Irish and Food….Sort of.

Saturday dawned a bit dreary, but promised to be a nice day later on, so we decided to go the the Irish Festival being held this weekend at the Olmstead County Historical Museum.  Evidently a lot of Irish settled in the Rochester area back in the day, so an annual festival is held to celebrate Irish heritage.

The Heritage Museum is located on the site of the George Stopple farm just outside of Rochester.  It's a lovely green site with lots of trees growing around it. The original Stone House is under reconstruction, and sits about 50 feet from a small barn.  On the first floor of the small barn is a doorway leading back into the cave that George and his family lived in until they could get their house finished.

We listened to a bit of Irish music and watched some Irish dancing, and ate some ethnic Irish food, you know, cheese curds and onion rings….

Donna and Mary shared a giggle or two.

After a few hours at the festival, looking at the various Irish things for sale, we went into downtown Rochester to look at Silver Lake.  We had been told that one of the country's largest collection of geese resided at the lake, so we had to go check it out. The lake is a very pretty spot in the middle of a bustling city, with trails aplenty.  We walked about 1.8 miles around the lake, admiring the water and flowers.

And, the geese…..

A strenuous walk requires a nap, so back at the motorhome we rested, snacked, and talked into the night.

Today, Sunday, the four of us decided to take a bit of a day trip after Roger did a few repairs to his motorhome. Water leaks continue to be a problem on the Winnebago, and he wanted to try a new approach to repair them.  It looks like a good plan, but we'll wait until the next rain, which is due this evening!

A short drive southwest led us to Austin, MN, the home of the Spam Museum!  The museum is scheduled to close this fall for an extended period of time until a new museum can be built in another part of town in 2016.  The current facility is due to be converted to office space by Hormel Foods.

Started by immigrant George Hormel in the 1800's, the company grew at a goodly pace.  When his son Jay C. took over in 1914, sales exploded.  The invention of a process that canned pork and then cooked it inside the can was largely responsible for the success.  The museum details the growth of the company, and the refinements to the processing method. We saw how quickly the product is placed in the can, sealed, and cooked, and prepared for delivery to the store.  Even George and Gracie got into the act.

Most interesting was a display of the various brands under the Hormel Foods umbrella.

We checked out the latest in Spam flavors.

But the most fun was the gift shop, 

Where we found Logo'd sunglasses,

Ladies wear,

and, of course, Spam!

What a day at the home of an iconic American product!

Oh, Boy! It's Rochester, MN!

I'll give you an idea of our day today, Friday, the 29th of August:  The Minneapolis National Guard was practicing aircraft situations and flew low over the rv park several times.

Yesterday, Thursday, Donna and I spent most of the day sprucing up for the arrival of our friends from Texas, Roger and Mary.  R&M have been at the Winnebago factory in Iowa having a few issues addressed, and have joined us for a bit of travel together.  We're looking forward to the experience, since we have never traveled with someone else.  R&M will be gracious about our shortcomings, I'm sure, and we should get along just fine.

After the Fall Cleaning, D and I went into town to pick up a few things and to stop at our newest favorite coffee shop: Caribou Coffee.  I've probably told you about the extra chocolatey mochas before, but they are wonderful!  Just as we returned to Nessie, about 3 pm or so, the skies opened up and it began to rain.  And rain.  And rain.  R&M arrived about 5 pm and set up in a pouring rain.  They were both soaked, even with umbrellas. Donna had prepared a comfort food meal for us all to share, so after a bit we calmed down and enjoyed the rain.  It sure made for good sleeping last night!

Today we made plans for a day trip, but Roger found that most of the storage bays on one side of his motorhome were soaked with water.  Evidently it had come in yesterday while driving in the big storm.  The sun was shining, so he elected to remove all his stuff from the bays and let them dry out, so we stayed close to camp and caught up on old times while the water dried. About 6:30 this evening the rain came again and drove us inside for dinner.  The girls collaborated on a burger feast, and we were dry inside, so "let it rain, let it rain".  R&M have a lovely little pup that doesn't like the rain and thunder, so we had to call the evening short so she could be comforted.  Poor little thing.  She starts shaking and needs to be held close. Kinda like me at tax time.

