Iowa Great Lakes and Canada

Sunset at Center Lake, Iowa

Spirit Lake, IA

Storm coming in from Okoboji, IA

4-30-10:

Arrived in Spirit Lake, IA.  This is the Iowa Great Lakes Region.  Didn't even know Iowa had Great Lakes!  Spirit Lake, Center Lake, and Lake Okoboji.  Interesting Native American history in Okoboji that can be googled.  Iowa has a lot of wetlands preservation.  Really pretty up here. As we came into the Spirit Lake area, we crossed over some bridges that had signs "Only one truck at a time on bridges".  Kinda concerning.

Becky and Laura Lee

We're about 40 miles from Laura Lee.  She spent tonite with us.  So good to be with her again!

Interesting light in the sky on Hwy 9

Yummy for Pizza Ranch

5-2-10:  Drove through a massive wind farm to get to Laura's. She introduced us to Pizza Ranch.  It's really yummy and the only pizza place we've ever been to that serves a pizza and fried chicken buffet.  Interesting combo.

David at Gull Point SP

Gull Point - See the Midwest sky IS a different color!

Lake Okoboji, Gull Point

Rocky going for a ride at Lake Okoboji

5-3-10:  Saw a pheasant on the way back from Laura's just waddling down the side of the road.  Beautiful birds!  Some seem to be kamakazi -- they just fly into cars.  David and I drove through Gull Point State Park on Okoboji.  Pretty, but tight squeezes and little to no hookups.

5-5-10:  Laura discovered Sibley, IA Municipal Campground so David and I went to check it out.  Maybe 10 sites and right on a golf course. No sewer, but only about 9 miles from Laura.  It's a pretty spot.

Iowa Farm

Iowa Farm

5-6-10:  Really educational watching all the farming up here --- it's planting season. Beautiful farmland! Booked a spot at Sibley. Little Rock, IA - where Laura lives -- is very close to the South Dakota and Minnesota line. She's in PA on a business trip right now, so David and I took a drive to Jackson, MN.  Pretty little hilly town.  Saw my first "snow fence" on I-90.  Sure is interesting to me to see how folks live outside of NE TX!

Marlee Kay Goff

5-13-10:  The sky from Laura's back yard was beautiful this evening.  Like being on top of the globe.  And yes Sherry, they sky up here does have a different hue.  Marlee Kay Goff was born tonite!

5-14-10:  Had a knock on the door this afternoon in Spirit Lake and it was another Excel owner, JR Graves.  He was driving past, saw our camper and decided to stop to visit. I guess rv'ers are one big family!

Ocheyedan Mound

5-17-10:  Went to Ocheyeden Mound.  It's a "kame" mound.  We walked to the top and got a pretty good view of the farmlands in the area.

My Mom

5-21-10:  Today would've been my mom's birthday.  In memory of her, David, Laura, and I had her fave: angel food cake w/strawberries and cool whip on top. Then we headed to Decorah w/Laura.  Our friends from JCRV, Chuck and Linda, recommended this part of Iowa for the beauty. On the way we saw bison, elk, the Winnebago River -- around Forest City, IA, home of the Winnebago RV Factory.

Our trip to the Upper Mississippi

Laura Lee and Becky in Wisconsin

5-22-10:  We noticed many wooden quilt "symbols" on barns which looked very nice.  Googled it later and found out they are actually Barn Quilts (barnquilts.com). Kinda got their start in Western Iowa through 4-H clubs.

Upper Mississippi River on Wisconsin side

The Great River on the Iowa Side

 Drove the Upper Mississippi River Scenic Route - The Great River Road.  Went north on the Wisconsin side and south on the Iowa side. Went through Decorah, Chester, Yellow River Forest, and saw the Upper Iowa River.

our Sibley site

5-28-10:  Moved to Sibley, IA Municipal Park.  It really is a pretty spot loaded with Cottonwoods, pool, golf course, and within walking distance (or bicycle) to almost anywhere in town.

