In Minnesota

Princeton, MN= 75º and sunshine.

Spent most of last week in State Center, IA at the Kenwood RV (La Feria, Texas) Summer Rally.  At left is picture of our group Wednesday that a local newspaper photographer took.  They always publish our picture in the paper and story about our gathering.


From left to right, all three lines:  Twila and Bill Oberholzer, Bobbi and Bob Raab, Phyllis Miles, Dick Messer, Lynn Miles, Linda Foote, Denny Arment, Don Foote, Deanne Messer, Jan (Dan Herbst's sister), Lola Schoppe, Dan Herbst, Harold Williams, Mardi and Carl Pingleton, Imogene Williams, Linda and Orval Crane, Judy Chroninger, LaRhoda Neher, Maxine Koch, Harold Neher, Jerry and Linda Whitt, Butch Giesking, Lavon  & Anna Mae Schaefer, Ed and Kaye Stanger.

Most came on Monday and left on Friday.  Several of us stayed through Monday and enjoyed some of the Rose Festival that was going on in State Center that weekend.  We enjoyed chili and barbequed ribs Friday evening and parade on Sunday morning.  Just before a rain.  Had rained previous to the parade, also.  We had moved our trailer on to solid ground, but the big forecasted hail and thunderstorm did not materialize Saturday evening -- at least for us, think it went to the north of us.

 At left are the Mesers and the Whitts and us waiting for the parade

One of the parade entries.

Lot of activity with visiting and lots of food.

One evening we played "Left-Right" passing gifts back & forth.

We usually have our rally in August and pick sweet corn on one of Lola's neighbors farm.  Being this one was in June, so we could go to the Rose Festival, there would be no local sweet corn.  So, Twila and Bill Oberholzer went to their local Fairway store in Boone, IA and got 3 crates of sweet corn from Georgia.  Sooooo we had our sweet corn!

Lot of visiting.

 Food lines - we enjoyed the meals.

Lots of games of Pegs & Jokers.

After one lunch Harold Neher was tired.

After one lunch Orval Crane was tired.

After one lunch LaRhoda Neher was tired.

After the same lunch Butch Geisking was tired.

One day Denny Arment brought his son and grandson over.  He was delighted to sit on a tractor.

On Sunday we drove to Titonca, IA and ate lunch with Butch Giesking and he showed us around his house and the farmground he still has.  He was widowed this winter and seems to be doing fine.

At right is Dick & Betty McConnell in their farm home near Russell, MN.

McConnells have a nice home on their farm.  There was a storm, with hail, predicted so they had us park our trailer in the machine shed (you can see the nose of the pickup sticking out of it in the center of the photo.

Don & Betty's farm home.  They also have a house in Russell, MN  They showed us much of the area, including their Russell home, the place in Marshall where they volunteer one day a week at a thrift store.







Then we drove to Pipestone, MN and spent some time at Pipestone National Monument (Click Here) 


I had never thought of the meaning of the word Pipestone -- the Indians made peace pipes from the stone found in that area.  Duh!

One of the Indians demonstrating making pipes, and other items out of the reddish stone.

One of the areas being worked.  They are not allowed to use any mechanical devices (Backhoes, etc.) and the Pipestone layer is quite a few feet below various kinds of stone, including quartz.

With all the rains of late, the "creek" running through the park was quite high and running rapidly.  Took some movies of a waterfalls there, but didn't get any still photos.

 

  Tuesday we headed east and north and stopped at Walnut Grove, MN where there is a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  We were too early, as it opened at 10:00 am and we had lined up to see Shorty and Jerry Ramsbacher by 10, so we went on.

Shorty & Jerry's farm house.

A couple years ago they had some remodeling and added on a section at the back of the house which gave them a terrific back yard area and really nice landscaped yard.

Shorty, Phyllis and Jerry under the deck at the back of the house.

Showing a flower bed from the upper deck.

Shorty served up a terrific lunch and then we drove east to 

Lester & Marion Vanderwerf's in Springfield, MN.  After a short visit we drove to









Bird Island, MN to Virgil and Lavon Green's house. 

 They invited Ken and Jenny Langmo, over for visit and some coffee and deserts.

 Virgil on the back deck.

Ken "Mr. Fantastaic" Langmo visiting on Virgil's back porch.  Ken, who is fantastic, just like he always says when you ask him how he is, is so hard of hearing, so misses out on much of the conversations, but enjoys visiting and by reading lips and having you yell at him.

