Southern Minnesota



Sunset

 While driving around in Minnesota we noticed a lot of pig farms. They raise a lot of pigs in this area. I talked to a woman that said they fertilize a lot of the fields from the pigs waste.

There were a lot of tractors busy in the fields getting them ready for planting. They grow a lot of corn and have a bio ethanol factory here. Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes. We have seen a lot of lakes.




Sisseton Lake

 We went to see The Jolly Green Giant HO HO HO. The Jolly Green Giant Statue symbol of the long standing association with the city of Blue Earth, was erected in 1979. 55 feet tall, made of fiberglass, wears a size 78 shoe, weights 8,000 pounds, cost $43,000.00. It honors the largest producer of corn and peas, known locally as Seneca Foods.


HO HO HO



We saw a Horse and Human Drinking Fountain
A drinking fountain for the use of both horses and humans was erected in Welcome, MN., a town of 686 people, in 1914 - horses drink from the street side and humans drink from the sidewalk side.      

We saw a sight called Heritage acres. It was not open but we did drive through and saw an old school built in 1892 with a bell in the top. There was a old granary, blacksmith, train depot, church, old cabin, house, steam engine and all kinds of old equipment.

The weather here got down in the 20’s a few nights and reminded us it is winter. There is a storm coming in tonight so Reba and I won’t get much sleep. Hope it goes around us. Until next time.

 

Opera house Fairmont

                                             court house Fairmont


Ginny

IOWA

Before we left Kansas we had to get new tires for the fifth wheel. I thank my lucky stars we didn’t have a blow out just a flat.

 When leaving Kansas we passed through the town Amelia Earhart was born (Atchison Kansas). We crossed a Big bridge across the Missouri river that was pretty scary.

scary bridge

 It’s a good thing they are building a new one. We didn’t spend to much time in Missouri. We drove through the top part into a few towns. Missouri was hit pretty hard by a tornado a while back and decided not to go through a big part. Some of the farm lands were very uneven. They were farming up and down the side of hills. We saw houses that were built right in the side of the hill. The roof on one side was level to the ground.

house built in the hillside

 One side had windows but the other didn‘t. I didn’t pay enough attention to see if they were all facing the same direction. I am sure that is to help from being taken away by a tornado. We have been traveling in tornado alley and I keep my fingers crossed the storm stay away.

We stayed at Lake of three fires in Iowa. It is a very large state park. I have walked all around the place. I saw many white tail deer but they were so fast I didn’t get my camera working before they were gone. I walked up pretty close to a goose on her nest so I backed up before she took after me.

 They have lots of red squirrels here but they run off before you have a chance to get there picture but I fooled one after he was in the tree.




Little Wall Lake Iowa

   We have been seeing so many things it is unbelievable. We drove to a lake called Little Wall Lake.

 It is a nice lake and a lot of people coming to fish. I took a picture of a man who caught a nice bass.

The man in the part with a bass he caught

We were going to get our license and try our luck but the park doesn’t have any garbage service. You pack your own trash out. Well we decided that might not be a good idea to pack out fish heads they might get smelly. We were about 5 miles from a friend of ours Kathy. We met in Alamo Texas. We surprised her and she told us she didn’t think she would ever see us again. We had her over for supper and we went to her house a couple days later for a BBQ. It was a nice visit and she has a nice house. We had a great visit.



Kathy and her Kitty

We had a large limousine come through the park it was unusual don‘t know who or what it was all about.




I saw a snake while on a walk and my heart skipped a beat or two but it was dead thank goodness. I looked it up I think it was a garter snake but a snake is a snake in my book. Back on the road.
　
Ginny

Kansas

 

Friend I met in the camp





When we left Amarillo we went by an oil refinery.


refinery



 There was a smell of oil in the air, I really didn‘t like it. Guess you would get use to it. We have seen oil wells and oil towers in fields in 3 or 4 states now. We smelled a lot of stock yards on our way through Texas. Also there were a lot of dead skunks killed along the road. Glad we didn’t hit one. We saw some antelope in some fields too. I even saw a coyote. We went through some of Kansas flat lands where you could see for miles and miles. We finally drove out of the flat lands and into areas where they had small hill sides a lot prettier areas with trees and nice farms. We saw one field that had cow elk in it. Not sure if they were raising them or if they were wild.




                              Cheney Reservoir




We camped over night at Cheney Reservoir. It was a pretty Reservoir. Not very many people around. The water was not turned on yet. But they did have power. They had some beautiful bright pink trees in bloom there.





