Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Plains

We left the beautiful Upper Peninsula on June 19th and moved west into Wisconsin.  We found a great campground in Menomonie, Wisconsin -- it was wooded and very well kept and was right on a river.  We hoped to take a short five mile canoe ride down the river with Poppy, and even got the canoe off the truck and ready to go but then the thunderstorms rolled in and we had to abandon the plan.  We've pretty much had thunderstorms on and off ever since then.  We did manage to get in a bike ride along the river between storms.  In spite of the weather, we really enjoyed our time in Wisconsin.

Irvington Campground, Menomonie Wisconsin

Continuing west, we stopped in Woodbury, Minnesota which is a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul.  This was the most developed area we've camped in -- the campground was really nice but was blocks from incredible shopping, including a Trader Joe's which we really enjoyed visiting.  We had called and had our mail forwarded from our mail service in Morehead City to Woodbury.  We had done this once before, when we were in the Finger Lakes region and it went off without a hitch.  However, this time there was a huge hitch.  First of all the Post Office in Woodbury told us they didn't do "General Delivery", that we would have to go to the main Post Office in St. Paul.  This meant driving into the city, which we did on a Friday afternoon, only to find out they didn't have our mail.  You can't call to find out if your mail is there, you have to show up in person, so we went back on Saturday morning and still no mail.  We had planned to leave the area on Sunday but now felt compelled to stay until Monday morning in hopes that it would arrive by then.

The main reason we stopped in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area was to visit an old friend of ours that we hadn't seen in about 47 years.  Peter Boehm was one of Bob's best friends in high school and was responsible for Bob and me meeting back in 1964.  We all hung out together during our senior year of high school and the summer of '65 after graduation.  After we all went off to college, Bob and I lost touch with Peter.  We re-connected through the magic of Facebook!

Peter and his wife Nancy have done a wonderful thing for the city of St. Paul.  They had a love for old carousels and always enjoyed visiting the beautiful 1914 built carousel that was at the Minnesota State Fair grounds and operated six days a year during the Fair.  Then they heard that the carousel was going to be destroyed and the individual horses sold at auction.  They jumped into action and asked the owner how much it would take to buy the carousel whole -- $1.3 million!  They formed a non-profit and in four weeks,with the help of their community and one very generous donor, raised the money to buy the carousel.  The city of St. Paul got involved and built a building for it in a local park.  Peter and Nancy organized volunteers who restored each of the hand-carved wooden horses to their former glory.  Now the carousel operates daily from May to October and for $2 anyone can have a ride on a piece of history.  It is staffed mostly by volunteers and is self sustaining financially.  It is absolutely beautiful -- a work of art.  The machinery is almost completely original as is the pipe organ that runs on paper tape and loudly plays catchy carousel tunes.

Peter and Nancy took us to the Carousel and we got to ride on it and go in and look at how the machinery works, then went back to their house for a great dinner and a great visit.

Monday morning we drove into St. Paul again only to find our mail hadn't arrived.  Sigh!  We decided we had to move on.  If and when the mail gets to St. Paul, they will hold it for ten days then send it back to our mail service in Morehead City.  By then it ought to be pretty stale news!

We packed up and headed south and west.  We had decided to leave the RV in Nebraska while we go home for July and part of August.  When we get back, we will probably head to the Denver area.  Meanwhile, we drove through some really pretty country in southern Minnesota and western Iowa.

We've had our share of severe thunderstorms while we've been in the mid-west.  Had a couple while we were staying near St. Paul and then on our way from Iowa to Nebraska, we got caught in one while driving.  We pulled off the road (along with most of the other cars) and waited for the thunder, lightning, wind, rain and hail to stop.  Here's a short video -- you can hear the hail on the truck.

 Luckily, Poppy is not at all bothered by storms.  She sleeps right through them.

We picked a great campground in Henderson, Nebraska to spend a few days and then store the R-pod until we come back in July.  It is owned by a very friendly couple and they're letting us store our camper for only $30 a month.  It was really hot while we were in Nebraska (I think most of the country was hot) but we enjoyed the beautiful countryside and took our canoe out on the small lake at the campground.  We visited the Plainsman Museum in Aurora and were really impressed with the displays.  Along with the main building which was full of interesting exhibits about the history of the area, there was a one room schoolhouse and a blacksmith shop which Bob really enjoyed.  Here are a few pictures from the museum:

This car is the same model that Bob's father drove from California to Florida in about 1923. It's a 1914 Model T Ford:

As you would expect, there was a lot of farm equipment in the museum.  This tractor is just like one we used to own when we lived in upstate New York.  Bob used to ride around with little Justin on his lap!

Finally, we went to the blacksmith shop.  Here's Bob fondling an anvil:

Today we put our R-pod in the storage area and started driving for North Carolina.  We hope to be home by Sunday night.  I won't post any more on this blog until late August when we hope to continue our trip to the west coast.

So long for now...