source including Zebulon Pike, Lewis Cass and Giacomo Beltrami.  Sorely tried by "voracious, long-billed and dyspeptic musketoes" and portages knee-deep in mud, the little band caught their first glimpse of the lake on July 13th.  Schoolcraft named it "Itasca" meaning "true head" in Latin.  His expidition also vaccinated 2,000 Ojibwe against smallpox and achieved an intertribal peace treaty. 

The cool water lent a refreshing break to our long drive and the girls played and explored for about an hour here.  Walking on the nature trail back to our home, we spotted a snake crossing the path.  Of course Jim wanted to catch it, but while looking for it we heard what sounded like a baby bird chirping.  To our surprise we were able to see nature in action... the snake had caught a small frog by it hind legs and was slowly gulping the poor thing down.  Alayna wanted to cry, but I just love these little things we are able to stop and take the time to notice now:)

Our next destination included our favorite campsite yet.  We stayed 15 miles west of Duluth in Saginaw, MN.  Our site faced a beautiful pond with the dock & fishing/paddle boats right by us. 

 The mornings were so peaceful here... our favorite was hearing the loon's call. 

Minnesota state bird

 And this became the town where Alayna officially became addicted to fishing!  (Yes, Dad is so, so proud...and still working on Natalie)  Morning and night, she & Jim loved hopping in the boat, catching fish after fish. 

Alayna even learned to take her own fish off the hook and kept a few as pets for the day:)  

Blueberry, Bubbles & Rainbow

 They mostly caught Bluegill, but Jim was thrilled to catch bass & a couple of huge Northern Pike (5 & 8 lbs!). 

While here, we took one day to explore the "All-American Road" (a.k.a. the North Shore)... a 150 mile highway along the coastline between Duluth and the Canadian border.  But with one frustration... Did any of you hear of the MN government shut-down???  Well, it did.  And so right before the holiday weekend all state facilities, including parks & campgrounds were closed up, kicking all campers out! 

 This left us with barricades in front of all the waterfalls, lighthouses & trails we wanted to see.  

So what did we do, you ask???  

 Parked along the highway with everyone else and jumped the barriers:) We actually drove all the way to Canada (but forgot our passports so couldn't cross the border) and saw beautiful sights along the way.  

Years ago, their great-grandma, Bop, won a photo contest at this location...Temperance Falls (behind the girls) 

Our drive also included a drop in temperature... we left in the morning at 84 degrees and throughout the day dropped to 51*!

Our last day in this area held a bike ride along Duluth's Lakewalk which had amazing views of Lake Superior & the city.

After visiting MN for years & years, it was so great to finally see the beauty of northern MN... though we can't wait to spend time with family again:)

Iowa in Review

  Our trip to Iowa began in the Amana Colonies where we met our first RV campground friends!  Their 4 month old mini schnauzer drew the girls over right away.  We've quickly discovered that fellow RVers are willing and excited to share tips & recommendations.

  So the Amana Colonies... a touristy town, but we found so much history in this communal society from the 1800's.  We toured quaint gift shops and buildings that were reminiscent of the era and loved that it was close enough to bike to & around. 

We all loved our next stop.  Jim's dream was to hand milk a cow while in Iowa, so dear friends of ours contacted their Mennonite relatives in Kolona and made Jim's wildest dreams come true:)  Our first stop was to James Yoder's chicken farm where we were able to tour through several barns full of nearly 100,000 chickens!  We were able to see the process from chick to egg-laying hens & how they collected, sorted & packaged the thousands of eggs.

We then went across town to James' brother Layton & his wife Joanne's to watch the hard work involved in running a dairy farm.  We were able to observe the 5:00pm milking and even milk a cow ourselves!  Natalie & Alayna were then given the chance to bottle feed a few-day-old calf some of the fresh milk.  

One more thing off the bucket list!

Alayna milkin'

Natalie milkin'

Layton's sweet daughter swatting the cows out.

Chatting with some of the Yoder kids

James & Layton's dad, Calvin and his wife Aida had us over for dinner and we enjoyed our evening chatting with them. 

It was so nice for these families to let us have a peak into their world and priceless getting to show our girls how much goes into getting the foods that we so easily buy at the grocery store.

Next was Des Moines where we tried our first of Adam Richman's (Man vs. Food) food challenges!  Last year he visited Jethro's Barbeque to take on the Emmenecker Challenge, but was unsuccessful and joined many others in the "hall of shame".  

 Turns out the four of us together couldn't even finish this bad boy:

That's because it consisted of a huge pork tenderloin, an angus steak burger topped with slabs of texas brisket, applewood bacon and fried cheese, finished with buffalo chicken tenders.  All smothered with melted cheddar cheese and white cheddar sauce, placed between two buns and served with a side of baked beans.

Pure deliciousness... just too much deliciousness.

Our last fun in Iowa was visiting the Living History Farms... a Deanna Rose Farmstead on steroids!  A whole town set up like one in the 1800's and an area that led us through 300 years of Iowa's farming history.

 

Broommaker 

Blacksmith

Drug Store

The girls loved learning how leeches have (and still are) used for medical purposes!

Oxen working the fields

We loved that we were able to see a new side of Iowa other than the monotonous drive through it while heading up north on I-35 every year.  The rolling hills of crops sprinkled with barns, silos & cattle were so beautiful.  But we're ready for time with family and exploring in MN!