1 Oct - Home!

1 Oct

We departed Lebanon Hills Campground at 0851 hrs this morning and arrived home about 1324 hrs.  The 250 mile return trip was uneventful with just one fuel/latrine stop and except for a couple miles on the front end and 10 miles on the back end, it was all I-35 and I-235.

We contacted son Dan and family and they met us at home this afternoon.  It was great to see them!  The grand kids really grew while we were gone!  Dan helped me get the water and natural gas turned back on and pilot re-lit on the water heater.  Dan also reset my surveillance camera server so my long term video storage is back on line. 

Our list ahead looks endless!  We will be heading out of town at the end of the week and we have to get the RV unpacked and everything stowed from our 146 night trip!  I need to get it to the body shop this week to have them look at the rear cap.  They worked on it two years ago and it is showing some fading like the front one did.  We contacted the insurance company to turn the insurance back on for our Chrysler 200 that was stored in the garage.  The Battery Minder we connected to the battery this year did it's job and the 200 started right up. 

This trip was absolutely fantastic!  Like last year, the best part of the trip from my standpoint was having the opportunity to reconnect with so many friends, military comrades and relatives.  The historical sites we visited were great!  I could go on and on about this but we will save that for another time.  We are looking forward to planning our adventure, yet to be determined.

Doreen and I hope you enjoyed traveling along with us as we hit the road.  The blog was a lot of work but the wireless network I installed in the RV this year and the AT&T cellular data device made it so that we NEVER had to go to Panera Bread or McDonalds for WiFi.  That really helped.  It will be fun for us to go back through it and review where we have been.  After last year I figured out a way to write it to a .pdf file so we can save it for future reference.

Here are a few final stats:

30 campgrounds visited (28 last year)
146 nights camping (146 nights last year also)
6603 miles point to point (miles on the RV and truck between campgrounds - was 5506 miles last year)
   213 point to point miles average on travel days (204 miles last year)
10978 vicinity miles (miles on the truck while touring - 7286 miles last year)
   366 vicinity miles average (291 miles last year)
17,581 total miles traveled (12,792 miles last year)

13.16 miles/gal average fuel economy (13.17 last year)
79 fuels stops (53 last year)
$3339.08 diesel fuel purchased ($2250.29 last year)
1279.566 gals diesel fuel purchased (971.469 gallons last year)
$2.673 average diesel fuel cost/gal ($2.31 last year)
$42.81 @ 16.197 gal average diesel fuel per fill ($42.47 @ 18.330 last year)
$2.299 cheapest fuel at Denver CO on 27 May ($1.969 last year in MO)
$3.399 most expensive fuel at Point Reyes CA on 20 Jun ($2.709 last year in PA)

25 gal DEF used (15 gal last year)
$4171.91 camping fees total entire trip ($4299.01 last year)
$28.57 average camping fees

6 Major League baseball games attended

30 Sep - Last day of this trip; Twins Tigers game

30 Sep
Dang, this cannot be over already!  Seems like we just left home a few weeks ago, but not so much.  Tonight will mark 146 nights on the road which means tomorrow it is over!  We should be home afternoon tomorrow, then back to reality.

Today we started out the day cleaning up and packing up what we could - typical operation for the day before we move.  Barbecue grill gets a good scrubbing.  Chairs are stowed, flag pole is stowed, tire covers are stowed.  Inside items that can be stowed in advance are put away.  Before the barbecue is cleaned we grilled ahead and put the meat in the fridge for microwaving later.  We do about everything we could.    Lunch followed and then a shower and head to Patty and Greg's.

Greg volunteered to chauffeur us to Target Field for the Twins-Tigers game this afternoon.  One of the biggest down sides of pulling a fifth wheel, especially one as large as ours is the size of the tow vehicle.  Our truck is a one tone dually which is tall, long, wide and the turning radius sucks.  We cannot fit in most parking ramps so we have to seek out street parking or surface parking.  When it comes to ball parks and other large venues, it is very difficult to park it.  So we seek out alternative transportation.  Usually it is mass transit.  We are very thankful Greg volunteered his services!  Not only that but Patty and Greg "dog-sat" with Liberty while we were at the game.

So we arrived at Target Field and pre-coordinated a rendezvous point and time for the pickup. 

 We made our way into the stadium and headed to the fan services office to get Doreen's "MLB Passport" stamped and our "first game" certificate.  That was easy so we asked the fan services folks about any museum or historical displays.  Up the escalator we went and found a nice display on the building of Target Field.   It was completed in 2010 with a cost breakdown as follows:

This model cost $160,000.00

This is where we entered.

