Apple Valley, Minnesota

We left the Iowa riverside campground earlier than usual. We did that so we could see my cousin Erica during her lunch break at Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It was a four hour ride, following US 61 most of the way. It really gets pretty as you enter Wisconsin at Dubuque. The highway was recently redone so the ride was very smooth, except for the last ten miles. That ten mile stretch was the roughest of the trip so far. We really felt it and I had to retighten several bolts on the RV afterwards.

It was far, far too short, but it was really great to see Erica. 

After gathering some supplies we went to the Great River Bluffs State Park on the Minnesota side for the evening. 

This park has special memories. When I was quite young, a friend of my Mom and Dad loaned them a small travel trailer. We stayed in this park before going to Missouri. I remember that I was impressed by the trailer and super impressed by the high bluffs the park is on. 

View looking north.

Love these northern woods. According to a park sign there are rattlesnakes. We didn't see any, but then again it was pretty chilly out.

This tree has had this scar a long time. A lot of the trees looked like they had a story to tell. None more so than this one.

Babs must be getting tired of carrying those beers everywhere we go. 

We know the days of having the campground to ourselves are coming to an end, but we sure have enjoyed it while it lasted.

We barbequed some chicken and grilled some marinated onions that night. Campfire cooking is always delicious, but Babs makes some marinades that take it to another level. Alloy Dee!

We paired it with a fine bottle of red zinfadel made by our friend, Tim, from our earlier stop on the trip.

We followed US 61 north, up to Redwing, Minesota and then across the river to Ellsworth, Wisconsin. It's the town that my Great Grandfather came from before moving to Missouri. We didn't know this side of the family until Mom found them when her lifelong genealogy detective work paid off. We went to a family reunion here about 10 years ago and discovered that the town prides itself on its cheese curds. 

That's a curd on the sign. Babs thought it was Sponge Bob.

Biting into fresh cheese curds from here is a very squeaky business. We also had a peach shake and a black raspberry malt. Wow! As Babs said, why did they bother giving us a straw? They were so thick, we ate them with the spoon, no drinking from the straw.

Last night we stayed in a very nice county park called Lebanon Hills, that's a few miles from the Great Mall of America. It's supposed to rain today so it seemed like a good thing to do.

The site is very level and we have the full hookups (water, electric and wastewater). The night in the Great Rivers Bluff State Park we were boondocking, which is fine, we are self contained. However, we weren't successful at getting the RV level.

We don't have a levelling system, we carry some plastic blocks made for this purpose (the look like giant legos). We were listing a little too much to starboard. Babs said her pajamas were giving her a wedgie all night.

We are going to have to get better at that. This campground is full for the weekend and we will be seeing more and more of that. I imagine future weekend will be outside of campgrounds for the most part.