Minneapolis

We are currently in Savage, MN at the Town & Country Campground.

Have taken the train into Minneapolis to see if we could get a ticket to the Twins, but at $100 per ticket, we decided that we were not that big of fans, so took it easy and walked around gawking at the crowd.

Took a drive into St. Paul on Saturday to watch the Flugtag event, which is a bunch of nuts who have built various "crafts" that they hope will fly off of a 30 foot tower into the Mississippi River. We did see the record breaking 207 foot "flight" of Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies. Also a record breaking crowd of 90K in a park built for 40K.

Lincoln, NE

Spent a couple of days back in Lincoln to celebrate the 50th birthday of Cathy's brother Bob. Had a great time and had lots of company out to the RV home. I didn't know so many people could fit in there at one time!

Chicago on another day

We found a train station one day and took a trip into Chicago proper. It took all day! Parked the behemoth truck in the last row of the 3 block parking lot, hiked up the the parking fee kiosks to pay, took a trip under the tracks to the station to buy tickets, and then waited 1.5 hours for our train to appear (on the otherside of the tracks, naturally). The trip took over an hour to get to Union Station in downtown Chicago, and then we had to find the bus to the Navy Pier. Finally got to our destination, just in time for...lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Food was excellent. It was HOT that day, so spent most of the time looking at the display of stained glass windows and doors. Got home late after taking the express train home.

Joliet Area

Toured Joliet Historical Museum. Had a great time with the Route 66 history, and had our pictures taken with Jake and Elwood.

Also saw what has to be a Bob Finke ancestor:

Steve comment. I've wanted to tour the country for years. This goes back prior to 1998 bicycle ride across America. We've been life time members of Good Sam camping club since 2001 and have been waiting for Cathy to get a severance package from Centel/Sprint/Embarq/Century Link or whatever company. The ultimate goal being to find that perfect location where we can live when we are ready to settle down. Strange thing to say but I want a warmer climate. They tell me Kansas City has been warmer this past week. Anyway we've worked hard for a year selling four bedroom house filled with stuff. We are planning on full timing for years and so far it has been great. Just as we are getting started I thought we'd found the perfect location in Joilet. We found a restaurant with $1.25 busch light draft beers and an outdoor patio. As I had my second beer at lunch watching all the suit and tie folks life looked pretty good. Is this the place????

After the beers wore off I reallized the location was downtown next to the police station. Maybe this isn't the perfect location. We'll keep looking.

Full time people love giving advice. Cathy says I have the helpless look down pat and people rush over to help. We were struggling to put together my folding kayak that has been in storage for years. We gave up and then two neighbors came over and helped put it together. Kayak worked great can I get it together another time? I may have to invite the neighbors?

Chicago area

Took a trip to Chicago to see a niece and great nephew, but missed the other nephew. Spent some time at the Leisure Lake resort in Joliet, IL. This park as a fishing/boating lake, a swimming lake, a swimming pool, miniture golf, 3 volleyball nets (sand) and a large clubhouse. Jannell and little Daniel spent some time there and Daniel had his first swim.

Nebraska City

July takes us to the lovely Victorian Acres park in NE City. We spent some time dropping off more crap for storage and updating wills. WHEEEEEE!

Also spent some time in Beatrice, NE. Toured the Homestead National Monument of America. Hard to believe that 12 people could share a 12' X 14' cabin, and not go stir crazy.

Nebraska City is also home of the Arbor Lodge, several orchards (some with winery's!) and has a Freighters Museum. The area was a major freight station for points west.

We also met two of our friends, Barb and Joyce, in Brownsville, NE for a tour of that town. There was a great jewelry place where Cathy and Joyce spent money. We also went to a bookstore located in the old high school...what a selection. Steve bought a couple of DVDs and purchased a "waiter's choice" book. Had lunch in Rockport and threw peanut shells on the floor. What a great time!

Kansas City again!

Spent June in KC, because someone named Steve NEEDED to compete in the Corporate Challenge events! Also wanted to work an extra month (What is that about???)
Steve also had cataract surgery. Surgery went well, but lost his hearing aid at the surgery center. They swore up and down that they looked for it and it was NOT there. So, bought a new $2K hearing aid. 3 weeks later, guess where the lost hearing aid was? Yes, it was at the surgery center in someone's pocket! Still waiting on the outcome of this fiasco. Tune in later for the conclusion!

Las Vegas

After the cruise, we spent a couple of days in Las Vegas, catching up with friends. Saw Barry Manilow's show. Still like the songs!!