No rain predicted for tomorrow, so we'll have a chance to get out.

Til then!

Stillwater, MN, Fini

Today is Wednesday, the 27th of August.  Where has the summer gone?  We've left family and friends in the Twin Cities area, and moved to Rochester, MN, 90 miles southeast.  We're very sad to leave, but the road calls, and here we are in the home of the original Mayo Clinic.  No particular significance to that as far as we are concerned, but when we drove past the facility this afternoon, we were astounded at the size of the campus.  Two high-rise cranes show where even more expansion is underway.  It makes the hospital construction projects that I used to work on look like an exercise with tinker toys!  We hope to score a tour of the public areas of the hospital, and if so will post pics.  What a place!

We're staying in the Autumn Woods RV Park, site number 36.  The park caters to patients at Mayo, and currently is about 80% Mayo patients.  It's a nice park, clean, green and shady, with paved interior roads and hard surfaced patios at each site.

Since we last posted, we've been busy…….eating.  Last Monday was Minnesota State Fair day, and we did it in grand style!  A short drive got us to the fairgrounds at about 10:30 in the morning, and we didn't leave until 10:30 in the evening.  A long day of walking for us old people!

We were told that Monday wouldn't be as crowded as other days, but our first look didn't support that!

Immediately as we entered the gate, we started scoping out the fair food vendors.  This one was put near the top of the list!

One of the first areas we passed was the Kiddy Midway, where I spotted a deja vu' Donna learning how to drive….

In the machinery area, we spotted a farm tractor similar to the one I learned to drive as a kid.  The only difference was that the one my Dad had was designed to be operated in an orchard and so had larger fenders that covered the rear tires.

Kinda looks like I'm still drivin'…….

Just down the street was a 1907 Hart Parr tractor. Powered by kerosene, with a top speed of 2 mph (probably because it weighed 20,000 lbs!), it was called "Old Reliable".  It had a two horizontal cylinder engine with pistons that were 10 inches in diameter riding in a cylinder that was 15 inches long! The heavy weight tractor was started periodically for the enjoyment of antique tractor fans, and drew quite a crowd with it's huffing and puffing!

While I was checking out the old iron, Donna was looking at the new iron.

A brand new, shiny RZR 900 S kept her attention for quite a bit of time, until she noticed the price on the front!

After a warm up of corn dogs and lemonade, we made our way to the roasted corn stand for an ear of the most delicious corn I've ever eaten!  I found out later that the ears are soaked in a sugar solution before they are grilled, shucked, dipped in butter, and presented to the customers.  Wow!

We visited the Fair Museum and learned the history behind the name of the street that the main gate is located on.  Called Dan Patch Avenue, it is named for a race horse that ran at the fair race track in the early 1900's. Dan Patch was responsible for the huge attraction of harness racing at the fair, and, in 1906 set a record for the mile of one minute 55 seconds, a record that has been equaled but never broken. Dan Patch died in 1916, and his owner, Marion Savage, died 24 hours later - some say of a broken heart.

Just outside the Eco Building, where we learned about composting, recycling, and green building, we got a bird's eye view of a wind turbine blade.  Mounted on a concrete base, it is about 128 feet long and is curved in a fashion that extracts the most energy possible from the wind.

Bill and Linda forced Donna and I to ride the Skyway to Giggles, a restaurant specializing in Walleye Cakes.

The cakes were delicious, by the way, and we ate while watching a lumber jack/jill competition. Then a break to tour the Dairy Building where we saw the Fair Queen and her court sculpted from solid chunks of butter!

Oh, I almost forgot: somewhere after the Walleye Cakes we had a great cup of Lutheran Latte.  Haven't heard of that?  It's Swedish Egg coffee (you know: boil the grounds in a pot of water and put in an egg to settle the grounds and add a creamy taste), with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floated on top.  Great!

Then off to the pork chop on a stick place to finish off the day.

Well, not quite.  There was the bucket of four dozen hot, buttery, chocolate chip cookies…..

