Day 7: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us

            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.

            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!

Fun Facts:

• Total Miles Driven so far: 2,240
• Average Miles Per Gallon today: 59.5 MPG
• Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
• Miles Driven Today: Over 240 Miles
• Speed Limit in South Dakota on I-90: 80 MPH
• Speed Limit in Minnesota on I-90: 70 MPH

     We were busy today but not as much as the past few days so there won't be too much in the way of text to protect the innocent.

Geocaching
     We did some geocaching in South Dakota and Minnesota. We found several geocaches in both states.

Midwest geocache

Signing the log

Midwest geocache

Midwest geocache

Midwest geocache

What a clever geocache

Graves / Cemetery
     We visited the cemetery where our relatives are buried to pay our respects. It is out in the country in the middle of farmer's fields.

     There is also a grave stone that was discovered buried under a few feet of dirt of a veteran. They cleaned the stone off and placed it on top of the grave site.

     A few years ago we were here and the grave digger told us about a Fairy Circle that appeared in the cemetery. Legend has it that if a teepee had been standing for a long time in one spot, the oils from the hides would drip down on the ground causing the ground to be more fertile.  The result is a circle of darker grass and at certain times of the year, large mushrooms grow in the circle of dark grass.

Fairy Circle

Fairy Circle

Our summer town revisit
     When we were children, we used to visit this town all the time. We try to come back to it when we drive through the state and see how it has changed.

Relatives
     We visited with several relatives on the way to our next destination but to protect their privacy, I won't add pictures here.

Hystad Cabin
     On our drive through the Minnesota county, we ran across the Hystad Cabin. Here are some pictures of it.

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Six and Seven

     This is a recap of the last two days. We were so busy yesterday at our cousin's house, we were literally too tired to do anything but fall into our beds. Here's the recap...

Note: The videos will be fixed later. It's midnight!

     We left Sioux Falls, SD and headed to Worthington, MN to have breakfast with a cousin. He is a historian and is interested in anything having to do with our clan. He found out that I had the branding iron that branded all the beer kegs at my Great Grandfather's brewery up in Marine on St. Croix, MN. He asked us to bring it so he could make an impression of it. He wants to have another one made.

Creating the Impression

Brand in the Goop

     After that, we headed to our cousin's house near Springfield, MN for a very busy day. Here are some of the things that we did: Lunch with the family, went to the nursing home to see her mother and our Aunt, went to the top of a huge grain elevator (her husband Lenny maintains all the antennas), drove the fields looking at all the crops that he and his family farms (1600 acres!), pulled out one of his huge tractors and drove it using Auto Steer coupled with a GPS, went back home for an evening BBQ, jumped back in the truck to see Anita's dance studio that she runs, visited the graves of some of our relatives, inspected the water damage from a failed sump pump in their basement and finally ended the evening with a fireworks display at their home. Whew! Are you tired yet? Here are some of the pictures and movies I took.

Me Coming Down in the Service Elevator

Lenny Coming Down in the Service Elevator

Me at the Top of the Elevator

 Starting the 8230 John Deere

Backing the Tractor into the Barn

Giant John Deere that was built using the Gold Key program

 (Case Combine in the back)

    

Steering Wheel Down for Driving

Steering Wheel Up for Exiting the Cab

Some of the Controls

Anita's Dance Studio Art

     Today we drove to Mankato, MN and spent time with our relatives there. Here is a picture after dinner at The Damn Store located next to a Dam.

At The Dam Store sign

Dee, Romaine, Jodie, Monnie

     And so ends our visits with all the relatives we could drum up. Tomorrow we're heading back home so it's off to Marinette, WI and more Mickey-Lu's!