Jenny and Ken at the table, with Lavonne Green behind (serving tea).

We enjoyed ourselves so long with the Greens, and they did drive us around town and pointed out where he had been Superintendent of schools there, that it was nearly 7 pm when we pulled out.  We decided to drive the 130 miles on to Princeton, MN to Dick & Deanne Messers account the long daylight now.  We did get to their place just at dusk about 9:30 pm. 

Back side of Deanne & Dick Messer's house

Front of Deanne & Dick Messer's house 

Flowers toward front of Messer's yard







Below is another shot of front of Messer's home.

Deanne and Dick Messer in their really nice sun room at the back of their house.

Dick does some fantastic machining work, both with metal and wood.

Heck of a machining mechanism-------

Lathe

 We went to an art place downtown where various artisans work and sell their products.

Dick (with his son Ron in the background) worked for some time this morning making some brackets to put in closet of our trailer.

Dick cutting some aluminum -- at his right is sand-blasting machine he used on the brackets later.

Aluminum brackets in place to hold level a cloth shoe closet that Phyllis uses for many things in one of the closets.



Previous to doing this work, Dick went with us on his bicycle as we rode our trikes some 3.5 miles around the really level streets in this area.



Dick left just before noon with his son Ron for a 4-day weekend at a tractor pull over in Wisconsin.  Phillis washed clothes and visited with Dianne and after lunch we went to Walmart and then Office store so I could get Toner for the printer we have with us.  Was getting monthly statements for charge cards and couldn't print to check against our receipts.  In good shape now.

We will leave early in the morning for Browersville, MN and spend a day and night with Lyle & Doris Winter.  Will try to get to Gross Isle north of Winnepeg by Sunday morning some time to spend some time with Loris and Gail Barsanti.  Loris sings with me in the choir and Gail works with Phyllis on quilts and both play Bean Bag Baseball -- at Kenwood RV Park in La Feria, Texas in the winter.

More later, (When I can get to a good WIFI),  Lynn

Sunday

Clarinda, IA 74º

Saturday we worked in yard.  Phyllis is weeding and trimming flowers.

 I cut all the lower limbs and branches from all the trees in front and back yard.

Ate out on the deck -- had a lot of rain for weeks, but had a nice day for this.

Went out to lunch with group from church -- Jay's Pizza and Steak House here in Clarinda today.  Then after got home rode the trikes a little over 8 miles.  Lots of clouds - 70% humidity, but while we were riding had good breeze until the last mile or so.

Have spent quite a bit of time putting projected stops on the GPS for trip later this month north into Canada and then to the east, back in to Michigan and then back in to Canada a while and return to US in New York State -- visiting many friends and places in Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and other states before swinging back west in the US.  Have made many improvements to the trailer -- storage shelves, hanging hooks, and altering the underneath storage area.  Added some shelving in the topper on the Pickup.  Put finishing touches on things week from today.

Later, Lynn

June is busting out all over!