As we toured the area we found displays of opening day in 2010 where the Twins hosted the Red Sox.

A timeline of the building of Target Field

The heating system buried under the field

Opening day 

Red Sox and Twins lineup

While we were touring the area we were approached by Twins staff about our jerseys.  They wanted to take pictures of them. 

We then headed back down the escalator and made our way to our seats to admire Target Field, which is a beautiful baseball stadium.  Our seats are located along the third base line at the grass line.

The main video board

A view from our seats

I had communicated previously with Gary Luke, retired Minnesota State Command Chief and found out he and his wife were going to be there.  I got a call and Gary had arrived so we met in the mezzanine.  It was great to see them as I had not seen Gary for a couple years.  We exchanged coins and had a great time talking and getting caught up.  Gary retired about a year ago and is still serving on the Minneapolis Airport Fire Department full time.

Exchanging coins

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Back in our seats, the stadium was filling up quickly.  We squeezed in a selfie before we could not.

All of the Twins lined up on the first base line and showed respects for the National Anthem and our Colors.  About five Tigers or their staff did on the third base line.  Where were the rest??

Great seats!

The Twins sign lights up at the third out

Another view, this one from the outfield.  Also a great view!

A view into the dugouts.  The rear one is the Twins and it is elevated.

Detroit Tigers would go on to beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2.  A remarkable point, Tiger's utility player Andrew Romine played all nine positions in today's game.  That is amazing!  He is only the fifth MLB player to do that.

Tomorrow morning we will pull chocks for the last time this year and head home.

29 Sep - Visit to Stillwater MN

29 Sep
This morning we worked administrative stuff mostly.  I made several phone calls relating to finances, etc.  Kind of starting to switch gears and get back in the swing of being home.... :-( .   Noon rolled around and after lunch we headed to Patty and Greg's to see them and take off on a little road trip to Stillwater MN.

Stillwater is in Minnesota, barely. It is considered the 1848 birthplace of Minnesota and a "year round travel destination". It is just across the St Croix River from Wisconsin and considered part of the Minneapolis metro area with a population of just over 19k. The reason for our visit today is to see the new bridge that connects Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the downtown area of Stillwater.

There is quite a history about the bridge. Built in 1931, the lift bridge joining Minnesota and Wisconsin over the St Croix river was built and has been operating ever since.

The old lift bridge, now used for pedestrian and bike traffic.

The lift bridge was raised while we watched, to allow a boat to pass.  The Rv would not pass over this bridge either!

The RV would not head down this road!!

Water levels are up, so the sidewalk is flooded.

 Stillwater’s Lift Bridge is now closed to motorists, but the two-lane bridge will be resurfaced and integrated into a 5-mile pedestrian and bicycle path. The bridge will also be restored to look as it did when it opened in 1931.  Previously it became a political football and underwent a $5 million rehabilitation in 2005 and a $3.3 million upgrade in 2012.

A new four-lane St. Croix River bridge connects Minnesota and Wisconsin and was opened in August 2017 as a $646 million cooperative project between Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

So we headed downtown Stillwater and parked near the river.  We had a good view of the river boats.

Patty and Doreen  with a couple of the river boats in view.

Another legacy riverboat that offer dinner cruises.

We walked down the river walk and then headed to the downtown area ans walked around the shops and restaurants.  They have done a great job revitalizing this area.

A picture downtown.  Shops on both sides of the street.

Interesting looking area, unfortunately closed at the present.  It is a brewery located back in a cave, apparently.  Someday we will come back here and visit.

After our "walk about" downtown, we drove to a local ice cream shop called Brown's Ice Cream.  Ok, we have been to many ice cream shops.  What makes this place special?  Let me tell you - MEGA portions!  Holy cow!  I ordered a small cup.  I got four huge scoops of ice cream and it was delicious!

These are "small children's portions"!  Right!

It was great to get together again with Patty and Greg and enjoy the afternoon.  Tomorrow we will spend the morning packing up out stuff here at the RV in preparation for our departure Sunday morning.  In the afternoon we will head back to Patty and Greg's where Greg will  give us a ride to Target Field Target Field so we can watch the Minnesota Twins host the Detroit Tigers.  Patty will dog-sit Liberty too!

We are sad this journey is about over, but as this journey ends, another journey begins.  Remember it is not about the destination but the journey that takes you there.  We are not home yet, but we are very thankful we have had a safe journey so far.

