note:
links with a file size listed after them are links to our pictures.
links without file sizes are off-site links that are related
Dan's cousin was getting married(67k) in Faribault County, MN, with the reception in Blue Earth, MN on April 5th, so we took the opportunity to get away for the weekend with our Scamp travel trailer. One of Dan's many uncle's was nice enough to let us stay in his driveway for the night(88k) , and supply power for our heater. Overnight lows were to be about 20 degrees, and we were quite comfortable in our Scamp using only a 1500 watt electric heater for heat. The furnace would have worked just as well, but it is quite noisy. We had a wonderful time visiting with relatives all weekend. We even danced the hokey pokey, the chicken dance, and one slow dance at the reception.
Sunday morning we visited with relatives for a couple hours, and hit the road. We grabbed a bite to eat, and headed west on I-90 for the Union Pacific Railroad's Fairmont Subdivision. We took pictures of the line between Fox Lake and Butterfield.
The map showed and interesting feature just north of Fox Lake, so we checked it out and found a picturesque spot where the road goes under the railroad(55k).
Further north, the railroad goes through Trimont. The spur track is no longer in service, but it is still in place(48k).
Butterfield is where the line connects to the Mankato - Worthington route. It is a wye, where trains can go north to Mankato(45k) or south to Worthington.
Later, we stopped to find a GeoCache in Saint Peter, where the city had an impressive display of United States of America(69k) flags on display. We also found another GeoCache further up the road in LeSeur, in the valley of the Jolly Green Giant(107k).
We stopped to eat lunch at Merriam, also known as the site of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and is also the location of the Louisville Swamp unit of the Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area.
All for this weekend. We can't wait until we get away again in our Scamp!
UPDATE: Luckily, we dodged some bad weather on this trip. the Monday after we were in southern Minnesota, they got 18 inches of snow! Safely at home, all we got was clouds and wind.
