Minnesota Part 2 - Mother Nature had new plans for us

After the 4th of July week, we had reservations at River View Campground in Owatonna, MN for the next three weeks. Given the wet conditions we had witnessed in western, central, and the Twin Cities areas already, Chad did some due diligence and called the RV park before we arrived. "We've noticed a lot of flooding in the area...are we still good to arrive?" We were assured that things were good.

When we pulled into the campground, the nearby Straight River had breached its banks and water was over the first two rows of campsites.

Upon check-in, the host/owner was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. The spot we were scheduled to have was vacated that morning and had some deep ruts they wanted to fix. "We have a temporary spot for you, and then we will have you move in 3 days after we fix the other spot."

Said spot literally had water lapping at our front tires:

River front property???

The campground was confident that the water would recede and be fine. There was no rain in the forecast for the next week. We were NOT feeling that confident. To add to the fun, after we parked and got semi-level, we found out that our power pedestal was not functioning. The next hour or so the camp host and the maintenance person were trying to fix that. We ended up plugging in to the neighboring site.

The rest of the day was spent brainstorming where we could stay. We were online, calling around, asking our family if they knew anyone with space/land, etc. where we could park until we made other arrangements. We stayed put for the day and crossed our fingers that the water wouldn't get worse.

A classmate of Chad ended up being our saving grace the next day. Trevor K. happens to have a RV pad set up with power and water! He said we could come right out.

Our camp side view at Trevor's house

At this point we still didn't know how long we would stay. After chatting a bit, Trevor basically said, "Well, you'll probably want to leave by December 1st, because the snow will be here by then." How did we get so lucky? It's a place about 3 miles from the edge of our hometown of Waseca, so it was a great landing spot while we visited our immediate families. We stayed our three weeks in Trevor's country oasis. Thank you again, Trevor!!!

Waseca highlights:

~ We visited a bunch with my mom and did a little landscape cleanup at her place while we were around. Mom and I also went bummin' a day in Mankato, worked on a puzzle, and we all went out to eat a few times.

~ Chad's mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids are home for the summer. We braved the mosquitoes to have a fire, had fun conversations with our niece and nephew, and had lots of meals together. Apparently all of us express our love through food!

~ I think we found every restaurant in our hometown, lol.

~ Waseca County Fair - did a quick walk through - IT WAS HOT! We saw a few high school classmates there and probably missed more that we didn't even realize! Hello to you, too!

~ Went to Indian Island winery with Chad's sister, Michel and my fellow "outlaw" Matt

~ Got updated family pictures with the Fritz/Sorenson clan

~ I had an extended lunch date with my cousin, Tara, and had great conversation

~ We met up with the Willises from Farmington that we hadn't seen in about 10 years! We didn't skip a beat.

~ The regional store of Fleet Farm was frequented a few times. They really have just about everything.

Us with Diane, Rachael, and David

~ We caught up with classmates for dinner and drinks...I realize now that we didn't take many pictures of our get togethers with friends. Someone needs to remember to grab a selfie like Rachael thought of that night!

It's funny how much has changed, yet still seems vaguely familiar when you visit your hometown. It was a great place to grow up!

Peace out, Waseca.