Nisswa, MN

Nisswa, MN

 We went into Nisswa to the Thursday morning farmer's market. There we found nice lettuce and tomatoes, lots of homemade breads and local crafts. One lady was knitting some nice warm-looking socks for the winters up here!!

  

We found two more free lending library stations in Nisswa. That seems to be the thing to do up here. They are on the downtown strip by lots of local shops.

Norwegian, German and Swedish homes

We then toured a Pioneer town. Nisswa was founded in the mid 1800's by Scandavians. They came from Norway, Germany, and Sweden. The history is interesting and the buildings show life as it was back then. The number of artifacts from the period are numerous and are a good showing of that period of time.

Old milk truck

Wagon built with snow skis

Run totally by volunteers, we met a lady watering plants and picking up pine cones. She said the mowers wanted them picked up as they are hard on the mowers. I asked if I could have some and she said I could, so I am bringing home some Minnesota pine cones! There are short ones and long ones. The short ones fall off of long needled trees and the long cones fall off of short needled trees…..Interesting….

This was a posting of Rules for teachers in 1872 inside the old shoolhouse.

 Number 7 is especially interesting.

He is wondering how to get this thing out.

We found an RV Surplus store in Brainard. Our recliner set had begun to come  apart in several places. The price to replace was high, so we have put it off. Upon finding this place we purchased a new set for considerable less and is in great shape. Since are surplus, it is possible for some slight damage or discoloration. The set we liked only had an imperfection on the back side, which is placed on a wall so was good. They deliver, also, but the old one has to be taken out by us, so we had to figure out how to do it. And guys being guys there was no shortage of helpers to carry out the old and bring in the new.

New  one!

Lunch was at Big Axe Brewing company. They make their own root beer. Then, we found a small hut that serves up mini-donuts, cooked on the spot. I had eaten some of these at a festival in Kerrville last spring and wanted to show Dennis how they are cooked. The dough is dropped in this trough. Then carried down through the cooking oil and dropped off to dry, all in the exact time frame for getting done. They were Yummo!

Our last stop of the day was to the Nisswa hardware store to purchases - guess what? - the smoker/grill I mentioned in a previous post. I said there was probably one in our future. Bring home a new man toy and you will have a number of them "helping" set it up, inquiring how to use it, and offering lots of advice. They seem to find so much enjoyment in this. It's like Christmas to a little boy…. They got it all set up and Dennis smoked a very nice salmon. It was amazing! He did good. Looking forward to many cookouts. 

Bunny Cottontail enjoying the evening behind our RV.

Summer in Pequot Lakes, MN

               Summer in                  Pequot Lakes, MN

Debbie and Chris left after getting their windshield fixed. They are now on their way to their summer home in Michigan. The repair company said their's was the largest windshield they have ever replaced. A large motor coach has a very big front window!

The temps here are low in the 50's and highs in the 70's. The sun is pretty intense but the shade is very nice. It gets dark about 9:30 and light at about 5:00 a.m.

Nisswa, a little town a few minutes south of Pequot Lakes, has a charming downtown area. Since the weather has turned warm people are out everywhere. We stopped at an ice cream place. Seems every little town has one, but this one was soooo good.

Our next door Camp Host neighbors just got a new mini smoker/grill. We were invited to bring our meat over to grill with theirs. They smoked chicken the night before and the finished chicken was "succulent" according to the cook. I think I might see one of those cookers in our future….We are thankful the other Camp Hosts are so nice and easy to work with.

 

Lunch at Lucky's, a grill in Pequot Lakes. Great burgers!!

The camp ground is mostly "seasonals." They leave their RV here and come up over the weekends. A few are here for the summer from Arizona, etc. Then there are some who are here for a week or a weekend. There is a hockey camp near here and we will have some people staying here while there son is in camp. We have enjoyed getting to know some of them. One evening a couple came over and we visited until almost dark. It was nice with a few gnats flitting around, but so far no mosquitoes!!

He found another big machine to drive!!

Little Falls, Minnesota

Welcome Center
Little Falls

Little Falls, Minnesota

We are enjoying seeing the cities and sights in Minnesota. But some days need to be spent doing laundry and all of the boring stuff.

Since the weather has turned warmer, we can cook out and enjoy a dinner outside. My little hummer is enjoying his dinner as well. We saw him chase off another hummer one evening. 

                           

                           Breakfast out again at what is becoming our favorite spot: 

                                                             The Hungry Loon.

