On Wednesday, our day outing started with a visit to the birthplace of Judy Garland.  Judy Garland, for those of you that don't remember, was the star of many musical movies starting at the age of 13.  Of course, the one that most of us remember most is the Wizard of Oz.  The house that she was born in is located next to a museum dedicated to her life and career.  The house had been moved from it's original site some years ago due to the area going commercial.  As we walked through the museum we were serenaded to the beautiful sounds of Judy Garland singing.  Her voice was so great that it gave goose bumps just listening to her.  We really enjoyed the couple of hours that we spent visiting with Judy Garland and walking through her birth home.

Did you know that the Mississippi River actually starts in Minnesota?  Well, it does.  I didn't know that it started in Minnesota, just that it started up north somewhere.  We decided to go see the headwaters of the Mississippi River on Lake Itasca.  On our drive to Lake Itasca State Park we drove by a lot of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota.  I believe that there is more area covered by water than land around Grand Rapids.  If you remember from the weather news a couple of weeks ago there was a late snow fall here.  The area received up to 16 inches of snow and stayed very cold.  The host at the campground even mentioned that the normal fishing season start was delayed due to the snow and ice still on the lakes.  I imagined the ice being only a few inches think, but no, it was thick enough to drive an ATV on.  As we drove by one of these many lakes we actually saw some ice remaining along the shore line.  It was not just a thin layer, but large hunks of thick ice.  The temperature was about 80 degrees.  That ice had to be thick and cold.

After about an hour of driving we came upon the little town of Walker, MN.  Walker is located on Leech Lake, apparently one of the best fishing lakes in the area.  The downtown shops, bars, and restaurants were all open.  We decided to stop and take a break and walk the main street.  We really enjoyed our stop at an ice cream shop.  Had some very good hand dipped ice cream.  Most of the shops were dedicated to clothing and furniture.  The clothing shops cater primarily to the outdoorsman, hunters, hikers, fisherman, and campers.  The furniture shops mostly had furniture that would look great in a log cabin, which there are plenty of located along the lake shores.

I did not know how far we had traveled until I realized that my little car needed to be refueled.  I was really shocked that it cost me $40.00 to fill up with 10 gallons of gas.  $3.89 a gallon.  I did feel lucky for only paying $3.99 when we got back to Grand Rapids it was selling for $4.19 a gallon.

The Lake Itasca State Park was worth the drive time to get there.  The area around Lake Itasca was one of the earliest settled parts of Minnesota.  Along with the lake to see, there is an old log store and home that belonged to one of the earliest settlers.  We saw Indian mounds that date back as long as 3000 years, and of course the headwaters of the Might Mississippi River. 

Enough of my rambling, let me show you some pictures of the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  Don't pay attention to the date stamp on the pictures, I forgot to reset after putting in new batteries.

There was, and apparently still, a lot of different opinions as to where the real start of the Mississippi River begins.  The headwaters come off of the end of Lake Itasca, which is fed by many small rivers that some believe are the true beginning of the Mississippi. 

Starts at an elevation of only 1475 feet above sea level and winds for 2552 miles.  That is not much of a drop for that long of a distance.

These kids are walking on rocks that are at the headwaters of the Mississippi.

Sharon is standing on the shore next to the headwaters.  That is Lake Itasca in the background.  By the way Itasca is a word combined from the Greek language for "truth" and "head".

  
This is a view of the Mississippi River just a couple of hundred feet from the headwaters.

This sculpture is of the Headwaters Caretaker Woman.  She appears to be watching over a lot of turtles.

It is hard to see in this picture, but the small mounds are a few of the many Indian burial mounds located in this part of the park.

As we left the park we saw this sign indicating the Mississippi River.  Looks like a small creek to me.

We had a great day trip around the area.  We headed back to Grand Rapids for an evening of rest and preparing the RV for travel.

We were on the road by 0900 on Thursday morning.  I'll tell you about our next destination in the next posting.

You all have a great day, and remember

God Loves You,

Gary

After we left the Wisconsin Dells, Sharon and I were on the road again.  We started to think about where we would like to stop for the night.  We use WalMart a lot now for just a quick overnight stop, but we decided we wanted something a little nicer and more relaxing that just a parking lot.  We had joined a camping club called Harvest Host several weeks ago, and decided to try one of the host.  Harvest Host is a membership club that offers free camping at farms, wineries,  museums, and other sites.  The host at these sites are listed by state on the Harvest Host web site, accessible after joining, and give info on each host site.  We decided to visit with Tom and Judy Knox in Glenwood City, WI.  Tom and Judy own Green Hill Farms which sits atop what I believe was the highest spot in the area.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful farm with lots of farm animals.  Judy met us as we drove down their long tree lined drive.  Their nice white home was the focal point of the farm,  It looked just like what I expected on a working farm.  We were early for the growing season so we weren't able to purchase any of their produce, but I can tell you that there will be plenty of strawberries this season.  Take a look at some pictures from Green Hill Farm.

