Blogs from Mankato, Minnesota, United States, North America

Just arrived at Minneopa State Park near Mankato, Mn. 87 degrees, but we have a nice shady spot for the camper. Now if we can keep the mosquitoes away with my husband's homemade spray!... read more

Having the kids learn Spanish could be accomplished in a number of ways, and many of them do not involve moving to a foreign county. There are many different foreign language programs available that can be used from your own home, including many excellent programs available for free on the Internet. In terms of schools, there are a variety of immersion schools popping up, including some in the Twin Cities area, that could have offered the language education we're seeking for the kids. So why move? And why move to Costa Rica in particular? Choosing to go live in Costa Rica for a year wasn't a random decision. We have many reasons for making Costa Rica our temporary home. First, my husband's mother is from Costa Rica. She was born there and grew up there and ... read more

We left Sundance thinking we might stop somewhere in the eastern part of South Dakota. We did stop but only for a few fireworks. The weather was fine until we hit Windom and then the clouds thickened, darkened, and the wind picked up. We turned on the radio to a Mankato station as the kids said there were tornado sirens going off in Mankato. We ended up pulling off into St. James and parking in the community camp ground. A couple tents were already overturned. We even had to close our vents because of the force of the wind and rain. After 20 minutes or so, we could see sunlight in the west. However, the closer we got to Mankato, the more it darkened again in the southwest. I took a couple pictures of the storm ... read more

We are at the end of this project, and like the end of all of them, at this point it feels like it just rushed to this day. We’ve been waiting and waiting for the day when we’d get to go home and see the kids (read: grandkids!) and then all of a sudden it’s tomorrow, and there are things that we didn’t get done, or didn’t get to do yet. But the main thing is that tomorrow we’re leaving, and heading home! The men have finished the floor, except for grouting the last little bit. They laid nearly 5000 six inch tiles. If you’re keeping track, that’s 24 days of them on their knees…and those knees are complaining! But the floor looks wonderful, and the camp director is so pleased with it. The women ... read more

Hello to all our blog-eyed friends & family, Sorry we haven't kept you up as we should; ATT isn't as strong in these here parts. Anyway, I'll backtrack 2 days so you won't have missed anything. Let's start out in mid-South Dakota at Walls Drug Store. It is a site not to be missed. A pharmacist & his wife came there in 1931, but had a tough time making a go of it. His wife got the bright idea of giving out free ice water to travelers to encourage them to stop and put signs out on the highway. Of course it worked and is still working...lots of signs, 5 cent coffee, food, gifts, oh yes and drugs and ice water. It is worth a stop! Had to get on the interstate 90, but got off ... read more