5-31-10:  Memorial Day.  Laura, Walter, and Ellie came out for lunch and we swam awhile. After Walter and Ellie left, Aaron came out for supper. haha.

6-3-10:  Flew to Texarkana from Sioux Falls for Will's wedding. I prayed really hard for about a month about my fear of flying.  The flights were actually fun for me, tho the one from Dallas to Texarkana was a little bumpier than I woulda preferred. Got me a little rattled. Visited with Edith first and then met my Middle School peeps at Chili's, along with Gus, Jakeb, and Miller. Fun seeing all of them. Spent tonite at Kathey's and Cranford's awesome new house in Nash.

Gus and Chloe

Chloe, Becky, and Lissa

6-4-10:  After my routine doc appt (where I got some xanax for the flights back), I had lunch with Linda Willis at Ruby Tuesday.  Linda was fascinated that there were peach seeds in her peach tea! lol. Picked Laura Lee up at the airport and met Lissa at our hotel. She looks so cute. Reminds me so so much of Julie!  We guessed it's been about 9 years since we'd seen each other. Edith took us to Roadhouse: Lissa, Gus, Ryan, Emily, Chloe, and me.  Jakeb was in the building. haha. He had a first date with Sharlyn.  We met her and snapped a pic to send to Laci and Pam. haha

Will and Aunt Becky on his wedding day

Macie, Will, and Laura Lee

Lissa, Laura Lee, and Macie

Aunt Pam, Christena, Aunt Becky

My babies, Gus and Laura Lee

Edith with Marlee Kay

6-5-10:  Will's wedding day!! So sweet and such a fun day -- even tho it was about 100 degrees.  During the vows, Will had to ask the preacher, his new father-in-law, to repeat the "in sickness and in health" part. Cracked us up! Loved seeing all the cousins together.  It's been a long time!  Got to meet sweet Marlee Kay and Laci's foster son, Tristen.

Gus serenading me

6-6-10:  Gus played the guitar for me tonite.  And sang!  He's good! Laura took a "bump" on her flight from Dallas to Sioux Falls.  So she's spending tonite there and I'll get to fly with her tomorrow night back to Sioux Falls.

Edith and Tessa

6-7-10:  Picked Edith's little Tessa up from the kennel this afternoon and took some pix of Edith and her for the next Animal League Dayplanner.  Right after I took the pix, Tessa started siezing.  We rushed her to the vet and they had to put her down. Very emotional time, and I'm really glad I was there - instead of it happening after I'd left.  Took a Xanax for my flight, think it helped.  Met up with Laura Lee at DFW and we enjoyed our flight together on in to Sioux Falls. Hope Will knows how much I love him to have endured one of my greatest fears - flying! haha

6-8-10:  David and I are at the Sioux Falls KOA now.  I hung out at the pool a couple of hours today and met a lady from near Monroe, LA. So nice to meet folks who talk right! lol.

Falls Park in Sioux Fall, SD

David at Falls Park

Bec at Falls Park

The tower at Falls Park

6-9-10:  David and Rocky took me to the Falls Park which they had checked out while I was at the wedding. It's beautiful! Climbed the tower for a great view. Laura visited after work and hung out at the pool with me awhile.

6-10-10:  David and I are heading to Canada for a short trip.  Went to Albert Lea/Austin, MN for an overnighter at the KOA there. Lake Albert Lea is a pretty spot.

6-11-10:  Arrived at Prior Lake, MN and stayed at a very nice casino rv park - Dakota Meadows.  We are in the Minnesota River Valley.  Not too far from the Twin Cities: Minneapolis (the Mini Apple) and St. Paul. Mother used to come to St Paul on business when she worked for Judge Arnold.  So it's kinda neat to be in this area.  The community park here has a big ole sledding hill and outdoor hockey rink. Got news today of the Albert Pike flooding. 20 killed. Over half from Texarkana.  Just a bizarre, freak incident. Very sad.  Also, the BP oil leak is coming ashore in the Gulf.

