Blogs from Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States, North America

blog 08-19-17 Albert Lea, MN Getting out of town today was a little struggle. The dogs were up before 7 ugggg, but it took a while til we were on the road. Both Ginnie and I had really good sleeps despite the train that rumbled through at 5 am with whistles blarring. Alfy was really scared and paced and whined but eventually went back to bed. The train engineer seemed to relish the idea of blowing his whistle at that hour. We had to drive to the dump station, dump, fill the water holding tank ( 40 gals) then hook up the car. Then it was on to the gas station to fill the tank with 44 gal of gas. Finally, at 9:45 we were on the road and traveled 315 miles to Albert Lea, MN ... read more

We quickly left the Badlands behind and headed on the longest drive ever to Minneapolis. All there was to mention was the Corn Palace visit (yes a building that is mainly made up by corn - and bricks) and lunch at Dairy Queen. When we reached the campsite, Todd and Zach told us that Minnesota is the lake of ten thousand lakes, which meant there were a hundred thousand insects to go with it! And they weren't wrong. We soon found ourselves struggling to deal with the insects as our camp was right by a lake. Even getting out of the sanctuary of the van to get dinner and back resulted in many itches and I'm sure some bites. I was in there with Zach, Kristina and Joanna, and I had a good chat ... read more

Day 4. Oshkosh WI to Luverne, MN. We took the pups to Best Friends Dog Park, a 9 acre off leash park in Oshkosh. They met a bunch of other dogs, including a black German short haired pointer whom they enjoyed playing with. Then we drove through the rest of WI, lots of farms, wide open flat fields as far as the eye can see. We crossed into Minnesota, and stopped at Great Bluffs State Park. This is on a bluff overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. The state run campsites there are very well organized, with running water, grills, and hot showers. We got water for the pups there and enjoyed a panoramic view of the Mississippi from several overlooks, and had a picnic lunch which was cut short as we escaped from the Minnesota mosquitoes. ... read more

Well, I am approxamitely 24 hrs away from plane departure, and my to-do list continues to grow. The good news is all my laundry is done and I'm basically 100% packed. When I woke up this morning I realized that I would only have one my night in my bed here at home, and then it's off to a world that I don't know, and I bed that I don't yet know the location of. A thought that is both exciting and scary, all at the same time. Words cannot even begin to explain how I am feeling right now, so I'm not even going to try. I will be leaving tomorrow around 6am and after 2 hrs of driving, checking luggage, and security, I will have officially embarked on my new adventure. Until then, I ... read more

From Rolling Meadow, IL to Worthington, MN What's hot: Windmills turning on the prairie What's also hot: The bicycles in Madison, WI What's not: The fury of a surprise prairie storm. The road so far: Over 1500 miles behind us. Heavy traffic around the cornfields. Travel lesson of the day: Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. from Kathy: “The dullest part of the trip is from Chicago to South Dakota.” That’s what the people say. Not true for the Floonian Roadster! Our first side trip was Madison, WI, where I wanted to see firsthand what a real bicycle-friendly town looks like. True to rumor, Madison has its bicycle act together—we happened to talk with the son of the town’s Bicycle Pedestrian Traffic Manager, who works for the Department of Transportation. He p... read more