August 17, 2012

We had set the alarm for 6:30 because we had to out of our parking place by 8am.  We started getting ready and then I noticed on my phone that it was only 5:30.  I forgot to change the time on the alarm clock the last time I used it.  OPPS.  It actually worked out alright because we ran into some difficulty.   We had to find a place to dump so I started looking on the internet at the different websites I have saved to my favorites that list dump sites all across the US.  Monte took a walk around the building and was pleasantly surprised to find a dump station.

  (Not only were we happy about this for the convenience but also because it was free.)  Monte dumped the black water tank, then the first gray water tank.  But when he went to dump the second gray water tank the pull handle came off in his hand.  By this time it was 10 minutes to 8 and the panic set in.  Apparently when Sergio from Mor/Ryde did the work on the RV he must have taken the handle and cable release assembly off to protect it from damage while welding.  When he put it back together he didn’t tighten it up.  Monte had to crawl under the RV where the second gray tank handle is located and use a pick to reach inside the opening to reach the nut.  It was getting late and I started getting stressed because we were blocking the road and the store was about to open.  So we could get out of the way Monte put a screw on the handle to hold it in place while we moved next door to a store with a bigger parking lot so that he could work on the handle without blocking anyone.

Luckily Monte is handy and had the problem fixed in no time and we were finally on our way.  It was a pretty drive through Wisconsin.  Both Monte and I needed gas at the same time so we got off at an exit at the Wisconsin Dells.  I pulled into a station but there was not enough clearance for Monte to pull in so he tried a different exit.  No luck.  He plugged in Fuel on his GPS (He has an RV GPS that tell him where he can get fuel, find a dump station, and what roads to avoid).  The next station where he could get gas wasn’t that far away.  BUT the gas was $4.19.  (If the gas keeps going up we may have to park someplace for a week or two).  He only filled up half way hoping to get a better rate down the road.  As we were pulling out of that station he noticed the station right next door had diesel for ONLY $4.07.  So he filled up. 

We were really tired from getting up so early all week and were having trouble staying awake—not a good thing when you are driving.  We stopped often just to walk around and stretch.

  After crossing into Minnesota we passed miles of windmills.  It was neat.

Finally we arrived at Checkers Campground in Welcome, Minnesota.

  After checking in and getting set up we walked up to the office and paid for an additional night.  It was such a nice feeling to know we could sleep in and relax the next day.  After a quick dinner of salad and leftover pizza I had in the freezer we decided to take a ride to the County Fair.  I had gone on line to see if there was anything to do in the area and the fair popped up.  I plugged in the address in the GPS and off we went.  It directed us to turn down a gravel road.  I thought it must be a mistake and wanted to re-enter the address for a better route but Monte reminded me that our new lifestyle meant sometimes taking the road less traveled.  SO we drove 6 miles on a gravel road between corn fields.  It was ok and we did get a few laughs over it but coming back I INSISTED on finding a different route back because it was pitch black and all I could think about was the movie, Children of the Corn. 

The fair was neat. 

If you looked up Americana in the dictionary it would have a picture of the fair.  There were rides, a beer garden tent, livestock, pie judging, vendors advertising their wares, a polka music band

and of course food trucks with everything from pork chops on a stick to anything you could imagine deep fried.

Monte and I decided to get a funnel cake.

  While our cake was being fried, we struck up a conversation with another lady waiting and she told us that the lady making the funnel cake also makes the best fried Oreos.  Monte said he had never tasted one so the lady made one for him for free.  I tasted it---It wasn’t bad but was so sweet it was like eating a full spoon of sugar. The funnel cake was fried too much and was way too greasy.  I have sworn off funnel cakes!  Monte really liked the big John Deere harvesters. 

 The wheels were bigger than him. 

 

After leaving the Fair we plugged in Wal-Mart into the GPS and found one a couple of miles away.  After doing some shopping we went back home and settled in for the night.