A Day At The Races

Last Sunday the kids invited us to the Nicollet County Fairgrounds to watch the races. It was the last day of the fair, and our last day in St. Peter. There were demolition derbies earlier in the week, but this race was for four and six cylinder cars on a dirt track.  Our grandson, Riley, was one of the contestants. It was loads of fun, as car races usually are. 

Riley started out well, lined up in second place for the first few laps. 

Riley's car - #16

Then...

This happened.

Stuck in the dirt!

Not the way you want to leave the track. :-(

Well, there was no win for Riley-- maybe next year. But at least his car came away in mostly one piece. Some weren't so fortunate. Wheels and tires were flying, axles were breaking, parts were falling off right and left. One car went around the track at least three times on only three wheels. Still not sure how he managed that.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. With all the heat just about everywhere else across the country, this Minnesota day was perfect-- warm and sunny, with enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable.

After St. Peter, we spent a few days at the Forest Hills RV Resort in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. We were surprised and very pleased with this campground. It's a golf resort with primarily annual sites, but they do have a small supply of short-stay spots, which are quite nice and spacious. And, best of all, it's in the RPI network, which gives us the $10/night rate. Can't go wrong! This park is definitely on our list of favorites.

We've been able to find some short stay campgrounds in the Passport America network, too, which is helping to keep our trip affordable. For example, tonight we're in a little campground in Leeds, ND, called Jan's RV Park & Lodge. It has full hookups and 50 amp power, at $15 for the first night with our discount. We were a little worried that we might not find a space, since the park is quite small (only 14 sites) and it doesn't take reservations for short stays. 

Jan's RV Park

Turns out, we're the only ones here. Feels kinda lonely. But we're only here one night. Tomorrow we'll be taking advantage of Walmart's hospitality and having dinner with some of Mark's North Dakota relatives in Williston.

That about sums it up for now. Here are a few more pictures from the week...

Brian and Maegan with baby Paxton

Wrong way

One of many pile-ups

Oops

This car lapped at least four times with his hood up!

Forest Hills RV Resort in Detroit Lakes

Sunflower country

Jan's RV Park in Leeds, ND

Not fancy, but it has all the right stuff

Five-Year Anniversary On The Road

Parked at Joel & Beth's in Isanti

Here we are, full circle once again, in our old stomping grounds of Minnesota. Our visit here has been split between Isanti (north of Minneapolis) and Kasota (near Mankato) as we visit family and friends. September 2 marks the end of our fifth year on the road. It's hard to believe we've been doing this for five years, and at the same time it's strange to realize that we ever had any other kind of life. The full-time RV life is not for everyone, but Mark and I seem to be thoroughly cut out for it. It has its challenges, no doubt about it, but the joys outweigh the occasional difficulties... so far, at least.

We ran into a couple issues on our trip here from the south. One was a collision with an unfortunate bird, and the other was the near loss of our RV door window.

We felt the bird hit with a thump, and at our next stop Mark checked the front of the coach to make sure everything was intact, which it appeared to be. And so we continued on our way, assuming the bird had bounced off and fell to its death on the roadside. It wasn't until he went up to the roof to clear away debris after a storm that he discovered where the bird hit us...

Bird damage. Small bird damage. 

Mark found the poor creature, dead many days and swarming with maggots-- in the bottom of the Dish Tailgater cover! To make a long story short, Mark ordered a new replacement Dish dome, and the bird was unceremoniously cremated in our next campfire.

I mentioned the near disaster with our door window in my last post. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find window repair companies that will actually come and repair a window without replacing it with their own product. Fortunately, while we were in Isanti, my nephew gave us the name of a company that would come out and reinstall our window for us. Mark's white duct tape repair wasn't too unsightly, but now the window is done right and we can rest easy about it.

Same window

Glued back into the door by a professional

Deal Auto Glass - give them your business
if you need auto glass repair in the
Minneapolis area

I guess you might say it's been a summer of repairs, though for once, we didn't have to repair the A/C. We had been having trouble with our old toilet for a while, but it finally conked out on us. The flusher stopped flushing, and no amount of coaxing was going to make it work. To our great relief we were able to get a new toilet delivered in two days through Amazon, and Mark got it installed without a hitch.

Out with the old...

In with the new! :-)

So, you might say our summer was less of an adventurous summer and more of a fixer-upper summer. 

Notwithstanding, we were happy to see our Minnesota loved ones. We got reacquainted with the newest grandchild, Sabastian (by Mark's son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Tara).

Grandpa with Sabastian

Mark with Sabastian and Matthew

Sebastian with his mother, Tara

And we were very blessed to meet our first great-grandchild, Paxton (by Mark's granddaughter Heidi).

Left to right:  Maegan (Mark's daughter), Heidi (Maegan's
daughter), and Paxton, her son.

Great-grandpa Mark with Paxton

We also said "goodbye" to a dear family member of Mark's-- his brother Joe's wife Bev, who passed away shortly before we arrived. Mark was five years old when Joe and Bev got married, and she has always been an important part of his life. Bev had been in poor health for some time and her passing was not a surprise, but we were grateful that our travel timing allowed us to attend her memorial service.

Our time in Minnesota is drawing to a close.  We'll be pulling up jacks and heading west next week. I've updated our itinerary with our travel plan through the beginning of next year for anyone who may be interested in that information. 

Until next time, God bless and safe travels wherever you go!