Two Miles and Four Feet from Home: Driving Days & Big News!

Day 1

Of course we slept great and got up just in time to watch the sun coming up over the hills. Today we would be heading east towards Greensboro. We are about 26 hours away from home and believe it or not that feels very close to us. Anyway we packed up and headed out around 7:30 and took a few shots of the scenery as we left. About 10 minutes before the entrance we saw a huge Bison on the side of the road. We slowed down and let him walk right next to us. Then he looked right at us and we decided we should move on so we left the park. We did take a quick picture at the park sign before we finally hit the road. We absolutely love this park. It is not the most breathtaking and it is not the biggest but it does have that small town feel that we like and we plan to return for sure! Anyway there is not much to write about today mostly just driving. We made good time and when we hit the Minnesota state line we stopped at the visitor center. We told them we wanted to drive about another two hours and then find a campsite. The people there were super helpful and told us to go to a city named Alexandria. So we did. It turned out that most of the campgrounds where a bit far away so we decided to hit up a Best Western again. This one was right next to a Wal-mart so it was a double win. We bought some food for Jasper and we ate leftovers while watching Shark Tank on TV. Oh yeah and all of this was going on with some delightful air conditioning circulating in the background. Finally we went to bed about 10 PM. Tomorrow we are still heading towards Greensboro but are making a pit stop along the way. About three years ago we had the camper canvas completely redone by a company in Wisconsin. They did a great job but a few of my measurements must have been off and the zippered door and screen in the front where tight and after about a week into our trip the screen had started to separate from the zipper. I knew I could take pictures at home and get them to fix it but I really wanted them to see it in person. When I googled their address it would only be a 30 minute detour to stop by and see them in person. So the plan is to call them in the morning and see if my plan works for them. After that we will continue to head towards Greensboro.

Day 2

We actually slept late 7 AM. I think it has a lot to do with these things called curtains. Wow 9 hours of sleep. Now all we had to do was pack up and eat a huge hotel breakfast and hit the road. We were on our way by 8:30 AM. We stopped and filled up with gas. Just in case you are wondering the Prius pulling the camper usually gets around 34 MPG fully loaded. Awesome! We headed out and I called the camper place to see if they liked my plan. The receptionist said that it would be fine to stop by but be warned they where off highway "P" out in the middle of nowhere. OK that does sound out in the boonies. She said after turning on highway "P" go about 10 miles and take a left after crossing the "Yellow River". So let me get this straight I am traveling down highway "P" and I turn after the "yellow" river. OK got ya ha ha! So the GPS said we should be there about 1:30. We drove on major highways and finally turned on "P". It was beautiful. We were right in the middle of Amish country. It was great scenery all the way around. After we crossed the "yellow" river we took a left on highway 98 and we were there in about 5 minutes. We went inside and told them that we were there and set up the camper right in their parking lot. A very nice lady waited on us and did the measurements and decided what to do to fix the problem. She said she could fix it for $60. Totally awesome! We decided to leave the canvas with her so we could save the shipping. This would mean that we would have to use the tent for the remainder of the trip. While she was working out the details the owner came outside just to see the camper. He said he loved vintage campers and really loved it when they drove up to his front door. As it turns out his Dad started manufacturing campers in the 50's. The first pop up campers he manufactured were called an EZ Camper. In fact he said his Dad hated the makers of our camper (Tradewinds) because he felt they had copied his camper. Anyway Tradewinds campers went out of business and he ended up buying all of their supplies so I guess he won in the end. Anyway we had a great conversation and I learned a lot. We left the canvas with them and they said they would ship it back to us in about 4 weeks. We headed out and drove about three more hours towards Greensboro and ended up in a true resort KOA campground in Milton, Wisconsin. It was super nice and we wondered if they would let us camp. Some of these fancy campgrounds are RV only and we did not see any tents from the entrance. I went in and they said no problem in fact they had a site for $38 and of course it would have water and electricity. I pulled out my credit card and took it before she changed her mind ha ha. This place was super nice with lots of grass and fanciness everywhere. The store even said just call for snacks or whatever we wanted and they would deliver it. Wow! After we set up Lyn fixed dinner trying to use up as much as she could from the cooler. It was great as usual. After dinner we took Jasper for a walk and then settled in for a fire built by you know who. That woman has some mad fire skills! Anyway we hit the bed around 10 and plan to drive about half way home tomorrow so we should be rolling into Greensboro on Wednesday. Still having fun and still loving the people we are meeting!

PS. I literally just got permission to write this. Luke and Caroline are expecting Baby Miles number 2! That's right Bobaloo and Lola are going to be the proud grandparents of 2 grand kids come next January! We have known for awhile and have been excited about the news but it just makes me doubly excited to say it out loud here! Luke and Caroline have done such a great job with Spencer that Miles 2 should have no problem fitting right in!