Clarinda, IA57º overcast - to get to 77º today.
Well, we have had a busy month - looking back at our pictures, I see we:
May 1st - Went to square dance at Creston, IA.
May 3 visited 93 year old friend Luther Compton and his wife Marie at their farm near College Springs, IA.
May 4 Made riser blocks for bed in basement so Phyllis can use as work bench for quilts.
May 8 got topper on pickup and walked Papio Creek trail to Zorinsky Lake.
May 11th - 13th Steve and Beth Gregory (Phyllis' sister) visited from Colorado.
May 13th - I helped unload truck for food pantry at Methodist Church. -- Cleaned shop gutters.
May 14th -16th  Don & Vicki Miles (my brother) visited from Missouri
May 16th - went to Lincoln, NE - attended High School graduation party for niece Tiffany Miles
May 17th - Last singing of season with church choir; left with travel trailer for 10-day trip.  Parked in back yard of Leonard & Noni Lund in Whiting, IA.  Steve & Ann DeBoom came for supper & Pegs & Joker games.
May 18th - Had lunch with cousin Donna Weiting and her husband Maynard and their daughter Darcy and granddaughter Brooke in Watertown, SD.  Drove to De Smet, SD for night.
May 19th - Toured Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead and museum, walked the town reading plaques on all buildings citing what was in that location during Laura Ingall's childhood.  Drove to Pierre, SD.
May 20th - Toured South Dakota State Capital and visited/walked many of the Lewis & Clark sites and drove to Oahe Dam and Lake on the Missouri at Pierre.
May 21st - Drove west, spent several hours at Wall Drug and Wall, SD, set trailer at French Creek RV on south edge of Custer, SD.
May 22nd - Spent time at Crazy Horse Memorial and The Indian Museum of North America; drove area including Sturgis, Deadwood, and northern part of Black Hills area.
May 23rd - Drove Needles Highway (much of it in fog or low hanging clouds), drove full loop to south in Custer State Park; and in later afternoon visited Mount Rushmore.  (Much of day in fog)
May 24th - Drove to Fort Robinson near Crawford, NE, visited area near Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, drove 13 miles on wet gravel road (Washed rig that evening in Scottsbluff) and spent night near Gering and Scottsbluff, NE.
May 25th - Drove through Sandhills to Callaway, NE.  Parked trailer in yard of Sharleen and Lynn Stivers.  Visited my parents grave and went to Broken Bow for supper with the Stivers.  Afterwards visited with Monte Jo and Madeline McFate.
May 26th - Visited Lower Lodi neighbor Norman Downan at his farm; drove by the home place where I lived from 1947 to 1961; spent time in Custer County Museum in Broken Bow, and met Jake & Helen Ferguson, Don Ferguson and Lawrence Ferguson for lunch at the Tumbleweed Cafe.  Drove to Clarinda, mowed lawn (could have baled hay) before dark.
May 29th - Viewed Ed Nordland auto auction and many cars.
May 30th -  Watched some of auction of the many auto parts; in evening watched the Cruzin' Clarinda Parade with over 100 entries from tractors, pickups to cars.
May 31st - Watched part of the auction; was open to telephone and internet bidding.  One Mustang brought $174,000 + the 10% cash or 13% check or credit-card sales commission.

In Custer, South Dakota

All of the above I am taking from looking at photos.  I am still sorting through the 2,166 photos taken in May, straightening, deleting, cropping, etc.  I take/took many photos of signs at museums, etc. which viewed in Picasa I can enlarge and read again the stories I read at the time.

Will post as I get to it, Lynn

10-Day Vacation to South Dakota

Clarinda, IA 71º overcast.  Light rain during the day.

We left Clarinda, with our travel trailer, about noon Sunday, May 17 for South Dakota.  Our main purpose was to see the progress on the carving at Crazy Horse Monument.  Click Here for website Though we spent only one day at the monument (drove by it several other days) it is interesting that they are building the INDIAN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH AMERICA® on site and currently have students in a 2-year program and are working to build a 4-year University.

 Stopped first in Whiting, IA and parked our trailer in back yard of Leonard & Noni Lund.  They invited fellow RVers Steve and Ann DeBoom from just north of Sioux City to join us for supper and some Pegs & Jokers afterwards.

Next morning we headed north, in very strong winds - blowing hard on us and our travel trailer - and had lunch with Donna and Maynard Weiting.  With her were her daughter Darcy and granddaughter

Well, I started this 3 or 4 days ago and left and never got back to it.  Will post and try to fill in later.
Lynn

French Creek RV Custer, SD

Custer, SD  46º - to get to 38º tonight and scattered rain tomorrow with 47º high.

Have taken some 700 photos - we were in Whiting, IA last Sunday night.  Visited cousin Donna Weiting and her husband Maynard and their daughter Dorsey and Granddaughter Monday noon in Watertown, SD.  Stayed that night at Campground in Desmet, SD where we toured Laura Engalls Wilder buildings on Tuesday.  High winds Sunday and Monday and very poor GPM on the truck pulling the travel trailer.  Winds down on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Stayed in campground right on Missouri River in Pierre, SD about half-mile from the Capital.  Toured the Capital and drove around both Pierre and Fort Pierre looking at sites of Lewis & Clark as well as the Oahoe Dam and lake.  Rode the recumbent trikes about 5 miles on bike trail right on the Missouri River.  Today we drove from Pierre to Custer, SD -- spent several hours in Wall, SD at Wall Drug and surrounding area.  Have 3 nights in French Creek RV Park only couple blocks from main street in town.  Walked a little over a mile tonight on the main street, both east and west after we ate supper at the trailer.  Intend to be at Crazy Horse Monument by 7:30 am tomorrow, hoping to get in as much thee and at Mount Rushmore before or between the rains.

Will post pictures as I have time.  Tonight is first campground with WIFI so have taken advantage of reading on it for about 3 hours now.  To bed and on with things tomorrow.
Later, Lynn