Category: Minnesota
Sioux Falls & Pipestone

Sioux Falls & Pipestone

By |

Hey Guys!!

After we finished our Tennessee loop, we headed back to Missouri for a couple of weeks while we prepped to head north to South Dakota. We were trying to time our South Dakota visit so that we not only missed the massive summer crowds but also avoided the summer hail storms. We found out from another traveling family that South Dakota has some hellacious hail storms during the summer…and not just the small pea sized hail…no, they said it was golf ball sized hail and that they experienced a storm every afternoon while they’d been in South Dakota. Thanks but no. I think we’ll pass on that weather.

One of the projects we did while we were back in Missouri was install a shelf on the side of our kitchen counter for extra space. Guys, I don’t know why we didn’t do this six years ago when we first started this whole nomad/tiny kitchen life. We found an untreated board at a local hardware store and sanded/stained it then had Nicholas (our youngest) draw our logo on it. I think he did a great job! We love the finished product! And Y’all…we totally use this extra space daily. It’s been so nice to have.

Our first stop on our South Dakota loop was Sioux Falls. That was too far to drive in one day so we stopped in the Omaha, NE area for a quick visit to some friends (waves to Omaha friends…you know who you are) before heading on the next day. One of the best things about living in a home-on-wheels is having the ability to visit family and friends who live all over the country.

The entire reason we stayed in Sioux Falls was to visit Pipestone National Monument. I feel like these small parks are usually overlooked, but Guys, they’re worth the trip. Especially this one.

Pipestone National Monument was brought into the protection of the National Park Service in 1937 to preserve the site where, for many generations, various American Indian tribes have come to quarry the red pipestone used to make the pipe bowls for their ceremonial pipes.

“When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything.” ~Black Elk~ (not pictured)

The various tribes have differing beliefs, but many believe that when you pray with a ceremonial pipe, your prayers are carried to the Great Spirit with the smoke from the pipe.

Archeologist have found evidence that the area of Pipestone National Monument has been used for over 3,000 years. This area is still considered sacred to twenty-three different Tribal Nations & Indigenous peoples from all across the country. These tribes keep their traditional quarrying practices alive as they come back to Pipestone NM time and again to quarry for the pipestone. This park remains an active quarry site and is considered sacred ground to these Tribal Nationals and Indigenous peoples so if you go, please respect that and go with a humble heart and an open mind to learn about their beliefs, culture, and traditions.

There’s a short hike you can take through the tallgrass prairie to get up-close to some of the red pipestone. The day we went it was cold (no one bothered to take jackets because we weren’t expecting it to be that cold) and rainy, but we still made the short hike. It was totally worth it and we highly recommend it.

There are some rock formations that have names. I always appreciate it when a park puts up signs that help you figure out which rock they’re talking about. It’s always helpful!

If the amazing red rocks don’t impress you (and they totally should) then the Winnewissa waterfall will. The whole park really is beautiful and has a peaceful vibe. We encourage everyone to make a trip to Pipestone National Monument to learn and appreciate the history, culture and traditions this park protects and preserves.

On our last night in Sioux Falls we found Falls Park where you can see the falls that the city is named for and what remains of the Queen Bee Mill. It’s a great place to get some fresh air and walk around…right in the middle of the city.

The most exciting thing we did while in Sioux Falls was celebrate Alex’s (our middle kiddo) graduation from high school! We’re so very proud of the young man he’s becoming and I know that our travels are a big part of that.

Shall we talk foodies?! We found some great burgers from a few different places, but what stood out the most…and was new for us was the

South Dakota foodie known as chislic! Chislic is deep fried or flash grilled pieces of meat. We had steak chislic, but it can also come in lamb or venison. I’ll admit…I was a skeptic, but it was really good! What we got was an appetizer served with fries and ranch and honestly, it could have been a meal on it’s own.

We only spent a week in the Sioux Falls area, but we could have easily spent two or three weeks. There are several things to go see and do. Hopefully, one day we’ll make it back and finish up our “to see” list!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour

Twin Cities Part Two

Twin Cities Part Two

By |

Hey Guys!! Ready to hear about the rest of our Minnesota adventures?

We spent several hours going through the Science Museum of Minnesota. The day we went I think half the population of Minneapolis was there too. It was pretty crowded. Most of the science museums have the same basic exhibits. The Minnesota Science Museum had a few different ones that the boys loved.

We enjoyed the weather area of the museum. My little nerdlets (all four of them) could easily spend an entire day at a science museum.

I think everyone’s favorite exhibit was the Mythical Creatures Exhibit!

I love this art piece! It’s made with Birch bark, sinew, wood, and cloth. Here’s a closer shot so you can see the amazing detail that went into this piece.

The last few SCBs have been impressive! Minnesota definitely didn’t disappoint us.

So, the dome was just ok for me. It was pretty…but, honestly, we’ve seen some great domes lately and this one didn’t really make our top ten list. Sorry Minnesota.

There were several other aspects about the Minnesota SCB that stood out for us. This stairway is one of my favorite things about this SCB. Here, let me show you some of the details of this stairway. I love the lines, arches, and angles of this stairway!

The ceiling of the House Chamber was inspiring. I didn’t take photos of the rest of the room because they were in session, but the ceiling was the best part of the room. The Senate Chamber wasn’t as ornate, but it was still impressive. You can see the bottom lip of a dome in the picture. I couldn’t get a decent shot of the dome because we weren’t allowed in the room, but you can see the color scheme and simple clean lines of it in the picture above.