The Knox's home.  The Knox's have seven grandchildren, no, make that eight, they were expecting a phone call anytime announcing the birth of the eighth while we were there.  They tell us that the grandchildren love visiting the farm, and I can see why.

We are parked just behind the Knox's fifth wheel camper trailer.  The Knox's were nice enough to let us plug into electrical power for the night.  We usually use the generator when we camp without electrical hook ups, so it was nice to have a quite evening without the generator noise.

You can barely see the farm cat in the middle of the picture.  The pond behind the shed was full of geese.

Some of the many sheep on the farm.  Note the little lamb on the right.  There were several new little lambs roaming around.

The view from behind the motorhome.  This is a farm across the large field from the Knox's farm.

Sunrise on Tuesday morning.  It was a very beautiful morning.  I walked around the farm enjoying the fresh air and the sunrise.

After we left the Knox's, we headed on up the road towards Minot.  We still had five days before we are supposed to arrive at Minot, so we were looking for a place to spend a couple of nights and do some sight-seeing.  We had been told that Duluth, MN, had some nice places to see, but when we got to Duluth we weren't too impressed with the city.  Don't like to put down other people's home towns, but this was not one of the nicest looking places I have been too.  I think part of the problem is that the town was just getting over the harsh winter along Lake Superior.  We kept on driving.

Sharon got out one of the many travel booklets that we had picked up and started looking for interesting towns along our route.  We decided that Grand Rapids, MN, would be our destination.  We called ahead to a commercial RV park to check on the availability of a parking site.  We were surprised to find that it is a busy season for campers here in Grand Rapids, and the surrounding area.  It is the beginning of the fishing season.  I believe that there a few fishing lakes in this part of Minnesota.  Fortunately, there were some spots available, so we headed for the Riverside RV Park and Campground.  The park is very nice, and we have full hook-ups, that's water, electric, and sewer hook-ups. 

We settled in for the night and prepare for a day of checking out the area.  We did take the time to go out to dinner.  The campground host told us of a place in town that was supposed to be a good place to eat.  He was right.  The food was very good.  I had to try the mussel appetizer, and I was not disappointed.  The mussels were steamed in a cheesy sauce that made them the best I have ever eaten.  If ever in Grand Rapids, MN, try out the Forrest Lake Family Restaurant.

Well this is enough for this posting.  I'll tell you about our day outing here in Grand Rapids in the next post.

Have a great day, and remember,

God Loves You

Gary

We are on the road again.  We have had a great time traveling to North Dakota.  We are currently in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, about 400 miles from our destination of Minot, North Dakota.  We were able to spend some time with our daughter Tina, son-in-law Frank, and the best granddaughters in the world, Madelyne and Emma, last Friday.  Madelyne and Emma are really growing into young ladies.  Madelyne is getting so tall, she is taller than Nana already.  I am so proud of them all.  I am very blest to have two wonderful sons-in-law.  Got to spend some quality time with Frank on this visit.  He is a fine husband to my daughter, and father to my granddaughters.  He also cooks a great steak.

Sharon and I had a chance to go to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival on Saturday before we headed back to Eva, where we left the motorhome.  If you are ever in the Nashville area in May, try to visit the festival.  It has something going on every weekend in May.  Check out these pictures.

One of the many characters in costume.  Think this was the Black Knight.  Too bad he was about a head shorter than I am, took away his scariness.

This knight was taller.  He must be the good knight.  How about the way he can rest that heavy battle axe on his foot.  Must have on steel toe boots.

The queen and her court are on the way to the jousting field where they will be participating in a live chess game.  Everybody in costume talked in old English.  Lot's of thees and thous.

Two of the many minstrels that roamed the festival.

Don't know about this guy.  Guess he had spent too much time in the forest.  That is Sharon hanging on to one of his branches.

 

 

Of course, there had to be a visit to the castle.

 

We headed back to Eva, TN, where we had just finished our project.  We left the motorhome there while we went to Nashville.  We prepped the motorhome for travel and left early Sunday morning headed for Minot.

