Severance Travels: Still at the Campground

Wow, where has the time gone? Here it is, September 2nd already!!

We have been busy this past month - not so much here at the CG but with family and friends, I guess.

This is not in chronological order (since I can't remember it), but:

We did drive to Sioux City, IA for dinner one day. Yes, about 120 miles!! But it was for a good cause (two actually). We left the CG, drove to Sioux Falls to pick up my sister, Judeen (Jim wasn't feeling well that day), and drove to Sioux City to meet up with their two daughters and husbands (Alison and Eric and Katie and Tim) for dinner.
This first picture is of Katie (and Alison) with a couple of her shower gifts that we brought since we won't make it to the shower.

We ate at "Bev's" restaurant which is right on the Missouri River so you get a great view of the boats and you also get a great meal!! Tim and I had Pork Osso Bucco. As you can see, it was alot to eat and delicious.

We did end up eating inside as it started to mist and we didn't want to get caught outside eating and have it rain.

This is Katie and Tim. Katie is pregnant so we had to have pictures to show everyone. She is due in October and they know that they are having a girl, Aliza Claire.

Alison and Eric:

And all of us:

We had a great time and always enjoy getting to be with the "younger" crowd!

We did drive to Mitchell, SD for dinner another day. Yes, about 145 miles!! And it was also for a good cause. Judeen and Jim had purchased 4 tickets some time ago to see Terry Fator in person at the Corn Palace. Terry is a ventriloquist and won the $1 millions on Americas Got Talent in 2012. He now has a show at the Mirage in Las Vegas. So we left the CG, drove to Sioux Falls, and then they drove us all to Mitchell. We left early to have dinner at "The Depot" which is supposed to have very good steaks (which they did!!).

The Corn Palace was first established in 1892 and is redecorated each year with naturally colored corn and other grains and native grasses to make it the "agricultural showplace of the world."

This display depicts everything that is made from corn.

Judeen and Jim before the show:

The auditorium seats 3200 - this is how it looked before the show began. The large screens were very helpful.

We had never been to the Corn Palace before so it was a real treat. And Terry put on an exceptional show (2 full hours with no intermission).

We have had numerous get togethers with my cousin, Claudia Appeldorn. She bought some fabulous steaks at the local grocery store and we have grilled them on the open fire and eaten them right there, along with fresh corn that we have been getting. Nothing better!!

On Saturday, the 24th, we attended a family reunion at my cousin and his wife (John and Jerri Appeldorn) farm. My mother was one of 6 Appeldorns that grew up on this farm - most were actually born right there on the farm. The only sibling left is my uncle, Harold, who is 93 years old. Most of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were there. We had a great time getting reacquainted with them again. Here are many pictures with Harold and family:

I think we have been to Minnetonka/MPLS at least a couple of times since I last wrote about it. Each time we have gone on Sunday morning and then back on Wednesday morning. This last time we went purposely to go to the MN State Fair since we had not been there in like forever!! This particular time our weather decided to be HOT (for us anyway since we have normally had temps in the 80's all summer. This day was a scorcher for us at 96 degrees - the hottest day every recorded at the fair!

View of downtown MPLS and the hot sun:

But it was worth it - saw farm machinery, trucks, cars, RV's, fish shacks (actually trailers that you pull out on to the ice, raise the wheels, and then fish. One had six holes to fish in, a satellite dish to watch TV while waiting for the fish to bite, six bunks to sleep in, and alot more amenities - all for a mere $16,000!!). We ate lobster mac and cheese, deep fried meatloaf, deep fried croissants, etc.

We also ate kettle korn from an $8 bag (that I just finished off two days ago). It was delicious.

On the walk back to the car, we saw some guys looking to rent scooters to people to take into the fair. Pam decided that it would be nice to ride one out to the car so she negotiated a deal to take it out to the parking lot for $5. The young man followed her so he could return it.