Are y’all ready to talk foodies? The Twin Cities is rumored to be the place where the Juicy Lucy was born. What’s a Juicy Lucy? A Juicy Lucy is…well…let me show you. Say hello to my little friend…the Juicy Lucy. What you’re looking at is a cheeseburger with the cheese inside of the burger, forming a molten core of melty cheese! When you bite into it the cheese kind of oozes out. It’s a little bit of heaven right here on earth. According to the interwebs, there are two bars that claim the origins of the Juicy Lucy. We only made it to one of them. The 5-8 Club. We got some fried pickles and some onion rings to go along with our burgers. Everything we had was spot on. We’ll have to hit the other place the next time we’re in the area.

The reason we didn’t make it to the other Juicy Lucy place is because we wanted to go to The Nook. The Nook is another bar/restaurant known for their Juicy Lucys. How cool is it that there’s a bowling alley at a burger/bar place?!? We were going to play a game or two but, when we finished our food…we were all way too stuffed to do anything but sit and digest. We loved the vibe of The Nook! The dollar bills stuck everywhere reminded us of a place we went in Alaska called The Salty Dawg.

Littlest loves a good BLT so when he spotted a BLT burger he had to get it. When we saw it, we didn’t think there was anything special about it until he picked up half of it and we saw that it was triple decker! He couldn’t even get down half of it! It was SO big!!

We thought the Juicy Lucy burgers from The Nook were better than the ones from The 5-8 Club. In fact, everything we got from The Nook was fantastic!

We had a great time exploring The Twin Cities of Minnesota! There’s so much to see and do in the area!!

See y’all down the road!

#minieasternloop2017

Pizza Roundup Pizza Lucé

Pizza Roundup Pizza Lucé

By |

To my fellow pizza lovers, our pizza trip has taken us to St. Paul, Minnesota!

Pizza Lucé is a really tasty pizza place with, well, TASTY PIZZA!!

Pizza Lucé has the cheese on their pizza cooked to a nice brown, so tasty. That is my favorite way to have pizza.

 My mom said the pasta was some of the best she’s had!

The bathrooms were clean and the décor was nice. The service was fast and friendly.

 If you go there I suggest getting ranch, with pizza, wings, spaghetti, anything, their ranch is pretty darn tasty. I think it might have been made in house.

And when you are done eating and they bring out the check… THEY HAVE CHOCOLATE MINTS! Yummy yum!

And I couldn’t forget the big pink dinosaur in front! All of that tasty and the dinosaur definitely deserves a 5 star review, don’t you agree?

See y’all next time on…

Pizza Street!!

The Twin Cities in Minnesota

The Twin Cities in Minnesota

By |

Hey Guys!! We spent two weeks in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I’m breaking our stay up into two posts to keep the size of the posts down. Our stay in Minnesota was mainly cold and rainy, but we got lucky a few days and had some decent weather.

This was our home for two weeks. The only thing bad we can say about this park is that every single night the power would blip and turn off for a few minutes. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but when you’re in the middle of cooking or laundry …it could get tiresome. Minnesota is state number 38 for us and in those 38 states, we’d never seen an RV like the one in the right picture above. Technically, it’s an ice fishing camper. You would pull it right out on the ice and stay in it while you fish! We saw several while we stayed in Minnesota. We met a couple who let us have a peak in their camper. It was gorgeous! Done all in a natural wood with circles in the floor that can be removed to fish from. Very cool!

We visited the Cathedral of Saint Paul while we were out one day. I love the architectural style of it with all of the domes! Y’all know I love the domes.

It was beautiful inside! We loved the inside of dome and the stained glass windows!! Look at those vibrant colors!

The Mall of America is a huge draw to this area. We stopped by it one afternoon to check it out and see what all of the hub-bub is about. The coolest thing about this mall is the indoor amusement park! We also loved the Lego Store where all of the decorations were made from Legos! It’s hard to tell from the bottom right picture above, but all of those statutes are made out of Legos! See the guy walking in the background? That gives you an idea of how big these Lego Statues are. They’re huge!

We kind of geeked out here. Check out this picture. It’s made of tiny single square Legos. In the right picture you can see a close-up section of that same picture. That takes a lot of patience!!

The Minneapolis/Saint Paul area is loaded with foodie spots. The burger above is from a place called The Red Cow. The burgers there were definitely impressive!

One of my favorite things about the Twin Cities area is the Minehaha Falls Park! I wasn’t expecting a waterfall as big as the Minehaha Falls is to be right in the middle of town. The first day we tried to go to this park it was so crowded we couldn’t find a place to park anywhere near it so we left, hoping for another fair weather day to try again. The second time we tried we got lucky. We went during the week before schools were out and the place was almost deserted! We had a great time walking around the falls and the park! It was wonderful to get outside and stretch our legs after so many days of rainy, cold weather.

 There’s so much to see and do in the Minneapolis area! We loved all the different architecture.

Check out this old building. It was built in 1887 at a cost of $300,000. It’s changed hands several times, but the current owners have restored it to it’s original appearance.

Ok Guys, I’m going to pause here with our Minnesota adventures! I’ll pick up here next time!

See y’all down the road!

#minieasternloop2017