Movie Theatre  in Little Falls

We drove the 50 miles to a little town named Little Falls. A beautiful town with another vibrant downtown section. It was established in 1848 on the banks of the Mississippi. A group of entrepreneurs were attracted to the little falls in the river, as it had traders and explorers before them.

 


 We toured the home of the Weyerhaeuser  family (later named Linden Hill). They had a lumber business then went into banking. Very large 3 story home. Our guide was excellent and took lots of time in each room. She gave us a clipboard with rooms listed and items to find as in a scavenger hunt. Very fun. In the hat room we were to count the hats. I got 56. Mrs. Weyerhaeuser liked hats! The home backs up to the Mississippi.

Bridge Table

Beautiful old swing

Building was built on property
for their children's school house

       

    For lunch  we stopped at the A.T. The

Black & White. It was named Minnesota's best restaurant of the year in 2016. Quaint and casual, our lunch was delicious! I had walleye fish tacos with pineapple salsa and the others had Cuban wraps. I almost forgot to mention Crème Brûlée for me for dessert. Yummo. Our server, M.J., was very friendly and interested in our travels.  She said, "You are Southerners, aren't you?" Wonder how she guessed. Most of our servers in Minnesota have been friendly and interested in talking to the customers.

 Little Falls is known for its unique bicycle racks.

Lindbergh's auto

We then went to the boyhood home of Charles Lindbergh and the museum. Our guide told us about Charles growing up in Little Falls. He loved farming and being outdoors.

Most of the artifacts in the home were original to the era. Their home was on the Mississippi and one day he saw a small plane flying over the river. He immediately fell in love with airplanes and determined he would fly one.

Next day is a camp host day and we are checking people in for the weekend.

Sunday is a camp host day for us, so we watch our church service live on Utube.

Chris and Debbie are still here and he said today, "This remote church service stuff is pretty good." As we watched service from one of our "devices," we looked out our window at tall pine trees, birds hopping about, green grass, and sunshine. What a beautiful place for church!!

Sightseeing and Camp Hosting

Sunday night we had quite an evening. A storm came through and electricity was out in camp and most of the next town north.

We had just set down to dinner when the storm came. We didn't notice anything unusual, but as we finished, someone came to our door- it was our camp host day.

Here he is!

My hummer!!

He had just arrived back at camp and his electricity was out and wondered if a breaker at the pole was out. After  investigating we realized we were without power, too and that we were running on battery as our lights were still on. Dennis contacted the owner and discovered the outage area. Thankfully, it wasn't long before everything was back to normal, kids were out riding bikes, and Dennis was delivering wood for most of the camp's last night before heading back to home on Memorial Day. Chris (Dennis' brother) was happy as he rode the Gator with him.

Maybe I should ride next time! Never a dull moment.

Tuesday we drove to Itaska State Park .Beautiful park with so many tall trees. Lake Itaska is where the Mississippi River begins.

Headwaters of the Mississippi

It is very small at this point. It's hard to imagine how wide it will become downstream. You can walk across the Mississippi down river a short distance on a large tree log or at the point where the lake becomes the river - The Headwaters - there are stones to walk across. The day was very cold and the rocks slippery so could not cross that way today. Some of us tried - one of us almost fell in…. (me). We did cross at the log.

 

Driving on to a small town called Bemidji
 we found a wonderful bakery to eat lunch

A couple of the towns we have driven through - in the downtown area - had glass boxes with books inside. They were called Little Free Library. You take one and leave one. Nice idea!

Wednesday we dropped off Debbie and Chris in another small town named Park Rapids. They rode a bicycle trail to our meeting place for lunch. We enjoyed walking around the town while we gave them a head start. Nice little shops, soda shop, cafes, coffee shops We toured a beautiful Bed and Breakfast on the lake. 

                                          All of these little towns up here are so vibrant. 

We drove to our meeting place in Nevis. Not much there, but the Ironhorse Grill and Saloon was a great place to eat lunch. Dennis ordered beer cheese soup and it was served topped with popcorn. Different..... 

And….. Next door was an ice cream shop. Of course, we had to stop in. 

We then drove to Walker, where we were to pick up Debbie and Chris at the end of their ride. Their total ride was 27 miles.

There is a famous outdoor shop in Walker called Reeds, so we shopped a little, walked around another pretty downtown.

 Down the hill from Main Street was Walker City Dock. Beautiful view of the lake.

                                         The weather was much nicer with sunshine all day.