Dakotah Meadows RV Park, Prior Lake, Minnesota

A nice RV park right next to a casino in the suburbs of Minneapolis. The sites were paved and most are organized in a shared hook up configuration where the driver side faces your neighbor. The edge sites are backin and set up for a single RV. The park has a lake in the center and the standard amenities. The wifi worked well and the staff was great. We would recommend this park to anyone staying the area. We rate the park a 4 out of 5 and will stay here again.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

After the short stay in Madison and our trip to Annapolis for the naval academy graduation, we moved the bus to Minneapolis to see the sights of Minnesota. We quickly noticed that Minnesota reminded us of Canada in so many ways. The first order of business was to see a Twins game. We missed seeing the Brewers in Milwaukee, but got a chance to see them play at Target Stadium. We were able to get amazing seats for the game and had a great time. The stadium is fantastic and both teams are playing well. Unfortunately, the weather was not optimal for baseball. We had a bit of rain and a lot of cold. The brew crew came back in the 8th for the win. I agreed to spend a day at the Minneapolis Mall of America as part of the negotiations to bring Danelle to the midwest. We were fortunate to escape with just a little damage to the credit cards and several bags of stuff we probably didn't need, but still enjoyed seeing one of the largest malls in the world. Also in Minneapolis is the Cathedral of St. Paul. The cathedral construction started in 1906 and was completed many years later. The building is huge and impressive. I would highly recommend a visit.

Madison KOA, Madison, Wisconsin

A nice KOA located right off I-90 between Madison and Milwaukee. The park is organized in a fan configuration with the majority of the sites as pull through. There were an even mix of short term visitors and longer term residents. The sites and roads are gravel. Each site has a picnic table in the grass area between the sites. The sites are barely long enough for a big rig and tow if you park parallel to the road in front of your rig. The staff was very nice and easy to work with and the bonus was the wifi worked well. We rate this park a 4 out of 5 and would stay here again when in the area.

Madison, WI

Rolled on down the road to Madison, WI.  We didn't have too much time here because we were flying to Annapolis for our nephew's graduation from the US Naval Academy.  We parked in the RV park and took off an hour down the road to Milwaukee to visit the Harley Davidson Museum.  The museum is the history of the bikes from the very first one (yes it is authenticated) until present day.  There is a model from every year and some that were used in wars and for other things like delivering mail.  :)  The neat thing is that some of the bikes have been donated and the museum decided to leave the bikes in the condition they were donated.  There is even one that washed up along the shores of  Canada from a tsunami in Japan.  They have a section with bikes bolted down to the floor so you can sit on them.  Perfect picture opportunity!  ;)
After the museum we had a little bit of time to glance at the inside of the Milwaukee Brewers stadium.  Pretty cool stadium!  We hope to get back some day to attend a game. 

The next 5 days were spent in Annapolis with family where we got to spend a good deal of time with our nephew.  We also attended the graduation ball and had the opportunity to get all dressed up!  Gary can really clean up nicely!  ;)  We also attended the Blue Angels flight show (which is the coolest thing ever),  our nephew's Glee club concert and of course, the graduation.  Our nephew is now a fully commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corp!  YES!!! In case you can't tell, I am a VERY proud auntie.  ;)

Back to WI we flew where we had one day to finish up our sightseeing.  We toured Taliesin, which is the home and school of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Since we winter in AZ, we have toured Taliesin West so it was a must do to visit the first school.  It did not disappoint.  The tour furthered our belief that the man was a genius.

After consulting PlanetWare and TripAdvisor for things to see in the area, we decided to tour House On The Rock. Let's just say we may not consult those two apps again.  ;)  House on the Rock started out as a house designed by a man named Alex Jordan Jr.  He was a collector of eclectic things and he started putting them all over his house.  Pretty soon news of his various collections spread and people started asking him if they could tour his home.  He started to charge admission, eventually moved out of his house, making it entirely a museum and then adding on other buildings to display his ever growing collection of....stuff.  Today it is a narrow, marked walk through very dark and dingy (dirty) buildings as you look at everything he either collected or he and his friends built.  They say part of the fun is trying to figure out what is authentic and what he built.  I say it is a giant waste of time and money.  We found ourselves running through the last building (you can't exit early) since it is so loud in there and nothing is titled nor is there any information about what you are looking at.  Needless to say, I would not recommend a visit.  We rewarded ourselves for escaping with a phenomenal pizza and (of course) some wine from a place called, "Pizza Bruta".  If you love Neopolitan style pizza, this place is worth a visit.
Onward to Minneapolis!

Amana RV Park, Amana, Iowa

The park is a giant field with the RV sites organized in blocks of 16 sites with a center water and electric hookup that services four of the sites. The sites and roads are dirt and gravel and if there is rain, it can be very muddy. Each site has a picnic table on the grass area separating the sites. The park has showers, laundry and community rooms in the center of the park. The wifi worked and the staff was nice during check in. We rate this park a 3 out of 5 and would stay here again, hoping that the area had less rain.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Continuing on our adventure through the mid-west, trudging along in the rain.  Gary and I are officially tired of mud.  One thing you don't think about until you live in a RV is that a garage is awesome, even a little mud room is awesome when there is rain and mud.  When you have neither, all of that comes right on into the RV.  Yay.

We made it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and we stayed at a place called The Amana Colonies.  I had never heard of this place and I'm sure many people haven't either.  The Amana religion was being practiced in Germany, when they started to be persecuted for their beliefs they moved to Buffalo, NY to enjoy our country's religious freedom.  After a bit, they felt that they needed to find more space for their farms and the lush soil of Iowa was perfect.  They are a religion that is often compared to the Amish but in 1932 they decided to become more secular and they embrace the world of today. One of their people invented the first electric refrigerator and air conditioner.  If you have ever heard of the appliance name, "Amana", this is where it came from!  Today they still practice, though not as strict, and they have opened their villages to everyone.  We spent an afternoon going through the various shops, wine tasting rooms, a deli and a restaurant.  Very cool little area!

We also took an afternoon to visit the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum.  An engineer first, he made his fortune as a mining engineer in Australia and Asia. He was very successful because he was a great problem problem solver. The poor man was blamed for the Great Depression just because he was in the White House, even though he saw it coming and advised the previous administration to put in some rules and regs to try to stop it.  He only served one term and he is known on a greater scale for being a humanitarian.  In WWI he ran organizations to feed the world and he was called upon again during WWII to do the same. The world owes a debt to Herbert Hoover.

The last thing we did was to visit the Czech and Slovak Museum.  Bonus points for us because the day we chose to visit the Czech and Slovak neighborhood was having their Houby Days festival.  It is an annual festival to honor the houby (mushroom).  The museum itself is a very cool place with the history of the Czech/Slovak region.  Going through that reinforced my thankfulness for the freedoms we enjoy in our great country.

On to Madison, WI!

Chicago, Ill