Minnesota and Glacier National Park. Part One, Stockton to Minneapolis

This will be a different trip for us. One of my son in laws family has a cabin by Bemidji MN.  He has wanted us to all come up there for some time. My other son in law and daughter also made the trip. They looked at renting a motor home for the trip. Cost to rent was so high they bought a used Tioga motorhome for the trip. So instead of BLM and NF campgrounds we will be staying at RV Resorts so daughter can have full hook ups. My FWC will look out of place most of the places we will be staying. 

Reminder, click on any picture to see a larger view. 

Day one. Winnemucca is todays goal. First stop Donner Pass.

Then on to Circus Circus in Reno.   
Grandkids had a great time, both won stuffed animals. 

Winnemucca RV Park was asphalt and gravel. Nice quite night.  We looked out of place with all the big class A rigs. 

Cool evening in Winnemuca.

Day two.   To Park City Utah. 

Stopped at Bonneville, the salt looked ready to go. In two weeks there will be some very fast autos and motorcycle on the salt.

Nice evening  at the Park City RV Park. They  did have grass and not gravel. It was a good stop for the night. 

Day three. Casper WY. Casper RV Park was a Gravel RV lot. Sort of a trailer trash place. Never know what you get when checking on line. Later found it was next to a concrete pipe plant. Got real loud later that night.  

Casper RV Park did have a play area for the kids. You just can't find these old spinners in CA. Grandkids went until Grandpa's arms would not go anymore. 












Day 4 & 5.  KOA BLACK HILLS

We booked two days here based on their web side. Lots for kids to do and close to Mount Rushmore. Moved to 3 different spots until we found one that worked for Mark's motor home. Then they had no spot for me, the place was full. We were allowed to park next to Mark and they refunded our money. 

Our first spot at the Hills City RV Park. we did not have enough blocks to get the motorhome level.

Did Mount Rushmore and saw the evening lighting of the mountain. Well worth staying up late to watch. 

Mark doing all the RV owners duties. 

Junior Rangers.

Our third and final spot at Hill City KOA RV Park. 

This is a National Park every family should go to.
Last time we were here Laura and Jenny were Payton and Presley's age.

Day 5, Hill City KOA second day. This was the day for the kids. 

Climbing wall and water slides, what kid would not have a good time here.

This was a true RV Park. More big $$$$ class A motorhomes than I have ever seen. Guess it is different strokes for different folks. Kids did enjoy the play areas. I understand why people go to RV Parks, just not my style. 








 Driving across SD we had a head wind all the way, used a lot of gas. 

We enjoyed our stay in South Dakota.  But to keep on schedule we headed for Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota. 











Day 6. Blue Mounds State Park. Big thunder storm at night went on for several hours. Found the water was contaminated with E-coli, could not use showers or drink the water.

Met some nice campers from South Dakota.  They said this was the only park in Minnesota that was not full. Must be the water. Their kids showed the grandkids how to catch fire flies. 

Nice well spaced camp sites, this was a State Campground and not a RV Park. 

We need fire! How can we make Smores with out fire? Yes they had smores after dinner. 

Dinner outside at Blue Mounds State Park. Weather was fantastic, it would change after midnight with a 3 hour thunder storm. Grandkids never woke up. 

Day 7 & 8. Minneapolis and a motel. No campgrounds or RV parks close to the city. Wife and daughter were ready for a motel. This was a planned two day stop to enjoy the Twin Cities.

  

Did a baseball game at Target field. Mark in his element, enjoying the game.

Everyone enjoyed Target Field. 

Steady Eddie, we both went to Franklin High School in Stockton Ca. 

Baseball is still the all American game. 

Next day we did Mall of America, kids had a great time on the rides. Then they discovered American Girl dolls. Veronica  and Laura enjoyed shopping. Spent most of the day there. 

Found a great restaurant for dinner.  Red Stone American Grill. I had my traditional walleye fish dinner.  Wiki sticks were given to the kids. I had never seen wiki sticks, much better than the crayons you see in most restaurants. Both girls made glasses, just like moms.

As we left Minneapolis Mark hit a pothole and motor home started to make a big noise. More on this in part two of my report. 

Click here to go to part two.