Round Two

Here it is nearly the end of June. It's been a pleasant, albeit wet, month overall. The heat finally calmed down, and today promises to blend into the beginning of a warm, mostly sunny week. At least that's what today's weather report says. Tomorrow could well be another story. This IS Minnesota, after all.

For those of you who have been on pins and needles to learn whether or not we're staying in Minnesota, the answer is no. The potential job possibility that Mark was looking at didn't pan out. The Good Lord says, "Head on down the road." Maybe He has something in the works for us in Arizona or Texas, maybe not. In the meantime, we're determined to enjoy each day as it comes.

We managed our long ten-day boondock experience better than I thought we would. The biggest inconvenience was not being able to wash clothes. I hate laundromats, and use them only at great need, but we took a few loads over to Maegan's and washed while we visited.

On Friday afternoon we moved the coach from the nice park by Lake Washington to Brian and Maegan's business, APT CNC. If you need anything machined or fabricated and you live near the Mankato area, check them out. They are very good at what they do. We parked in a dirt drive beside the building, proceeded to put down the jacks and level the RV when Mark saw that the rear driver's side jack stopped moving and spilled its fluid guts all over the dirt. There would be no leveling things this day. Fortunately the side with the heavy front room slide was sitting high, so we put out the slides anyway - level or not. Mark promptly made an appointment for Monday morning at Boyer Truck in Savage, to have the jacks checked and fixed.

Later that evening, Mark went up with the Mayo's to their lake cabin, which is about a four or five hour drive "up north" (to the uninitiated, this is Minnesota lingo for anywhere north of the Cities).  I spent the weekend restoring my soul with music, knitting, crocheting, and cleaning of the front room.

Mark and his grandson, Riley, left the cabin very early Sunday morning and drove down to the State Fairgrounds for the annual "Back to the 50's" rally. I'm glad because I have absolutely no interest in old cars, and Mark got the double blessing of enjoying the old cars AND the company of his grandson, neither of which he gets to do very often.

By 5:00 or so Sunday afternoon, we were packed up and on our way to Dakota Meadows, where we got a nice level spot. Monday morning we buttoned up again and headed to Boyer Truck and dropped the coach off for repairs. Then we drove the car over to Wampach's in Shakopee, one of our favorite breakfast spots. Their home fries are to die for! Afterward, Mark got a much needed haircut, and I did some much needed yarn shopping. The good news is, the jack that failed did so because the line was rubbing up against something and wore through. They replaced it and tied off all the others to make sure this doesn't happen again. We're back in good shape and ready to roll.

We love this park for short-term stays. The spaces are tight, but it's clean and well kept, and all the spots are 50 amp full service pull-throughs. We can run the basement air whenever we need to. And I'll be catching up on the laundry. The only thing missing is a swimming pool and hot tub. But, then, I suppose its primary purpose is parking for the casino...so, who cares about swimming when there's gambling?!

Joe and Bev (Mark's brother & sister-in-law) arranged their annual trip to Dakota Meadows to coincide with our stay, so we're enjoying visiting with them this week among our other activities. Yesterday I had a great time catching up with my former workmates at ACS over lunch. And both Mark and I have meetings with friends, family, and the dentist over the next few days before winding it up on Friday and heading out again for "Round Two" of our cross-country travels.

I've updated our itinerary page with our travel plans for the next few months. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have laundry to do.