It's said that Sweet Marthas Cookie Shop makes 2.5 million dollars during the 11 day fair, and the waiting lines would support that.

By now it was after sunset, so we wandered to the midway to check out the bright lights. The weather had cooled, but that didn't stop the younger set from having a great time on the rides.  Check this one out: the arms spin, and the little cars on the ends of each of the arms have two riders.  They spin at what seems to be a horrible speed!

And the 100 foot tall twirly thingy:

Yeah, those are people on the ends of those arms!

The Ames Farm Percherons and their wagons and gear were being loading aboard two very bright red shiny truck and trailer rigs to be transported to their next event, and we got a neat photo of two of them nuzzling.

Just as the horses left, the fireworks started, so we had to hang for a bit longer.

Four very tired Boomers headed for the exit, hoping to find the car in the mass of automobiles parked in the lot in the morning.  As it turned out, most of the intelligent people had already left, and the car was all by itself!  Thank you, Bill, for getting us home safely, and no, we won't tell anyone about Snelling Avenue!

After Tuesday morning breakfast with Bill and his friends Jeff, Chuck, and Byron at a little cafe in East St. Paul (great pancakes), Bill, Linda, Donna and I drifted down to the St Croix River for a walk and snacks at the Freight House restaurant.

The river was beautiful in the early afternoon, with just a few boats on the water.

We sat on the deck overlooking the river, and enjoyed a great afternoon. In the evening, Bill and Linda's daughter Cara and her husband Bruce dropped by to say goodbye.  They brought their daughter Victoria and son Jacob, and it was great to see the grand-kids (and amazing to see what they do to a bowl of popcorn!).

This morning, Wednesday the 27th, was departure day.  Donna and I packed up Nessie and prepared her to travel. We were happy to leave the St Paul East RV Park, as the amenities are minimal.  For some reason that remained a mystery even after requests for service, the water pressure to our site 33 was so low that we had to supplement the city water supply with our water pump just to have enough pressure to rinse soap off in the shower.  Annoying.

Bill and Linda dropped by to say goodbye, and Brother and Sister shared a hug.

And then here we are in Rochester:

Stillwater, MN, Part 4

Our time with family and friends in the Minneapolis-St Paul area is growing to a close and we are beginning to feel sadness creeping into our lives.  Along with that, our best friends back home are going through a very trying time and we wish that we could be with them.  Oh, how we all wish life could be simple and fun all the time!  But then it wouldn't be called life, it would be called a fairy tale.

Last Thursday Donna and I treated ourselves to a "haircut" at Spalon Montage.  Our niece Jill has a large family, and one of her nieces works at this very nice upscale salon in Woodbury, MN, where we were fortunate to score an appointment, thanks to Jill.  We have been on the road so long that we both were well on the way to the proverbial dog license, and really needed some professional help!  Lana was kind enough to take special care with each of us: shampoo's, massage's and a very professional and knowledgable hair cut and style.  Both Donna and I are very happy now!  Thank you Jill and Lana!

Thursday afternoon we spent with Donna's brother and his wife, talking and catching up on family stuff.  An early return to Nessie and a quick dinner of yummy leftovers from the great dinners we've been enjoying set us up for an excursion on Friday.

Friday we left Stillwater and headed north.  I would like to relate the highway numbers, but I just can't seem to get them straight.  35W goes north, 35E seems to go west, 494 turns into 694 and merges with 94.  94 west goes into St Paul, but we seem to always end up on Snelling Ave, so go figure!  We ended up at Shoreline RV looking at Airstream Trailers in Anoka, MN.  Bill and Linda are contemplating the purchase of an rv so they can escape the cold Minnesota winters.  Their family is very supportive and has offered to take care of the house and yard and such, so off we went to see what the Airstream world had to offer. Let me tell you, those trailers are nice! Donna and I almost decided to trade Nessie in on one, but after discussing the options with Nessie, we were convinced not to rock the boat!  Bill and Linda, however, found the perfect Airstream for their needs. It's a beautiful 27' long model with all the panache of the Airstream line.  Perfect metalwork, superb detailing, and over-the-top engineering make Airstream's a great unit.  Even though the price was north of 80k, as an old trailer guy, I can see the value.  Years after purchase, Airstreams are reselling for most of their original price!

