Lake Benton, MN

On Friday we drove about 180 miles to Southern Minnesota.  We stayed at a campground in Lake Benton, MN where my cousin, Gary Serie and his wife, Shirl, live.  

Lake Benton is proud to be known as the "Original Wind Power Capital of the Midwest". Presently the home to 600 plus wind turbines -- with more currently under construction -- Lake Benton is emerging as an important source of alternative, wind-generated electricity.

A 1990 study of Minnesota's wind energy potential by the Department of Public service found that the area around Lake Benton -- the

"Buffalo Ridge" -- has enough wind to produce electricity well in excess of a full year's net electrical consumption in Minnesota. The Buffalo Ridge provides more high-grade wind resources than the entire state of California.

Our campground was just down this road on the left.

Gary and Shirl have owned a NAPA store, hardware store and gift shop in town for many years.  Hoping to sell the business, retire and travel like us.

The campground was very nice – Hole in the Mountain Campground – a county park.  

Gary and Shirl's trailer is on the right.  We would be next to them on their right.

The county is hoping to restore this cabin.

We parked next to Gary and Shirl and after work on Friday we went out to dinner with them and two other couple friends from town, then back to their house for more conversation, laughter, and fun.

On Saturday afternoon the 8 of us met up again at the campground, had a fire going, cooked some hamburgers and had some other side dishes.  Afterwards, we sat around the fire until almost 11 PM.  Great time/nice friends.

On Sunday we went to the local ELCA Lutheran Church in Lake Benton.  When we walked in, I saw someone who looked familiar.  Sure enough, it was a lady we had met when we were in Mesa, AZ visiting with Gary and Shirl there.  She is a friend of theirs.  So, after the service, we went back for coffee and had a nice time visiting with her and her daughter.  She lives in Mesa now but comes back to Lake Benton to visit with her sister and family.

Sunday afternoon Gary and Shirl took us on a tour of Lake Benton 

We drove all the way around it and saw all the homes along the lake as well as a couple of campgrounds (seasonal campgrounds only).  We never knew that there were so many houses.

At the last campground on the lake we stopped and visited for a short while with my cousin, John Appeldorn and his wife, Gerri.  They farmed for many years but retired in 2015 and have a motorhome – they spend the winter in FL and the summer in Lake Benton.   Gerri had just had a knee replacement on Monday and was resting so we didn’t stay long.

We did see another relative – Karen Appeldorn – who was there for the weekend as well.  It was her birthday that day but we couldn’t stay and celebrate at the time.  Looked like she was having a good time.

On Monday – Labor Day – we stayed at the campground, sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather, and, later we played cards.

All in all, it was a great weekend as we have never stayed up here before.  For those of you who don’t know, Lake Benton is only 18 miles north of my hometown, Pipestone, so we have always stayed in Pipestone whenever we are up here.  Fortunately, we couldn’t get into the Pipestone Campground over the Labor Day weekend because it was full so we stayed in Lake Benton.  Glad we did, and, we will stay up there again.