Arctic Cat Day

It's sunny and getting very humid here. After breakfast we went to find the Arctic Cat Plant. We stayed in the parking lot and worked on the Blog and e-mail until it was time for the tour. About 12:45 several RV's pulled into the plant parking lot. They were here for tours also and they came from Texas, Illinois,and Alaska.

We started through the plant at 1PM. They were making Bear Cats and ATV's today on the line. It was interesting to see the frames hanging from the ceiling on a conveyer belt that moves them through the paint area and various stations. They attach the handlebars, hoods, seats, and coverings as they move down the line. We watched the quality control area for the ATV's and watched them run it through a check before driving it onto a platform for packaging. Being a snowmobile family this was very interesting. Unfortunately they would not let us take pictures in the plant.

Went back to the casino and then watched TV and got ready to move out tomorrow.

Just a Travel Day

Had a nice ride along Leech Lake as we headed up Rte 371 N out of Walker. Leech Lake is a really pretty resort area. The landscape has changed from the lakes and forests to farm land. The corn is getting bigger and if it's not corn it's hay. The farms are very picturesque. We stopped at a farm stand and got some fresh vegetables for dinner tonight.

We got to the Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls. We have our tour tomorrow and then will be heading for the Dakotas. Our site here is out in the dirt parking lot but it's ok (what do you want for free?).

Took a quick drive around town. It is fairly good size and has a really nice park downtown along a river. Back to camp, watched TV, and called it a day.

Casino Hopping

On our way to Walker, Minnesota. Why you ask... because it is half way to Thief River Falls and our Arctic Cat Manufacturing Tour. Ken has been an Arctic Cat Snowmobile fan since the 70's so we had to put it on our itenerary. Also there is a casino in Walker. We found this great site - Casino Camping.com - and it shows the casinos with free camping. We are casino hopping now! The casino in Walker has RV parking with electric hookups "if it's free it's for me" says Ken. We pulled into the casino and got set up. Went inside and played for a while and then Ken went back to the RV. When I got back the 2 couples in the RV next door came over with a great bean salsa and chips. Ken had been talking with them earlier and they wanted to see the coach. We were all sitting around when the security golf cart pulls up and Miriam the security guard joined us. "I had to see the inside of your RV. It's great." she said. We had a fun visit. Later we went back to the casino for the buffet dinner.

Walker claims to be the Muskie Capital of the World! We won't find out, but we had fun and met some really nice folks.

What Was I Thinking???

Off to the Mall of America! Don't ask me why, everyone told us we had to see it. We were told it was an hours drive...well... try two hours with heavy traffic and construction. Finally we got there and guess what - it is a huge Mall! I guess if you are a shopper it would take 2-3 days to cover all the nooks and crannies in the 3 stories. Of course for the shopper it is a "Mecca". For us the attraction was the indoor amusement park and the novelty of it. The park takes up all 3 stories and is Six Flags squished into one small space. It does have floor to roof rollercoasters and lots of rides for the kids. There are other attractions like the Underwater Adventures Aquarium, LEGO, and theatres. Think of this as a day park and the admission to the various venues are about the same! There are some good restaurants sprinkled around the mall, so we grabbed lunch sitting on the balcony watching the kids ride water coaster. Oh yes, across the street there is an indoor waterpark (we didn't go).

Time for us to move on. Back in the car we left for the city of St Paul (more traffic) and a river boat ride on the Mississippi. Naturally it is very cold and windy today but we had to do it! The boat takes you through part of the Great River National Park, which has a great habitat for blue herons, hawks, peregrine falcons, and bald eagles. The captain gave us some history of the area and how river boats played a big part in the development of the towns along the river. We sat up on the top of the paddlewheeler (outside) by ourselves. Everyone else was inside, so they missed the bald eagle that was sitting up in the branches of a dead tree along the shore. (Look at the third dead branch on the right side of the tree near the V and you can just barely see him. ) It was a nice ride.

We arrived back at camp to find it full. We went to sit outside and there were people walking back and forth through our site. All of a sudden there were announcements coming out of a loud speaker explaining the rules for the weekend! So much for relaxing. Thank goodness we are heading back to the wilderness tomorrow!

Mmm Good

Meandering down Rte 77W we drive along the St Croix National Scenic Waterway and National Forest. Pretty scenery with lots of little lakes. There are many interesting small towns along our route. They are very "wild west" looking with saloons instead of bars (every town has one) and "mom and pop" restaurants. Winding our way through Minong, Wisconsin we passed a beautiful park in the center of town with a pond. The sign at the pond said "Kids Fishing Pond". It was really neat, but Ken said I was too big to fish there!

We crossed the Mississippi River this afternoon and into Minnesota. We are now back in the city environment. The campground is ok and is fairly empty. We cooked baby back ribs tonight and as you can see Ken really enjoyed them! It's still cold but we ate outside anyway.

Tomorrow we go to the big city of Bloomington.