RED WING, MN

It was time for some down time to get the laundry done, etc., so we spent a week at the Treasure Island campground. We had a coupon for a reduction in a motel room rate, so they gave us $50 off and $20 in free play-not to bad a deal. One day we drove to Minneapolis and did some shopping and cemetery research, then to dinner at Jim and Mary Weingartner's home. We had a great time and a delicious meal! Another day, we drove to Rochester and spent the afternoon at the Olmsted Historical Library, doing research on the Friedell's. When we returned to town, we ate at Liberty's Restaurant-every trip to Red Wing we say we're going to try it, and finally did. We should have done it much sooner. It was delicious and at a reasonable cost. They have neat stained glass windows hanging in their windows, each with a different center etched glass picture. Very neat!

It's hard to see in this picture, but maybe you can see them hanging in the windows.

Each year, I think the Red Wing flowers can't be topped, but this years are awesome!

Yesterday, we drove to Maple Grove. MN for our niece Renae's wedding on Saturday. We joined many of Don's sisters and brothers and kids, and his mother, at Linda and Dave's house, (Renae's parents), for dinner. Another sister and brother will arrive today. It's always nice to see everyone! It's an outdoor wedding, so we're hoping the rain stops in time!

UPDATE ON ACCIDENT

We were headed to Red Wing, MN, when the claims adjuster called. I knew in my gut that the guy acted strangely. He gave us the registration from the previous owner from 4 years earlier. Wrong name, address, phone number, etc. It will be interesting to see if the insurance company can find him. Guess I'll send his picture to them, and hope they don't go after "Cliff" from Cheers! This was another one of those times when it was good for my husband to listen to me!

ST. LUCAS, IOWA

We went on to Decorah for Dr.'s appointments and to see friends. While there, we took a drive to St. Lucas so I could have walleye at my favorite place, The White House.

Since we were there a year ago, they remodeled and built a new kitchen, using the old one for more tables.

I ordered the deep fried walleye to get the flavor, but only ate little bits of the breading with each bite-you can see why. It was delicious as usual!!!

For those of you from Grinnell, the former superintendant of schools in Grinnell, Clem Bodensteiner and his wife Leona, are from around St. Lucas. It's a neat little small town, with a main street where the White House is located.

Looking the other direction, up the hill toward the church, there just happens to be a man on a lawnmower cruising down the road.

St. Luke's Church sits proudly at the top of the hill.

This is a view of the town as you approach it. One of my favorites!

FARMERS MARKET AT MULERTFEST

We actually did other things but eat at Mulertfest. Most everyone went to Adventureland and even though there were long lines in the heat, they said they had a good time. Pat stayed with Grandma at the motel until Don and I picked them up and went to lunch and then took Grandma to a quilt shop in Valley Junction. In the morning, we went to the Farmers Market in downtown Des Moines with Scott and Jeff, before they joined the others. It extends over nine blocks and has just about anything you'd like to find. This is one small area.

There was quite a crowd.

I thought this guy deserved to have his picture taken.

Scott had to have one of the brown ones in front-some ingedients were peaches, cocunut and rum.

I thought these were interesting-they're oyster mushrooms.

Hey man, they're still making these!

What can I say about this?

They also have beautiful flowers, great produce and wonderful artisan breads. If you live in the area, it's worth the drive on Saturday morning!

CHIPS AT MULERTFEST

After looking for a pizza place, we eventually ended up at Chips right next to the Country Inn motel which had pizza and other food. It was very good!

We were lucky to get our own private room.

MULERTFEST 2010-DES MOINES

We only had 21 at Mulertfest this year, but we still had a good time. (We'll get to see more relatives at Renae's wedding in two weeks.) The ones in a motel stayed in Ankeny and the campers were at Saylorville, a few miles away. Here's Linda guiding Dave into their parking space.

We had a nice view of the lake.

One night we had a potluck at our site.

Everybody had fun with Emily and Anna. They have three brothers, but are able to hold their own.

Jenny was happy all weekend-don't know what happened here.

Emily had more fun with her watermelon than everybody else!

IOWA'S BEAUTY

I seem to put a lot of desert roads on the blog, and except for this years Queen Anne's Lace, very few from Iowa. Our state is pretty in its own way. There are many flowers along our roads. Here's an example.

This one had a little help to get the holly hocks.

Isn't this a pretty scene?

I don't know how many of you know what a Grant Wood painting looks like, but usually they have terraced crops in the picture. These two are similar by showing how the corn flows from one area to another.

It amazes me that every stalk grows to the same height. You'd think there'd be at least one obstinate one in the field!