28 Sep - (Boring Blog Post Warning) Worked Around RV, Restock Supplies, Lunch at Wild Bills

28 Sep
Took a day off today.  Doreen out a roast in the crock pot with veggies to follow.  Cleaned up around the RV.  De-bugged the front cap.  Cleaned up a bit. 

Firmed up plans to have the RV looked at by the body shop that refinished our front cap two years ago.  They were supposed to do both the front and rear caps but they only touched up the rear.  Now it is fading badly.  Hope to have this corrected yet this fall.

We headed out and found a Walmart to restock supplies.  Then we stopped at Wild Bill's Saloon for lunch. 

Doreen had lime chicken tacos and I had a brisket burger.  I did not know they made burgers out of brisket, and sure enough they don't.  It was a massive half-pound hamburger with barbecued beef brisket, onion rings, pickles, cheese etc on the burger.  A real gut bomb.  Had I realized that I would not have ordered it.  So, needless to say, I ate about a fourth of it and box up the rest for lunch tomorrow.  Could probably get two meals out of what remains!

We finished out the day with roast beef and veggies for supper and watching the Cubs and the Cardinals playing now.  

Wow, only three more night here which means only three more nights on this 147 night journey!  We will be home Sunday about noon or shortly there after.  We are already making plans to head to battle Creek MI in a couple weeks to visit son-in-law James and grand kids Lucas and Lindsey. Daughter Jennifer is deployed overseas for six months and James has his hands full there trying to manage the household, the kids and his job.  So we will go over for a week and give him a little relief. 

Being gone for 147 nights our to-do list is obviously long, so we will be very busy this fall getting caught up as well as being gone to Battle Creek.  Doreen and I scheduled dentist, doctor and other appointments for this fall.  Plus we will be unloading and winterizing the RV, depending on the body shop outcome, and getting it ready for it's winter hibernation.

Many have asked what we are going to do next year as far as traveling goes, and that is "yet to be determined".  Jennifer will return in the spring and we want to be here for that.  There are some other family obligations coming up.  Plus, the main areas we have remaining are the southwest/south and the southeast/east.  In previously years we departed Iowa in the spring, April or May, and returned in September or October.  That will not work for a southwest trip and is not preferable for a southeast trip.  We talked about working in Cubs spring training in the southwest trip, but with Jennifer returning this year that would not work, sooooo... again, yet to be determined!

Tomorrow we plan to visit Patty and Greg again and then Saturday is out Twins-Tigers game.  Sunday we depart!

27 Sep - Visit to Greg and Patty Kuehl and CUBS WIN THE DIVISION!!

27 Sep
Today we drove to Oakdale which is a suburb of St Paul to visit our high school classmate Patty (McDermott) Kuehl and her husband Greg.  As mentioned yesterday, Patty's brother John McDermott married Doreen's sister Debbie.  We all went to the same high school in Cedar Falls IA.  We have been very, very close to them ever since high school.  Patty is retired and is quite the gardener.  We enjoyed "the fruits of her labor" today as she served a delicious lunch for us with BLT's, soup and apple crisp.  Then she sent us home this afternoon with a sack full of huge tomatoes.  So good!

Patty's husband Greg is a retired St Paul police officer, an avid hunter and fisherman.  It is fun to talk with Greg and listen to his hunting adventures.  He has several critters stuffed and hung on the wall of his basement. 

After lunch we went to a restaurant where Patty and Greg's daughter Cristy (Kuehl) Kulzer works to see her.  She had just gotten off work she she sat with us and enjoyed a cold beverage! 

Doreen and Patty

Cristy and Doreen

Tonight after supper we watched the Cubs beat the Cardinals and clinch the Major League Baseball Central Division championship. This is the first time the Cubs have been in the post season three seasons in a row since 1906-1908.  The Cubs will play the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series, starting Friday Oct 6th in Washington DC.  Saturday night we will go to Target Field and watch the Minnesota twins play the Detroit Tigers.  The Twins are on the cusps of clinching their American League division as well, so we are looking forward to seeing them play.

26 Sep - Goodbye Ft McCoy, Hello Lebanon Hills Campground in Apple Valley MN

26 Sep
Today we said goodbye to the Pine View Campground at Fort McCoyWI and head to our 30th and final campground on this trip.

