Swift Falls, Minnesota

As we drive further into Minnesota, we are noting some things that make it different from other parts of the country. One thing is that  we are seeing that the Lutheran Church is the biggest church in most towns. Since Mark was raised going to a tiny Lutheran church in Oklahoma, he's feeling at home here. So after going to the Lutheran church on Sunday morning, we're heading further north to see more of Minnesota.

Our plan is to head straight north through the state. Our campgrounds have taken us onto the back roads of Minnesota, and Mark drove our wide motor home down some mighty narrow country highways today. Denisa has been admiring the silos that stand proudly beside every barn along these roads, and she had to take a picture or two.

It seems that the guy that laid the blocks for these old silos wanted to make each one unique, so the top rows usually included some decoration that gave them personality.

We went through many little towns along our route. The GPS was a little confused, as it took us through narrow residential streets, and then onto a gravel road. An unpaved road is not something one wants to see through a motor home windshield, especially with all the rain falling lately.

But Mark masterfully drove us through all the obstacles into the tiny hamlet of Swift Falls, Minnesota. He even drove us across a one-lane bridge in the city campground to our overnight spot. (Note--it's not the bridge in the picture below. He's a good driver, but he's not that good!) After getting the motor home set up, we explored our little park with its swift falls.

Even though it was pretty along the river, we were glad to be parked higher and dryer on the hill when it started raining (once again) during the night.

We are finding that Minnesota is a big state. We now have about 1/3 of the state south of us. After driving through the agricultural bottom 1/3, we are starting to see more of the lakes that make Minnesota famous. We took a drive from our campground, just to see what we could find. This was our first lake of the day.

We found six lakes within a ten-mile drive. While some are in the middle of private property, we could usually find a public access road that took us right down to the water and a public dock. It feels like Minnesotans like to share their lakes. Denisa must say that it also feels like her ankle is healing very slowly. She's still sporting a cane, compression wrap, and her crocs. That's quite a fashion statement as she stands in front of yet another lake!

Our wildlife picture of the day includes the squirrels that were frolicking in front of the motor home. We're not sure where this guy gets his hair done, but he was definitely sporting a blond tail today.

On our quest to see Minnesota from its southern agricultural border all the way to its lake-filled northern border, we are driving on to points further north.