 

We spent our first night on the road at another WalMart Resort.  Our day ended in Stoughton, Wisconsin.  Unlike most WalMarts, this one was not just off of the Interstate.  It was about ten miles after we exited before we got to Stoughton.  Stoughton is a nice little town.  The downtown area is still active, as we are finding out with many of the small towns we have traveled through.  The WalMart was not a Supercenter, therefore there was not a deli for us to get dinner.  We did get a few things, like some fresh milk and bread.  Fortunately there was a large grocery store next to WalMart that did have a deli.  Got some good northern fried chicken and potato salad for our dinner.  The store shares the parking lot with WalMart.  We try to shop at the WalMart, or other business, to show our appreciation for allowing us to over-night in their parking lot.

 

One of the many large farms that we saw along our route north through Illinois and Wisconsin. 

The motorcycles had just passed us.  The front one has a side car.  There were three people on that one, the driver, a passenger on the back seat, and one in the side car.  That seems a little dangerous when doing 70 miles an hour.  And as we saw in Texas, wind mills for power were every where.

 

Couldn't resist this picture.  I am Paw Paw to my grandson's.  Didn't take the exit, was probably just some old grey haired man.

 

We left Stoughton early the next morning with no definite destination for the day, just headed towards Minot.  We found ourselves in Baraboo, WS.  There is a circus museum in Baraboo, but it does not open until the end of May.  We saw a billboard for a crane reserve.  The reserve is part of the International Crane Foundation.  The foundation's function is to save the endangered crane species.  There are fifteen different crane species in the world.  This particular reserve has at least two of each on display.

 

These two cranes are expecting a child.  As any expecting father, this one is just pacing the pond.

These two beautiful white cranes are from northern Asia.

 

Don't remember where this pair is from, but the had wonderful color.

 

 

These are two of five sculptures of flying whooping cranes.  They show take off to full flight.

 

The flowers were in full bloom, such as this white trillium.

 

 Sharon couldn't keep from seeing what this hippo had for lunch.  She got her head out before she was lunch.

 

After our visit to the crane reserve, we headed for the Wisconsin Dells.  Someone told us it was a nice place to visit.  We did not know what it was, but soon found out that it is a big tourist trap.  There are many motels with water parks, restaurants with many different themes to satisfy the kids, and an outlet mall.  I needed a new pair of walking shoes, so we headed straight for the mall.  We did find a nice little place to get a sandwich in the mall.  I can tell you that they need to find out what spicy food is really like.  My sandwich was supposed to be spicy hot, no way.  Needed lots more heat to even be warm, but it was good.  Did find a Nike shoe store in the mall.  I was able to get a good pair of walking shoes there.  I was a little disappointed when I noticed that they are Air Monarchs, and not Air Jordon's.

 

Our day was about over so we headed out on the road again.  I'll get back to our travels from here in the next post.

 

Enjoy our travels with us, and remember,

 

God Loves You.

 

Gary

 



 

 

Today is Thursday, May 9,2013, and the last day of our project at Lakeshore United Methodist Assembly.  Again we have had a wonderful project.  Our host, as with all of the other facilities we have been at, have been just great.  The camp director, Gary Lawson and his wife Vicki, made us all feel very welcome.  Corky, the head of the maintenance department and his staff, did a good job of keeping us busy.  As I have posted, main jobs on this project were cleaning cabins in preparation for the summer season, building a storage shed for supplies for the camp canteen, and installing new tile in the bathroom of one of the cabins.  We accomplished our goal. 

We finished out the week a little early on Wednesday night with a cook out at Corky's house.  Corky has two sons that love to cook, one is actually going to culinary school, and cook they did.  They cooked pork butts, chicken, some more chicken, and some more pork butts.  With all of the camp staff and NOMADS there we ate until we could eat no more.  Corky had enough food left to feed the gang again.  I don't remember have BBQ chicken and smoked pork butt that was good as what they fixed.

Today was spent cleaning up our work sites and getting ready for travel.  Everybody will be heading in different directions when we leave Lakeshore.

The following pictures will be the last from Lakeshore, so I hope you enjoy them.  I do hope that your visit with me here at Lakeshore has been and enjoyable one, and that you will be following us on out trip to Minot, ND, and our stay there.

This is where we started on Monday morning in the shower stall.  We had installed the tile everywhere but around the where the faucet handle will go.  Travis, one of the maintenance staff, installed the new single arm control and then filled in the large hole that was left from the original plumbing.

This is the same area as the above picture after Jerry completed the tile work and we had filled in the spaces with grout.

The finished floor in the lavatory part of the bathroom.  The staff will install and new commode and other fixtures later.

From one side of bathroom to the other.  Some painting touch-up will be required when the staff installs to fixtures.

Kyoka, Jerry's wife did a fine job of doing a mosaic around the floor drain.  Due to the slope of the drain, a solid piece of tile would not work.  She did a great job, don't you think?