On the way home, we decided to take a bit of a detour into Minneapolis, since we had not seen the city on this trip.  We didn't spend much time there, but did see the site of the I35 bridge collapse some years ago.

And we passed by the site of the new Vikings Football stadium.  Several cranes are set up and progress is being made on the structure.  One of the cranes is said to be the largest in the world, requiring some 75 large trucks to bring it to the job site for assembly.

As we approached Stillwater we stopped for dinner at the Good Earth restaurant where all the dishes are made from organic, natural ingredients.  A dead cell phone battery prevented me from getting any photos, but take my word that the House burger was superb.

Yesterday, Saturday the 23rd, was a bit of a screwy day.  A repairman came to fix our microwave/convection oven in the morning, and ended up staying until noon because of the complexity of the repair.  The complaint was simple: a loud noise when operating in the convection mode.  Mr. RepairGuy had previously diagnosed a defective fan, and had ordered a new one, but to get to the fan, fan motor and shield, he needed to completely take the top and all the innards off of the microwave. Of course, this involved removing the microwave from the overhead cabinet, which in turn meant a search for the non-standard rv mounting system. Nonetheless, the job was completed, the noise disappeared, and we all gave a sigh of relief!

Later in the afternoon, we went to the St Croix River Boom Site.  This is the area of the St Croix River, between Minnesota and Wisconsin where large log "booms" gathered as they floated downstream from the huge forests in the north, tagged and identified, and then separated for delivery to lumber mills.  Occasionally the booms would become entangled and had to be separated with dynamite!  Can you imagine the lumberjacks hopping from log to log out on the river with sticks of dynamite stuffed in their jeans?

We ended up in Wisconsin near the town of Hudson, and the Italian restaurant known as Mama Maria's where we enjoyed a wonderful Italian feast of spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, and shrimp linguini after appetizers of crab cakes and stuffed mushrooms. The meals were served with a choice of salad or soup, and Bill and I choose the soup, which was a Jalapeño Cheeseburger dish.  Oh boy!  Our server, a lovely lady named Lisa, was most attentive and made the entire experience one to remember.  We promised ourselves that we wouldn't eat like that ever again!

So, today, Sunday, we arrived at the Lake Elmo Inn for Sunday Brunch!  Known far and wide for their buffet, and chosen as one of the top ten restaurants in the Twin Cities, we proceeded to break yesterdays promise several times over!

The entire adult family joined together for a great time of stories and laughs.  With apologies to Linda on the left and Jill on the right, here we are (except for Donna, who was taking the pic).

We waddled out and returned to Nessie for a quick change of clothes.  The humidity was a bit high today, with thunderstorms rolling through and a scattering of rain, so a change into short pants was a requirement!  We repaired to Bill and Linda's home for a continuation of the conversation and snacks.

Here's Bill and Linda just after Bill told Linda that they ought to sell their house and buy a trailer!

Tomorrow it's off to the Minnesota State Fair, so stay tuned for photos of that!  Bill has a plan to see the half of the fair that we missed last year. Considering that we spent the entire day there last year, I'm sure that we will do the same this year!

Stillwater, MN, Part 3

Monday the 18th was a great shopping day for us.  A trip into St Paul got us to the Mall of America, said to be the largest shopping mall in the country. Three floors plus a basement that houses an aquarium contain hundreds of stores. The center of the mall contains a roller coaster and various carnival rides for the more adventurous.

Of course, the mall has a least three Caribou Coffee stores with our favorite coffee drinks.  Donna loves their coffee of the day with cream, hot in the morning and cold in the afternoon.  I prefer their Campfire Coffee, which is a mocha made with extra chocolate, white, mint, regular, or dark, or a combination of all four!

We just had to "pay" our Minnesota State Visitors Tax before we left the Mall with several bags of goodies!  There is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota, so it's easy to convince yourself that you're saving money (not).

The mall is in the midst of a huge expansion program, which is designed to almost double its size, as if we needed even more shopping floors to walk!