We left there and stopped for a break in a parking lot. It was a good thing as one of our tires looked low. Charlie kicked it and the air started coming out. We had to change it. Just feel so lucky we were off the road and didn’t have a blow out.



Sunset in Kansas

 We found a nice campground down the road to stay a few days and check on tires. We went into Topeka Kansas and found some tires.We will get new tires for the fifth wheel on our way out of town. While in Topeka Kansas we went to the capitol.

going to the capital building

 It is a very pretty building and I went inside and looked around. They are working on it and some parts were blocked off.Lots of brass inside.



white lilac bush



cherry blossoms

 The tulips and some other flowers and trees are in bloom. This year has ot warmer for different parts of the country. My dad was born in Caldwell Kansas in 1926 and moved to Idaho/Oregon area when he was 9. He told us girls about having a tornado shelter on the farm he was raised on and how he hated to run in there when a storm came.
They have one in this park.





lilac

 

Tornado shelter in campground


 Back on the road more to come . Ginny

Amarillo

We are in Amarillo Texas. We stayed a week at Amarillo Ranch RV park. It is a very nice RV park with a indoor heated pool and hot tub. I have taken advantage of the pool.

We went to the Big Texan and had a nice dinner. We rode in the limo from the RV park.

Charlie had a nice steak and I had BBQ pork ribs. The food was fantastic. It was a lot of fun. They have a 72oz steak and trimmings, if you eat it in a hour you get it free. There is a camera on the person eating and you can watch it on your computer. Well Charlie called his friend John and he turned on his computer so he could see Charlie on stage with a napkin that said hi John.It was a lot of fun. We took some pictures.

 We both sat in a extra big rocking chair and got our picture taken,
you know things are bigger in Texas.

 We took home enough food for a couple meals. Then Charlie went down and got some Rocky Mt Oysters a couple days later.




We went to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It is 120 miles long and 800 feet deep and is the second-largest canyon in the United States.

 Palo Duro Canyon State park is more than 30,000 acres One of the nations most magnificent scenic byways. We enjoyed the vistas of color and beauty. The different geologic layers of beautiful colors.

We went to Amarillo Zoo. It was a small zoo.

                               

 It was very clean and well taken care of. We saw some Fantastic animals. One of my favorites was a Serral cat.

 Well I am a cat lover so there were Bobcats, Tigers, Lions, Lioness, Wallaby’s, Black handed spider monkeys and lots more. It was a lot of fun.
We also went to a Cadillac Ranch.

 The worlds only! Ten Cadillac’s buried nose down in a field at the same angle as the Cheops Pyramid.

They are in a farmers field and you can paint them all you want. People were all over the place painting all kinds of things on them.
We will be headed toward Kansas. More to come.
Ginny

Back on the road

We left Lake Charles March 12^th . We were there for 5 months. We enjoyed our stay. It feels nice to be back on the road I always enjoy all the new places and new things to see.
 

Our first two nights back on the road was out of Jefferson Texas. Corps of Engineers park on Lake O’ The Pines. It was a very pretty campground / lake and we were lucky to get a spot there as spring break had just started . We drove around and went to the dam. There were a number of people fishing and I saw a man with some crappie.





They were quite large and real thick would have liked to catch some of them and eat them. We were leaving the next day so we didn‘t do any fishing.

Lake Texoma

We drove into Oklahoma where we stayed at another Engineer park on Lake Texoma for 6 nights. It was close to Durant Oklahoma. We saw all kinds of horse statues in the town and some were made with scrap medal. 

 One looked like a Ford tailgate. I have been walking the campground to try to get some needed exercise. It is a nice park overlooking the lake.Where there are some pretty sunsets.  


 We stayed a extra day as a storm was coming from the direction we were headed. It had lightning and thunder so loud it scared you out of bed then the endless rain. The host came down to tell us that if a tornado came to come wake him and he would unlock the bathrooms. Why he just didn‘t unlock them for the people I don’t know. Well I am very thankful one didn’t come and the news said we could get some hail the size of golf balls. Glad it went some where else. Reba and I didn’t get much sleep that night. I had my nose to the window and Reba walked the 5^th wheel. The next day I was ready to get on the road but Charlie told me the news said there was more storm to come. I wanted to crawl in a hole. Well he looked it up on the internet it looked like it was gone. So we got on the road, thank goodness!
We then drove to Vernon, Texas where I was a able to do the laundry and get a good night sleep.
Then back on the road. We are in Amarillo Texas for a week now and have some things to see. More to come. Ginny