In the Mini Apple

6-13-10:  Went to the Mall of America.  Huge - no question.  But, it's just a mall. I guess when it was built it was prob amazing. Doesn't feel much bigger than other malls.

6-14-10:  Heading to Colquet - pronounced Colkay. Drove over the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed a few years ago. Getting into the beautiful Northwoods area.

Northwoods in MN

Lush Douglas firs, drizzly, very woodsy and awesome. We can even smell the pines from inside the truck. Got me in the Christmas spirit.  ha. I can only imagine how great this must look in the snow!

Two Harbors Lighthouse

tug at Two Harbors

big ole boat at Two Harbors

"I'm stearing the ship" 

From inside the lighthouse

6-15-10:  On to Canada.  Took the North Shore Drive up Lake Superior.  Wow!!  I could live here!  Stopped at Two Harbors Lighthouse,

Gooseberry Falls, MN

David at Gooseberry Falls

 Gooseberry Falls,

Split Harbor Lighthouse

as seen from the lighthouse

bay at Grand Marais, MN

Grand Marais, MN

Split Harbor Lighthouse, Grand Marais, MN.  Watched a couple of ships at Split Rock.

banks of Lake Superior

Rocky drinking Lake Superior

David at Lake Superior

banks of Lake Superior

The Lake is like the ocean.  It's pretty windy and chilly here - the hwy workers are wearing their winter coats!

entering Canada

Arrived at Thunder Bay, Ontario after our first border patrol experience. We'd been warned not to be a smart ass (that leaves David out) or to crack jokes (that leaves me out) with the agents. So the transition was pretty uneventful. They did check Rocky's rabies records. We left the camper at Colquet KOA and just reserved a hotel for our stay in Canada. Thunder Bay is a pretty unimpressive town.

Sleeping Giant Range -- can you see the sleeping giantt?

But we were impressed with the Sleeping Giant mtn range.

Kakabeka Falls in Canada

Kakabeka Falls

David, Becky, and Rocky at Kakabeka Falls in Canada

6-16-10:  Went to gorgeous Kakabeka Falls.  Now this was worth the trip across the border for sure!  Supposed to be the 2nd highest in Canada. Would love to see it in the winter!  Stopped at CJ's for a burger. Good burger, but these Canadians!!! They brought vinegar with the fries.  What's the dealio? Saw Royal Canadian Legions. $1 and $2 coins are called Loonies and Twoonies.

Back in the USA!

Back in the USA. And glad to be back!  Duluth is very pretty and hilly.  A couple of cool bridges in the bay area.

6-17-10:  Arrived at Ellendale, MN for an overnighter at a nice new rv park called Crystal Springs. Beautiful day, but were immediately told we are under a tornado watch and where the nearest shelter is (3 miles).  They are expecting it to be bad.

Storm system rolling in at Ellendale, MN

We could watch the storm roll in from miles away. Realized when we set up that we'd lost our new blue tank from the back of the truck. Never knew but remember hearing a strange noise when we first pulled onto the interstate from Colquet. Sure hope nobody got hit with it!

Our tornado shelter peeps

Rocky and his tornado shelter buds

Sure enough -- big storm! Tornados all around the area. We, along with other campers here, spent about 3 hours at the local fire station.  Made new friends - Rocky, too. One man came in the shelter and was a trucker.  His rig was blown over at the exit where our rv park is. So none of us knew if we were going home to our campers or not. One of the firemen had to drop his teen daughter off at the shelter while he went to help.  She was hysterical for awhile, but hung out with us and settled down. Lots of activity! Hearing that homes were destroyed and maybe a death in Albert Lea. We were finally given the green light to leave and go back to our rv park.  Thankfully, all was ok there other than a few small things blown around. God is good!

