Wednesday, October 9, 2013

One thing leads to another.....

The Mall of America has been something we have seen on various TV specials. Considered the largest mall in the United States, it is an oasis for people who live in the middle of the frozen tundra of Minneapolis and a tourist trap.   It was the next stop on our family tour. 

But first we had to get there.




 Say hello Tina:) She loves it when I take photos of her!

You will not see the photo of Tina in her white socks and flip flops taking a full kitchen size trash bag and shoving it into a small trash can while we were at the fuel aisle of a truck stop!  But I do have one:)


We left South Dakota and could of went straight across the state to Minnesota, but no.  We needed to go through Nebraska first.  Another state we can mark off as going through on our big map of the country!




 It was long and boring......
 And we didnt' drive through the pretty part of the state I'm sure.....
desolate, with no other cars for miles and miles and miles.....Oh Wait!  A Truck!  There are other people on the road!!!
 
And then nothing for miles.........
 
 
 
 More farms, which we never get tired of seeing.  Makes you believe in the world again to see farmers still out there making a living and supplying us with necessities....that can only be bought here in the US.
 
 
And some really cool old abandoned buildings. Sad to see.
 















A few hours later.......there in the distance.......... YAY!  We made it!!!  Minnesota!!!!



We made it to the Minnesota Welcome Center by late afternoon to pick up all of our goodies. Joe walked around the camper and car to check on the connections. He was not happy when he came back in the camper. All over the front of the car was oil. Where did it come from? 

The back of the camper, where the engine is located apparently.  Crap.

So we drive to the closest Cabelas in Owatonna, to stay overnight.  Next door was a small regional airport.  There was a really cool sculpture out front.



We needed to find a camper repair shop in the morning. Hopefully it was just a small leak in a hose somewhere that they could fix and we could be on our merry way.

The next morning is blue skies and sunshine! Across the highway from Cabela’s is a RV repair shop! Maybe things are looking up for us! We drive over there, explain the situation and the mechanic sends us to the ABC Bus company in the next town of Fairbault. 
 

 
We were there for 3 days. Fairbault was a small nothing of a town so we spent our time inside the ABC Bus company on their WIFI during the day or sitting in the camper while they worked on it. We hadn’t had free access to WIFI in a while and we were all like zombies on it;)

 

                                            

 
                                 

 
 

 
 
At night we explored Owatonna, which was the largest closest town that had all the stores we needed. Walmart, Kohls and Target! We ended up eating out a lot due to the camper being in the shop and even stayed at a hotel in Fairbault only a few miles from the shop. We all believe from the lay out of the hotel and the smell that at one time it was probably an old age facility. But it was the cheapest around and included a cold buffet breakfast.



We tried to stay local with the food and went to eat at Rose Street Pizza place. It was not a very good experience. We decided the next night we would break tradition and eat at a chain restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings. They also had a Culver’s. We visited them twice, but not for food this time, for their Custard. It was the highlight of our stay.

It was Friday afternoon by the time we were back on the road again. They had managed to fix the issue and we were on our way. Almost. We made it back to Owatonna to the Cabela’s to fill up on water and dump the tanks when there was another issue. Thankfully the mechanic from the bus company came and met us in the parking lot to tighten the bolt underneath that they neglected to do before we left. Unfortunately this was only the beginning of a long line of issues with the camper that would dictate the rest of our trip.

We had discussed previously about stopping by the Fleetwood RV Shop in Decatur Indiana for a tour of their facility.  Now it was going to be a definite stop.  Joe called and was told that they didn't have an appointment until end of September!  That was a month away.  That wouldn't work.  The camper wasn't running the way it should be and it didn't feel right driving it.  We needed to get in ASAP.  So we were told we were more than welcome to drive on out next week and do a "Drop In".  Which means you show up at 600am, put your name on the list and you get the next available opening.  They only allow you to have 3 items checked/fixed and Warranty Drop In's get priority.  Well with a first come first serve basis we needed to get out there as soon as possible.  Labor Day was a little over a week away and we wanted to be in Michigan by than.  Joe set our course to be in Decatur Indiana for late Monday night.  They had a big parking lot for over night campers getting work done with electric hook ups.  On the other side of the building they had a dump station and a water pump for drinkable water.  And it was all free of cost.