Front of the new shed.

The back and side of the new shed.

From the back of the inside of the shed.

From the front door looking inside of the shed.

Jerry, Diana, Joe, and Libby.  These four did a great job on the shed.  Joe and Jerry started out with the materials, no special plan, and built.  It will be a great addition to the canteen for storage.

Corky and Jerry enjoying some good conversation about the cook out.  Corky's front porch looks like a large BBQ kitchen.  Behind Corky there are two large gas grills, and a smaller grill.  Not visible, but on the other end of the porch is a large charcoal smoker, and gas oven, and a table holding all of the food.

Libby, Vicki Lawson, Diana, and Joe, after eating.  As did everybody else, it was hard to get up from the table from eating too much.  You will notice Joe's red shirt.  Can't seem to get away from those funny red shirts.  Maybe when we get to North Dakota.

Anyway, as I said earlier in this post, I hope your visit here has been as much fun as it has been for me, and the rest of this NOMADS team.  Depending on our travels to Minot as to whether or not I post again before we get there, but you will hear from me.

Enjoy, and have a wonder weekend, and remember

God Loves You!

Gary

Our last weekend at Lakeshore Assembly is about to come to and end.  We have had a wonderful time here at Lakeshore and know that the next four days will bring even more good times.  Our projects here have kept us very busy.  The ladies have done a lot of work cleaning and covering chairs.  The men have worked hard at laying sewer lines, laying tile, and building a storage shed.  All of the projects are still going on, so there is plenty to do before we leave.

Sharon and I started our weekend with a quick trip back to Alabama to renew our license plates on the cars.  It also gave us an opportunity to take some things home that we didn't really need on this trip.  We left Friday morning early and arrived in Rainesville, Alabama just prior to lunch time.  We stopped at the county annex there to renew or plates.  It only took a few minutes to spend a lot of money, then on our way to the house.  Our wonderful neighbors are collecting our mail for us.  There was a large box with the mail in it on the kitchen table.  Sharon couldn't wait to get her hands into that box.  I was all for just loading it up and taking it with us, but she couldn't wait to see what was there.  What is so exciting about add fliers, bills, and all the other junk mail?  So long as I get my magazines I am happy.  We then headed for Huntsville to make a stop at COSTCO'S to re-supply some of our food supplies.  This was a rare trip for us to COSTCO'S, we didn't spend as much as we usually do.  The best thing about COSTCO'S is their great hot dogs.  A foot long hot dog and coke for a buck and a half.  And they are good.

We headed on back to Lakeshore Assembly.   The day drive was very nice.  We were fortunate to not run into any rain until we were almost back to the campground.  I don't mind the rain, but the water coming off the tires of the big trucks makes it feel like driving in a storm.

Saturday we spent lounging around the RV.  Sharon worked on her sewing projects while I just did nothing.  It was really nice just taking a day off doing nothing.

We decided to visit another church in the area today.  We went to the Camden First United Methodist Church.  It was graduating student appreciation day.  The church has four of their youth graduating from high school, and four from college.  Three of the college grads from the University of Tennessee, GO VOLS.

Following are some more pictures of the work that was done this past week.

The ladies finished re-covering the seats on the chairs.  The did about 75 chairs.  It is hard to tell by the pictures, but they did a very professional job.  The old seats were torn badly, now they are almost like new.

Jerry has started putting the first row of tile on the walls in the shower stalls.  He did a great job of ensuring that it was level as he installed it.

Joe and Ash designed and built the two end trusses for the roof.  Here's Joe fastening down one of the trusses.

Kyoka is painting one of the many bunk beds that the ladies painted.  Looked much better that before they started.

Pat is also painting bunk beds, she just found a way to lay down and do the job.

Diana and Pat painting a single bed.

Sharon and Libby have just finished putting a new mattress cover on one of the mattresses.  All of the beds will get new covers.

Sharon is enjoying the fruits of her labor.  As I have pointed out before, she can find any place for a nap.

Pat has also found out how to use the mattresses.  Wonder why the men didn't get to help with this job.

Libby is finishing up the painting in one of the restrooms in a cabin..

Kyoka took over my job helping Jerry with the tile work.  If you look hard you can see the mosaic work around the floor drain of the bathroom.  Kyoka did a much better job than I could have.

I went up a helped Ash with the storage building.  Ash had a good plan for putting up the rest of the roofing.  We got all of the trusses installed by quitting time on Thursday.  We will put the roof on first thing Monday morning.

I will probably wait until next Thursday or Friday to finish out this part of the journey.  Until then enjoy, and remember

God Loves You

Gary