Bill and Linda and Donna and I stopped at Bubba Gump's for lunch, and contrary to the appearance of my stomach, this photo was taken before lunch!

Tuesday was another shopping day, after Bill and I went to breakfast with his neighbors Chuck and Jeff.  A fourth, Byron, was away on vacation and couldn't make it, but the four of them go every Tuesday to a restaurant of the choice of the alternating driver.  They've been doing this for years and have established a great relationship!  They were kind enough to invite me to go along, and I enjoyed the conversation and friendship immensely.  After lunch we all went to the 3M Company store for a supply of post-it notes and various 3M products.  Somehow we managed to throw over $100 at the 3M pension fund!  A quick trip of Costco completed our shopping today.

In the evening we went to dinner at Nacho Mama's with Bill, Linda, their daughter Cara and her husband Bruce, along with their kids Jacob, Victoria and James. It was Summer Tuesday, where the whole town turns out to enjoy music, food and drink, and a movie on the grass overlooking the St Croix river.

Nacho Mama's is not your typical Mexican restaurant.  The portions are huge, and we brought home at least half of our Chili Rellenos, Smothered Burritos and Enchilada Bake.  The Bake was and enchilada dish made like Lasagna, with layered tortillas baked in an individual deep dish!  We started with a couple of appetizers that included bacon wrapped Jalapeno Poppers! Wonderful.

As soon as we got to the park along the River, the kids disappeared (thank goodness), leaving us to enjoy the evening talking and laughing.  Cara and Bruce even managed to get an "alone" moment.

As the evening grew later a dinner cruise ship made a circuit of the River just offshore from the park.

Today, Wednesday, we went back into St Paul to visit the State Capitol, which is undergoing a multimillion dollar renovation.  Unfortunately the central rotunda was completely closed off.  We did manage to get photos of several interesting architectural areas.

The formal stairs to the second floor are beautiful.

While the room that the State Senate meets in is very beautiful, with its skylight and ornate backdrop,

We enjoyed the House of Representatives room more.

Perhaps the attraction was the chance meeting with the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives.   Mr. Albin A. Mathiowetz.  He is the gentleman that oversees the entire staff of the House, and sits at the center desk just in front of the Speaker of the House when the House is in session.  In Minnesota, the Legislature meets for 3 months starting each year in February, and somehow manages to still complete the work of governing a diverse state!  Methinks our home state of California could take a lesson!  In any case, Mr. Mathiowetz has been the Chief Clerk since 1971, and had a number of interesting stories to tell. His position is non-political, but allows him to see up close the inner political workings of the House.  A very interesting person, he related a number of facts and figures about the room, including the fact that the acoustics are phenomenal. Each member when standing in the "well" in the front center of the room can be heard clearly throughout the room.  Unfortunately, each member seated at his or her desk can also be heard in a specific narrow area of the room, so they are cautioned not to speak out of turn or indiscreetly, because some other member may be able to hear them.  Interesting!

At 2:30, we stumbled on a demonstration of the Navy Leap Frog Parachute Team.  These Navy Seals are on a nationwide tour and provided a wonderful example of precision jumping.  With proper gear, they can jump from 30,000 feet and travel some 70 miles before landing.  Today they jumped from about 4500 feet over the State Capitol.

Two jumpers tagged up and made a tandem landing on a small square of grass directly in front of the Capitol.

The third parachutist, having held back for a bit, deployed an American Flag and circled the landing area.

And then made a perfect upright landing directly on the target!

Congratulations and Thank You, Navy Seals!

We returned to the interior of the Capitol to complete our self-guided tour, and then walked through the grounds in front of the building. Modeled after the Capitol Mall in Washington, the park stretches two blocks out in front and includes memorials to Minnesotans who have served and died defending our great country.  Front and center of the memorials is a memorial to members of the Law Enforcement community that have given their lives in the service of the cities and state of Minnesota.

The narrow white band in the center lights up at night with blue lights, representing the "Thin Blue Line" of protection that we citizens have come to take for granted.

Well done, Minnesota!