We needed a campground to stay at that was close to the Mall of America in Minneapolis. There was nothing available. Apparently the Minneapolis State Fair was going on! So we stayed a little farther out, about an hour and half out side of Minneapolis in a small town called “Hope”. Another good sign? The campground was called Oak Knoll Campground. It was from another era, run by a family, a father and his two grown children.

 

 

                                                    

We settled in on Friday and decided Saturday we would spend the day at the mall. The campground had WIFI and Laundry. Plus Pull thru sites and was located in a beautiful area. What more could we want?

 
 
   

                                              



The majority of the campground were seasonal sites. With a few sites left for those like us stopping for just a short time. So basically everyone knew everyone else. And they let you know that you were outsiders.

Gabe and I went and started laundry. Their laundry room consisted of 2 old washers at $1.25 each and 2 old dryers (both of them that metallic mustard gold color, I had one growing up!) at $1.00 each. Cheap! It was also located behind the camp store in their storage room and was only open when the camp store was open. It was small and tight. And we ended up having to run the dryer a few times to get our towels dry, so it didn’t end up being that cheap.

The WIFI didn’t work from our camping spot, which was 2 spots away from the camp store. It did however work out at the picnic table. Gabe and I went into the Campstore to see about setting up there on one of their tables. No worries, come on in the older gentlemen behind the counter said (come to find out he was the son of the owner). He didn’t understand why we couldn’t get the computer to work since we were so close, considering Elroy was at the other end of the campground and his computer worked just fine.

The man who helped us went and sat at the only other table in the room where there was an older man there waiting to play cards. He called him dad. So I’m thinking this is the father, the owner of the campground.

I would guess the owner was in his 80’s and his son in his 60’s. They were a sight the two of them sitting there playing cards.

As Gabe and I set up at the table, another man came in with apparently his wife, they briefly looked our way and sat down at the table to play cards. Not a smile was cracked or a friendly hello was given. Joey joined us shortly after we were set up. He walked in and they all turned to stare at him, but didn’t say a word. A girl about my age came in, said hello to her parents playing cards at the other table, glanced at us, didn’t smile or say hello, just sat down at the table to watch them play cards. But every now and then would look over and just stare at Joey. Weird. Like we were in the twilight zone.

Needless to say we didn’t stay long. We finished the laundry and prepared our dinner and our fire for the night.

 


 

We ended up making our favorite jalapeno stuffed peppers! It was a beautiful night with a constant breeze which kept the mosquitoes away thankfully, that way we were able to sit out side and enjoy the fire.














 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 


 
We were all excited about the Mall Of America. We aren’t really mall people. Or shoppers for that matter, unless it is an antique store or an old General Store or a Super Target, we don’t spend a lot of time in the stores. Except of course when Joe and Tina are grocery shopping.  


 
Mall of America.  I think pictures can tell more than words.....

 There were 4 levels!

With every kind of store imaginable!  And yes we went shopping...


And the had an AMUSEMENT PARK in the middle of the mall!! REALLY??
 
Can you spot Tina and Joe:)

 Do you see us???

 
  We rode the rollarcoaster!!!


Chinese dinner at the Food Court:) Some of the best on our trip so far!



Parking Garage, an omen???
 
We spent the whole day wandering around the mall.  Tired and ready to go home we walk all the way down to the parking garage, when Tina realises she forgot her Peeps purchase on the back of her chair in the food court! Really??? 
 
So instead of giving her dirty looks and stomping our feet, we run all the way back to the other end of the 100,000 sq ft mall to the food court.  We made a race of it, Gabe and I against Joe and Tina.  Of course Gabe and I made it back to the table first!  Gabe was little winded and out of breath, while I don't believe I even broke out in a sweat!  And guess what???  The bag was still hanging on the back of Tina's vacant chair!  Imagine that?  Makes you feel good about the human race. 

  It was a quiet ride back to the campground.  We were all set to leave the next morning from the zombie campground and head to the Iowa I 80 Truck stop.  


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