Westward Ho!

On Sunday, November 12, We got in our RV at Bear Pond Farm, hugged the guys good-bye from Farm Fest III and headed westward. You can see our first stop at the Football Hall of Fame in the last blog, but I wanted to catch you all up on the doings of the Admiral.  It is now Monday, November 20th and the final Rams game is over.

We left Minneapolis after the game, stayed in Mankato, MN for the night and headed out again this morning. We are still in 'Search for America.'
Thank you, Paul Simon!

We went through Pennsylvania and Delaware seemingly quickly. They were both states we had been in during our exploits from around the farm. As we stopped in Ohio we made a conscious shout out to Jake McQuaide and James Laurenitis who went to The Ohio State University.

We also ran into some Rams Fans at a Panera there that had been Rams fans since kids since Kurt Warner was from their town. People like to have famous players from where they live.  While in Ohio Canton was on our bucket list...Check!


Another special event happened. As we were going through Indiana, we noticed we were going right through South Bend. Papa Hekker, was an avid Notre Dame fan. Ken, Barbara's husband, would use lego men and video a halftime show out of lego band members, it included action and music and was always amazing. He did this for special Notre Dame games just to bless Papa. We would laugh and have fun. They were great!

We HAD to make it to Notre Dame. It was quickly approaching dark as we arrived in South Bend. College campuses are unusually unwieldy to drive a motorhome through. Lost in the maze of the campus, we kept making wrong turns until we finally saw the sign for the entrance to the football stadium. Bob and the Admiral jumped ship with me sitting in the middle of a permit only zone and ran around taking pictures.



It was good to talk about and remember what a remarkable guy Papa Hekker was. He was a real anchor to the family, with his kindness and care of his wife and all his kids. Neither Bob or I knew about 'Touchdown Jesus'. We sent the picture to the kids and Zach commented about it and we laughed but thought that he was just being spiritual! We got schooled by the kids! So cool.


We skirted Illinois traveling around Chicago. On our Rv map, we found a Walmart to stay at but it was in a scary part of town so we decided to go on out of the city area and more out into the country.

We stayed at Rockford, Il. It was quite a cute town and we settled in well. We awakened early and were motivated to move on since the weather was rainy and cold. Not much exploration incentive,

On Wisconsin! Sounds like a fight song.
Wisconsin's motto is "Forward" so we decided to do so and head across its country miles toward the twin cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

We were three days early before the game but had some important things to do. We had acquired a chip in our windshield from a passing truck and it that needed to be fixed. We had propane to find and fill, laundry to do, and cleaning and maintenance like an oil change before we could head out for the last of our trip.

Land of ten thousand lakes is the byline on the license plates of Minnesota. We counted but got nowhere near that number, but there were a lot and since we were there near winter we found a totally different sport to follow, ice fishing! We stopped at Walmart and Cabelas and found huge displays of fishing shelters, augurs to drill the ice, special seats, and heaters, and special dipsticks to clear out the holes from refreezing.

How do they keep the heaters that keep them warm from melting the ice they are sitting on? What kind of fish?

In St. Paul  I met a dear friend in person even though I have known her for over a year. What an incredible lady. Her smile is infectious and her intelligence a delight. She will go far.

We finally got to Minneapolis and began spying things out the day before the game so we could know what we were going to do.

It is quite a pretty city with some interesting architecture and structures to view.  Saturday we had lunch with Johnny at a very interesting restaurant (awful) but we had disagreed on three when we found this one. We still had a fun talk together about family and babies and life. We love this boy. He is on a new adventure, fatherhood. He will be great like his brothers.

USBank Stadium

US Bank stadium is massive and as you approach it takes over the skyline. It is a huge structure of glass and concrete and steel with thousands of steps and corridors and pathways and areas to get lost. I am so grateful for the Guest Services of these huge structures that make it so people with limitations can watch the games, too. You just ask for assistance and they help and direct and stay with you until you leave. They made it possible to enjoy this game. The outcome was tough, but the season is not over even though we are ready to head back west, to Utah for Thanksgiving and family and to Seattle and my huge soaking tub. We have Christmas around the corner and are looking forward to the loves and snuggles of our grandkids and children.

After the game and loving on our son, Johnny we took to the road and headed off into the sunset!