6-18-10:  Headed out for Sibley.  Could def see where the storm had done some damage.  Passed Nat'l Guard convoy and demolished homes and barns.

how 'bout that form?

6-19-10:  David and I hit a bucket of balls today at Sibley. I think we are ready for the tour. lol. Then rode our bikes to the Dollar General and got caught in the "Good Ole Summertime" parade. I love small towns! We also saw a golf course wedding this afternoon. The wedding party rode through town on golf carts to the club house.

6-20-10:  We got to spend Father's Day with Laura Lee.

Hawkeye Point

David on Iowa' highest point

way on up there at 1670 ft!

6-21-10:  David and I got pedis in Worthington, MN. Even the Vietnamese girl mocked my accent!!  That and David getting another pedi prompted a couple of odes from my dad-in-law! Visited Hawkeye Point - supposedly the highest point in Iowa at 1670 ft.  :)

6-22-10:  David rode his bike all over town - took about 25 min. haha. It's snowing Cottonwood today and is actually accumulating.

6-23-10:  Played 9 holes at Sibley.  First time in about 15 years for both of us. Really fun.  David shot a 58 and I shot an 80. LOL. On 9!!I'm still trying to figure out when pull carts became push carts?????

6-24-10:  Laura Lee showed us Lake Alvin today and some other beautiful scenery.  Saw a huge buck with a full set of antlers - still velvet. Saw a kazillion fireflies on the way home out in the cornfields.  Really awesome.  Thankful for that sight!  Got an audio cassette from Mac in the mail today that we had made for him and Wanda after our first Christmas together in Wichita. It's one of the funniest things we've heard in a long, long time.  Our kids were 4, 5 and 6.  They had some extreme southern, country accents.  So adorable!! A real treasure.

Iowa Reindeer

6-25-10:  Laura told us about a reindeer farm a few miles from us. So David and I went to check it out.  They were really beautiful - elk.
Had a tornado warning tonite so we spent about an hour in the bathhouse a the rv park. Pretty intense. We could hear wind whirling around us. Sounded and felt like a tornado. No freight train sound though. Quarter size hail. VFD drove through to warn us, but we were already in the shelter due to the sirens. Laura was working late in Rock Rapids so she stayed there til about 10:30.  Her town of Little Rock was hit pretty hard.  Power outages, farmhouses destroyed.

6-26-10:  Learned Sibley had a lot of destruction also. Destroyed some farmhouses, cars, fences, trees.  It was F2 in Little Rock and F4 in Sibley. Volunteers worked through the night helping each other clear and clean. And all day today. Had another tornado tonight. Laura was with us and we spent another hour in the bathhouse. Not quite as severe as last night, but some trees down. Rocky says this is giving a whole new meaning to "shelter dog".

The mayor and me

6-30-10:  David and I played 18 today.  Better score, tho not publishable yet. Took pic with Mayor Jerry, who also runs the golf course.

Celia, Bruce, and their beautiful babies

Kelly

Annie

7-2-10:  Arrived at the Sioux Falls KOA for the holiday weekend.  Met Bruce and Celia from Santa Fe. They began fulltiming in October also. They have 2 beautiful Burnese Mountain dogs. My first time to see any.  They are 2 of the prettiest dogs I've ever seen.  Huge teddy bears!
Met Laura Lee at the Sioux Falls Humane Society to look at Sammy. She's pretty sure she's going to get him tomorrow.

Laura and Sammy

Laura and Sammy

I just need a bath and my name changed to Rehm!

7-3-10:  Laura adopted Sammy today.  Changed his name to Rehm, after Diane Rehm. Cute baby and very good. He and Rocky did very well together.

Our time in Sioux Land is over and we're heading west.  Even through the tornados, it's been wonderful spending so much time with Laura Lee!

Rocky playing ball in Sibley

Thankful we are able to come up here to her neck of the woods and thankful for our new friends!

Until Next Time,


The Arkansas (or TX) Travelers

ps -- learned what "uffda" means! know that one?