Minnesota

We spent two nights at Minneopa State Park near Mankato Mn.  Our first days drive was pretty uneventful. 

of course we are the only campers!

We arrived after 2:00 pm, set up then took a hike.

there is suppose to be two waterfalls: but as you can see they are pretty dried up

 

beautiful park with lots of boulders

while we are out walking we always look for foods just in case we get stuck out in nature!

cedar trees with Juniper berries  (used to make Gin)

 

and of course lots of Black Walnuts…  but if we want to eat them we have to fight off the red squirrels!

Mushrooms are big..                                          the Sumac is ready to harvest for some tea

     

not sure if these berries are edible

we did see a deer, rabbit, lots of rabbits and gopher mounds  so if we had to have meat….

 

we found an old wind mill used to grind grains:

after our 2 hour hike in the park we headed into Mankato to see some sights. 

nothing was really opened but there was a few sculptures including the Dakata 38 where there was a mass execution

this has all the names on one side and a poem about forgiveness on the other side

a great lunch then off to New Ulm

Our first stop was at

along with Prince, Bob Dylan, Monroe Crossing and Judy Garland we found Eric’s old neighbor

Bob’s grandpa was featured too! 

we thought we found an old co-worker but now we think it was his dad…

 

Next was the Schell brewery, no tour today

 

there was a lot of fun stuff to look at including the Glockenspiel

 

 

time for dinner:

The weather was pretty misty and foggy but we still enjoyed our time in Minnesota.

We are off to the Lewis and Clark State Park in Iowa!

We are on our way!

This last weeks cold weather really put a damper on enjoying our final week at home.  Well, we try to enjoy each day as it comes but just saying we could have enjoyed it more had it been 15 degs warmer…

We did get one last project done..  black top by the driveway of the house:

 

 

by the detached garage  (there was about a 3” gap between the concrete and the garage floor, it was filled in with asphalt)

 

and by the pole barn (will make it easier to bounce the basketball):

 

our final All Day fire at the compound of 2013 (about 15 hrs)

 

No problem getting everything into the RV.  It seems like we take less and less each year.  That first year we brought so much stuff, not realizing that there are stores along the way and where we are going! I even have one empty cabinet!

We love our home

but its time to escape the winter and seek some new adventures

Our first destination is Minneopa State Park in Mankato MN.   Here we go……..

 

Temperature at 33 degs with a little snow in the air!

Catsup

I made a pint of catsup earlier in the week.  Eric really likes catsup and really really liked the one I made.  I still had about 7 lbs. of ripe tomatoes left this morning…  So thought I would try another pint of catsup.  this time we added red and white onions, green peppers, banana peppers and lots of jalapeno’s.

                                                                                         

about 2 hours later:

                                                                                                             

straining:

 

                                                                                                           

 

 

                                                                                               

after adding sugar and vinegar and 3 hours of simmering we have jalapeno catsup!

 

                                                                                                               

had to make some homemade french fries to go with the new catsup.  it is a bit too hot for me, but then again I am not a catsup fan!

2 weeks remaining in the North Woods

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Oct 15, 2013 2 more weeks before the great exodus..

We are mentally ready to hit the road, looking forward to new places to see, new people to meet and of course new foods to eat!

Farmer Eric plowed the veggie garden this week:

Pontoon is winterized and stored along with all of our garden lights and decorations

We have been clearing out the freezer, mowed one last time, still eating tomatoes, watching the leaves fall, covered the roses, stored the hammocks and making lists of things to do before we leave and to bring along…

weather is a lot cooler, maybe snow flakes this weekend…really need to get packing.

Still....

Oct 8, 2013:  3 weeks until take off!  still getting gardens cleaned and tilled.  Still canning tomatos and apples.  Still downsizing the freezer.  Still cleaning out closets and Still packing. 

already dried about 25 lbs of tomatoes, they fit into a quart bag!  need to dry a few more!

this is about 30 lbs of apples, made into apple pie mix, apple sauce and dried apples: still have 30 lbs packed for travel and the rest in a bag...  not sure what to do with them all.  maybe dry some more..

time to get packing

Oct 1, 2013:  time to get packing for our winter getaway trip.  We will be leaving here in a month, hopefully the snow will hold off until we get out of our driveway.

This year we are heading to California.  Stopping in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving.  Spending the month of December in Palm Springs Ca area before going to Needles Ca to the Havasu Wild Life Refuge from January to March.

We are still canning tomatoes!  the weather has held out, but tomorrow we will clean up the veggie garden, pick apples and begin to can them.

It was a short summer with lots of friends and family visiting, can't believe we are getting ready to head out!  we also got a few chores done this summer, next years list is pretty small!