The day started with the noise of construction workers and equipment outside our door.  They are extending water and sewer to areas of the campground that previously were electric-only.  So lots of digging going on.  This morning it was raining so we "tore down" in the rain.  Luckily we packed most everything the night before, so the biggest hassle was to climb on the roof of the RV and sweep pine needles off the slides, in the rain of course!  Here is what it looked like on the ground:

We got out of there at just before 0900 hrs and drove in the rain much of the way.  Here are a couple pictures of the Mississippi River at lock and dam #7 near La Crosse WI.  Very overcast and rainy.

We headed north from I-90 and arrived at Lebanon Hills Campground at about  1219 hrs, after about 3 hrs 28 minutes of travel and 179 miles.  We checked in quickly, parked and got set-up without issues.  the rain had stopped but the overcast continued all afternoon.

 The campground is a county park and very well kept.  The sites are fine crushed gravel and full hook-up.  The grass is manicured.   Normally we would back up so our levelers are on the gravel but the rear would hang over the grass, but here they do not allow the rear of the RV's to hang over the grass as this obstructs the mowers. So we did not have room for our truck on our site.  Luckily there is a parking area adjacent to our site, so our truck is right next to us.

There is plenty of room between sites and plenty of room to the rear.

 After setting up we had some lunch and then went out on a walk around the area.  There are some trails here and these near the campground are blacktop.

As of now we do not have a lot on the plate for this stop, but it will surely fill up as the other stops have.  Our Northern University high school classmate Patty (McDermott) Kuehl and her husband Greg live in St Paul so we will see them.  Patty's brother John McDermott is married to Doreen's sister Debbie, so we are very close with Patty and her family.  We also have tickets for the Twins-Tigers baseball game Saturday evening before heading home on Sunday.  In the evenings we will be tuned in to the Chicago Cubs games as the season winds down and the post-season games are right around the corner.

25 Sep - Greg Cullen Visit, Opera House, Burr Oak Winery, Volk Field Visit

25 Sep
One of the things we really enjoy as we travel around the United States is reconnecting with friends, relatives and military comrades.  This morning the retired Wisconsin Air National Guard State Command Chief  and good friend Greg Cullen stopped by the RV to say howdy.  Greg now works at Volk Field CRTC that we talked about yesterday, so he popped over here to see us while at Ft McCoy conducting some business.  He also bought a fifth wheel RV but has it parked in a seasonal spot near Castle Rock Lake north and east of Volk a few miles.  Since Greg is still employed and his daughter is still in high school, he and his wife are not able to travel like Doreen and I are, but indicated he would like to in the future.

It was great to talk with Greg again.  We served on a national-level committee together, so we attended most of the same conferences and meetings while we were both State Command Chiefs.

Doreen and I then headed past Tomah and Volk Field to New Lisbon WI.  Since it was lunchtime we stopped by one of my old watering holes called the Opera House.  Over the years while deployed to Volk Field with the Air National Guard, the Opera House was one of our favorite places to go at night for pizza.  

 We were surprised to see a for sale sign posted inside.  The owner's wife said it has been for sale for three years and they have only had one significant nibble on it.

We ordered one of their famous pizzas for lunch and brought half of it back to the RV for later consumption!

After lunch we headed out of New Lisbon just a mile or so to the Burr Oak Winery.  

Burr Oak entrance

Area used for special events

The vineyards

We have been here before and Doreen loves their cranberry wine.  They also make several other really good wines, so we sampled them again and then selected a case full to restock the wine rack at home.

Doreen at the tasting bar

Three sizes of tasting glasses available.  We chose the smallest.  The $5 cost is minimal for eight samples, so for $10 we got 16 samples

The score sheets.  Mine has the dots

The wine tasting was fun, but we needed to get headed back towards the RV.  We stopped by Volk Field just for old times and drove through the base.

 It looked pretty empty so there were apparently no big exercises or deployments going on right now. We cruised around and snapped a few pictures.  Here is one of the fire department.  The equipment bays are around the corner. Volk Field is configured like a full-up Air Force base and units rotate in and out of there and practice war games.  There is a range not far from Volk that the aircraft can drop ordinance and shoot their guns.  As I said before, I deployed up here many, many times.

Then we stopped by the BX to see of they had anything with "Volk Field" on it that we might send to our deployed daughter Jennifer.  Nope, no post cards, no tee shirts, no nothing.  So we headed back to the RV.  Doreen started a load of laundry and I commenced tearing down everything outside in preparation for our departure in the morning.  

Tomorrow we head to Lebanon Hills Campground near Apple Valley MN, just south of the Twin Cities.  The drive should not be too bad and we will be there shortly after noon.