"Up North", Minnesota

We are finally "Up North" in the woods at the lake...

and on the lake! Yea!!!!

Motorhome Rally--Gillette, Wyoming

 We have spent the last two weeks in Gillette, WY for our motorhome rallies and have been busy, busy, busy. There were 260 motorhomes for the Monaco International Rally where Mitch is Vice President and was in charge of door prizes for this rally. That kept him on the move.

The FMCA Rally has 2,200 or so motorhomes so the place is really hopping. Although we don't have "work" to do, it seems there is always something to keep us going.

We took a day off to visit Devils Tower about an hour away. We hiked around the bottom of this awesome structure to get a view from every angle.

Dan and Cari were with us and we had a great little picnic lunch (with wine) and watched the prairie dogs.

Gillette is the Energy Capital of the U.S. providing over 60% of the coal for power plants and we took a tour to one of the many coal mines. The whole process is fascinating and it was a very good tour. This whole area is sitting on a bed of coal and they pit mine tons of coal 24/7. Check out the white van and you can get an idea of the size of the rest of the equipment.

The Black Hills of South Dakota

Mitch and I, along with Dan and Cari, spent a couple of days touring the Hills before heading to Gillette, WY for the motorhome rallies.

One of my favorite childhood places to visit was Dinosaur Park.

We caught a glimpse of Mt. Rushmore from the road. After visiting Stone Mountain near Atlanta and its carving also by Gutsom Borglum, I looked at the faces a little differently. This picture was taken really zoomed in from an overlook a long ways away. I never paid attention to the fact that the faces had all that mountain above them.

We also did the drive through Custer State Park and weren't disappointed. Besides being a beautiful drive, we saw a lot of wildlife!

We continued our drive on the Needles Highway, gorgeous granite spires rising to the sky. The eye of the needle gives the highway its name.

We stopped to visit Crazy Horse Monument and the visitor center and museums. It was a fascinating lesson.

Another childhood favorite was Sylvan Lake. It's just a beautiful little lake way up in the mountains.

We did stop to visit Mt. Rushmore and the perspective of the faces from "up close and personal" gives you a totally different feeling of the carving. There is definitely a grandeur that being up close gives to these faces. Go back to the first picture to compare.

Monaco North Central Rally--St. Cloud, MN

We hosted the Rally with Don and Janelle Z. and Gary C. Everybody worked hard as we were cooking the meals from Thursday evening to Sunday morning.

To get us all in the mood Mitch made ribs with his special Whiskey Smoke BBQ Sauce.

His specials included pancakes, Indonesian steak kabobs and Asian chicken, Ziplock omelets, and grilled pork chops. We also had bread pudding with a whiskey butter sauce one night.

I don't think anybody lost any weight at this rally!

Besides eating we also planned a few "field trips: a tour of the Third Street Brewhouse (and a tasting), a tour of the Sherco Power Plant, an evening at the Pioneer Theater with folk singer Peter Mayer, and rides in the POW-MIA Freedom Flight hot air balloon. Although the weather didn't cooperate and the balloon never got blown up, we all learned a lot from Luke.

Happy Sixth Birthday, Addy!!

We're finally in Minnesota, just in time to celebrate Addy's sixth birthday.

The kid's party was fun, just ask Macy.

On Saturday we celebrated with family. Addy wanted Big Grampa's ribs so we thought a picnic at the park would be fun. Well, at 50 degrees, wind, and even snow, we changed plans. But the ribs were great. What a crazy May!

OLC, Sevierville, TN

We spent 10 days in Tennessee with a bunch of our camping friends (36 coaches this year) from around the country--Texas to Toronto!

One night Mitch cooks ribs for everyone, they're always good and everyone enjoys them!

We keep ourselves busy--shows, scenery, eating, visiting, shopping, fixing motorhomes, etc.

This year we did Dollywood (great roller coasters!!) and the best variety show I've ever seen. Check out Smoky Mountain Opry (http://smokymtnopry.com) for a great show.

We also had a chance to spend time with Mitch's brother, Dan and Cari, and their family who came to visit, Mindi and kids, Masayda, Cassian, Joakim, and Mejella, and Mitzi and Greg, with new baby, Issac.

On the road--moving north.

First stop--Old Federal Campground on Lake Lanier in Flowery Branch, GA (just northeast of Atlanta). Great campground and we had a lot of fun with Jan and Marshal, Ken and Carlene, and Dave and Dorie.

 The guys went golfing and we gals decided to check out Babyland General Hospital, the place where Cabbage Patch Babies come from. It was quite amazing.

 We don't just run around, we eat and drink. Here's Jan with a jumbo Margarita that Mitch makes with his "secret" ingredient--tang!












We also visited Stone Mountain, a giant granite rock that has been carved much like Mt. Rushmore. The picture depicts three generals of the Confederacy. The picture does not do justice to the size of the mountain or the carving.