It was a wonderful July 4th Holiday in Minneapolis! We spent the day with Ed & Cindy Walsh and their daughter, Amber. We met Cindy and Amber at their home and followed them to the city park in Eden Prairie. Ed’s job at Buffets Inc. is full of stress since the company declared bankruptcy. A new Operations Officer is working to bring the company back to solvency and Ed’s job as Chief Security Officer for the corporation offers him so unique challenges. His stress reliever is his part-time avocation as a Reserve Officer for the Eden Prairie Police Dept. He has been doing it long enough to be the Senior Reserve Officer and thoroughly enjoys the responsibilities that accompany that position. On July 4th he was on duty at the park managing the Department’s Mobile Emergency Command Center, a Freightliner truck chassis converted to an emergency operations center. Eden Prairie is an upper middle class community that has a comfortable tax base resulting in some amazing equipment for the emergency services of the City. We took our portable picnic table and cooked some burgers, drank a few cool libations, and enjoyed the entertainment in the park. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the Eden Prairie police officers “talk shop”. It was a wonderfully relaxing day shared with close friends. We finally had to get back to the RV park, so we left around 8:30 before the fireworks show. When we got back to the motor home, the Mystic Casino had their own fireworks show and it was a doozie! Nancy wasn’t too thrilled about all the bangs and explosions, but it was a spectacular show!

On Sunday morning we had to pack the coach and start west to Rapid City. We had enjoyed five of the best weather days that Minneapolis has experienced in years. Sunday morning started to look a little like normal - cool, humid, and a little mist falling. We started back with plans to avoid the interstate and enjoy the US and State highways. We drove over to Marshall and on across the state line to Brookings, SD. As we drove I checked the small towns for city parks and small campgrounds to send updates to my three camping directory sources. We arrived in Brookings about 3PM and settled in at the Sexauer City Park Tourist Campground. It had 30 sites in a nice, quiet, spacious, well-kept park with lots of trees. After cooking dinner we decided to drive in to town and look for the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard for dessert. The city is the home of South Dakota State University and reflects the college influence. It’s a pretty town with one of the most impressive flower garden parks in the Midwest. We were both feeling the humidity that is common for the eastern part of the state, so we headed back to the coach and prepared for bed after some TV time.

Monday we were up with more of the high humidity and mist and started west for our goal of Pierre, the state capitol. We left Brookings and drove through and checked Lake Preston, De Smet, Huron, Miller, Highmore, and finally arrived in Pierre about 2PM. All of these towns had city parks with camping grounds that are very reasonably priced and in beautiful locations. We settled in at the Griffin City Park and drove to the local Wal-Mart for some groceries. Griffin City Park is located right on the Missouri River and has a spectacular view of the moving water. We took the time to drive around the State Capitol Building, one of the most magnificent capitols in the country. The grounds are meticulously manicured and there are several memorials located on the grounds. There is also a South Dakota Cultural Heritage Museum built into the side of a hill on the north side of the grounds. We enjoyed our time in Pierre and would like to spend about three days wandering around at a future time. Looking back we were amazed at how green all the fields were. If there weren’t bales of hay, the grass had been cut and raked into windrows for the balers. This summer most of the farms will get at least two cutting of hay with all the moisture we’ve received.

The next morning we awoke to watch the TV news/weather reports that a large thunderstorm was moving through Rapid City. We could see to the west the clouds were pretty dark, but we pulled out anyway. As we got closer we could see the sun shining and the clouds were moving to the southeast. We got to Rapid City and drove straight to the barber shop. I was in need of a haircut so took care of that chore before we headed out to Hart Ranch. When we arrived I was pleased to see that the park was still in great shape and was still in need of mowing. During the time we were gone, there had been several showers and the grass was still green. We checked in, fueled the coach, and topped off the propane tank. Our trip to Minnesota cost us a little over $700 for fuel, but was a wonderful 9-day break! However, we were ready to get back to work and finish out the summer.

That was Tuesday - on Wednesday I was back working. We’ve been continuously busy keeping the grass under control and keeping park looking attractive to our customers. It’s easy to enjoy work with the crew I work with. We have a group of hard-working guys that share the desire to get projects done and in a timely manner. It’s a lot of fun to work with these guys and makes the time fly by!

This weekend I’ve been going in early to help with the trash collection - one of our guys had some surgery done and isn’t up to working yet. It makes for a long week, but that’s part of the responsibility. After the morning chores it’s been wonderful to sit our under the awning and try to stay awake. Our weekend weather has been superb with light breezes to keep the bugs down and temperatures in the mid- to high 80’s.

This afternoon I had a surprise visit from Steve Glasser, a retired SDPD Motor Officer that I partnered with years ago. He lives down the interstate from us in Black Hawk and rode his Harley over for a visit. It was a kick to see him again and get caught up on all the guys back in San Diego, since he just spent a couple of months there to take care of some family matters. We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon.

We don’t have any plans to travel until just after Labor Day when we head for Oregon for the Monaco factory rally. Then we’ll work our way down the coast to San Diego for a couple of months until the first of the year.