Pop Goes the Fourth and More!

While we have enjoyed our travels across this great country, this visit to Minnesota has brought us back to old and new friends! Our family in this part of the country has treated us like royalty, and we joined them for an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration at our Niece and Nephew's home in St Paul. Chuck and Jill have a reputation for throwing a great party, and this was no exception. Our niece Cara is Chuck's sister, and her husband Bruce were a large part of the days festivities and are wonderful people. Our son Jeff and his son Devan flew in from NorCal for the week, so it was a great family time, and we love them all.

The weather prediction for the Fourth was for intermittent thundershowers and rain. It did not disappoint. We started our afternoon with a knife and axe throwing competition that began with Bruce and his son James throwing in a downpour!

Then a quick exit to the shelter of the umbrella for some snacks!

After a 30 minute break, the competition resumed!

Then it was back to the shelter again!

There you go again...back to the contest! Where Jeff managed to accomplish a one of a kind feat...sticking the knife on the back side of the target board!

Devan, our grandson, and Jill kept us laughing!

So happy that we could get together!

After all the good food and good company on Wednesday (Bruce did a great job on the Jalapeño Poppers, and Chuck whipped up a huge plate of burgers), we decided that a low-key day on Thursday was in order. So, after another huge burger at Meisters Restaurant in downtown Stillwater, we adjourned to the local ice cream parlor for dessert. Nelson's has been serving up huge portions of ice cream for years and years, and Donna's face reflects the tremendous choices available!

As you can see, Nelson's always has a line out the door! The only tables are outdoors, and the line snakes back and forth three times inside the building, Make your choice, tell the server, pay your cash, and out the backdoor you go! These people have ice cream down to a science!

Both Chuck and Jill are on staff at a company that makes, fits, and repairs orthopedic braces and prosthetics. They were kind enough to give the whole family a tour of the facility on Friday, showing us the whole process...from taking precise measurements to programming a robot to accurately create  prosthetics and braces. They can reproduce, support, stretch, and mold just about any body part necessary! Here's Da Boyz in the group:

Saturday was our last day with the Minnesota Fam, so we spent some quality time with Bill and Linda, but with a short break for lunch at Fiesta Cancun. We had been warned that "this is Minnesota, not Arizona", but despite that, the meal was one of the best Mexican meals we have ever eaten. And that's sayin' something!

Sunday found us leaving the Twin Cities and heading south. We went stayed on I 35 for awhile and then bailed off toward Cedar Falls and Waterloo, Iowa. This is beautiful farm country with an occasional wind machine thrown in.

After some 338 miles, we rolled into Little Bear Campground in West Branch, Iowa, for a quick overnight stop.

Monday morning Donna and I scrambled to get up early and hit the road. It was to be a three-state day, heading east on I 80 from Iowa, through Illinois via the south side of Chicago, and on into Indiana. 327 miles according to the GPS to get to Shipshewanna, IN. We're parked for a couple of nights at the Shipshewanna South Campground.

We're here to check in with a local Amish furniture company and see if we can get a comfortable loveseat recliner for our motorhome. Then, later in the day, we'll stop by a couple of Amish cabinet shops that will hopefully make some small items for us. We're looking forward to driving Ness2 up and down these gravel country roads!