We are in "Countdown" Mode

The end is almost here (of campground hosting, that is!!).

We have been painting the office building.  The left is done, the right is not.

This is the front painted (however the second floor is not).

A few final thoughts:

Goodbye Dairy Queen:

Our favorites:  blizzards!

Flower arrangement at the DQ:

Calumet Hotel where we had many a fine dinner over the summer.  (And the Pizza Ranch restaurant just to the right of the hotel!!).

Campground now:

Yes, that's us in the background!  No one else in sight!

The summer has gone by fast.  You may know the old saying:  "watching the corn grow"!!  

I know how this is going to sound, but we actually got to watch the crops grow!!  When we first got here on May 22nd, the corn and beans were just being planted and each time we drove to Mpls, we could see the difference.

Now we are seeing this:

Corn:

Soy beans:

 Crops are turning color and will be ready for harvest in a few weeks.

Getting ready to head out on Saturday.  Plan to leave here by 8 AM Saturday morning (21st) so we can make it to Davenport, IA that day.  And then on to Allendale, MI on Sunday to meet up with friends, Marie and Bennie Benson, whom we first met in Alaska 3 years ago.  They are camp hosts at a KOA Campground there.  On Monday we will travel to Indianapolis to visit with Matt and Jenelle and twin boys.  Pam and Steve will also be there as Matt has a recital there on Tuesday night.  Should be great.  He will have some CDs of his for sale also.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will be traveling accross Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut before we get to Massachusetts to visit with Larry, Jacky, and Hannah for a few days.  Then we will head back west to Nashville to be with Belinda and Bailey for a few days and then plan to be home in TX by the latter part of October.

Still in Pipestone for about 10 more days

Last week was a busy week for us.  On Wednesday, Judy worked in the office and was also outside scraping the building (The owner, Earl, is planning to repaint so the old stuff has to come off first!).  I mowed for about two hours around the CG.  In the afternoon I went out to Claudia's and mowed the homestead there  which took about 3 hours.  By the end of the day I was covered with dust!!  While I mowed, Judy and Claudia checked out the Geyerman's store uptown.  It is a women's clothing store that has been in Pipestone for as long as I can remember.  How it really stays in business is a mystery to many because it is an upscale store.  And now they have menswear and a home decor section as well.  Oh well...

On Friday Elvira and Russ and Elvira's cousin, Lynnette and her husband, Leroy, arrived at the CG around 10:30.  We went to the Pipestone Monument, watched the movie and walked the trail.

The water over the falls has decreased dramatically due to lack of rain.

This is what it looked like in June when Emma was here.

Lynnette and Leroy:

Elvira and Russ:

Came back to the CG for lunch in the shade:

 Later we went over to Ft. Pipestone and did some shopping.  They left around 4 since they had to be back to Paulina, Ia. by 6 for supper with Elvira's aunt and family.  It was great seeing them again.

On Saturday morning, we picked up Claudia around 8:30 and drove up to Lake Benton to watch the auction proceedings.  There were 4 families included in the auction (including stuff from Claudia).  The auctioneer started at 9:30 and did not expect it to be over until around 5 in the afternoon.  

We watched it for about 2 1/2 hours, saw some of Claudia's things sell, and then walked over to the NAPA/Hardware Hank store to visit with my cousin, Gary and his wife Shirl.

Since it was lunch time, we walked over to the American Legion to eat.  Judy had a couple of appetizers (corn fritters and onion rings), Claudia had a pizza, and I had a small taco salad - all way toooo much to eat!!

We got back to the CG around 2, and, shortly after, my cousin, Paul, came by. It was a good visit as we got caught up.
He left early to go to his 55th class reunion and on Sunday morning we met up with Paul and Gary and Shirl for breakfast at Langes.  

Saturday night we went out to the Calumet to have dinner with the other camp hosts and the owner and his wife. 
Earl and Suzanne are the first couple, then Dorthy and Vern, then Carol and Meryl, and finally Judy and me.

Jill was our waitress.  We first met Jill when she was tent camping in the CG. She was in the site next to Lauren and Ben when they were here back in July and we got to know her.

After dinner we walked over to the Pipestone Performing Arts Center (yes, Pipestone has one) and listened to the 1st Thursday Dixieland Band play.  It was fantastic.

After Sunday breakfast we drove up to Minnetonka to visit Pam and Steve and families again since this will be the last time to do this.  In the evening they surprised me with a birthday cake (since my b-day is coming up on the 15th).  On Monday we went to another Twins game (they already had tickets since it was a make up of a rain out/sleet out!! game back in April).  It was hot - 95 degrees, but we were in the shade so that helped.    We had a big contingent there - Judy and I, Pam and Steve, Molly and Zak, 

Stephanie and Jesse:

Sisters:

A few pictures of the stadium of course:

 

Around the 7th inning scoreboard began to recognize people who were there at the game.  I was watching some of it but then all of a sudden everyone in our group start hollering, clapping, etc. and when I looked up at the screen, here is what I saw:

Those turkeys - they just won't let a guy get past a birthday!!!

It was really special to remember me and what a way to remember it forever!!




We are now back in Pipestone for our final work days - Wednesday, then Friday thru the following Thursday and then we are done!!
Have a lot to do during that time - getting together with relatives and friends one final time.  And a land auction of 339 acres of my Aunt Nora's land on Friday the 20th.  Will tell you more about that after it is over.

In the meantime have a great week....

More About Pipestone

We are getting close to the end of our stay here in Pipestone as we will be leaving on 9/21 to head out east.  Before then, though, we have guests coming all the way from NJ to visit us (aren't we special??).  Actually, they (Russ and Elvira Diefenbach, our good friends from Hightstown, NJ) are on a trip and are visiting relatives in Paulina, IA which is about a 100 miles from here so they are driving up here to see us on Friday, the 6th.  We are excited to see them/had no idea they were headed this way!

On Saturday, I think we will be going to an auction in Lake Benton (about 18 miles north).  Claudia has been cleaning out her grand parents farm home and is hoping to sell it via the auction.

Judy has taken a few pictures of the sunsets here in Pipestone.  Here are a couple of good ones:

We made a trip around town to take pictures of some landmarks (for me anyway).  This is the first house that I remember.  I was about 7-8 years old and my Dad was a delivery man.  He delivered appliances, etc. to homes after they were purchased at Sears, etc.

We did move to the farm about 15 miles south of Pipestone for a couple of years but I don't have any pictures from there.

When we moved back to town, we lived with Grandma Appeldorn (mom's mother) for a short time.

We then moved to this small house on 2nd Ave SE.

My sister, Judeen, came along in 1954 so we had to move to a larger house on 3rd Ave SW.

We lived in this house until after I graduated and went to college.   In 1962 my Dad died and about a year later Mom and Judeen moved into this house on 8th Ave NE.

Mom and Dad went to St. Paul Lutheran Church.  Judeen and I were comfirmed here.

This was the K thru 12 school that we went to and graduated from.

The old school is no longer in use and a new school has been built west of town.

Here are a couple of other landmarks around town.

Courthouse:

Calumet Hotel on Main Street.  Built in the late 1800's:

On one of our many trips to Sioux Falls, Judy decided we needed to show the corn growing (?):

And also a dinasour along the way:

That's all for now...