Dave and I with the racer loaded on the trailer.

What a couple of weeks!

One of our goals before leaving was to put in Ann’s garden. So, prior to leaving for MN, we expanded the fencing (primarily to keep the dogs in and so they can chase out any critters), laid the dirt for corn and squash, laid gravel over the rest of the dirt, and put in elevated planters so that Ann does’t have to bend down. We’d hoped to move the propane tank, but that will have to wait now until Fall. It’s all temporary so we can see how we like the location.

Last Friday mom’s place went up for sale. On Wednesday, (as Ann and I were racing back from Minnesota) the home went under contract. It came down to a developer who wanted to develop the land (all cash deal) or a couple with a daughter who wanted to live in the house and offered to take mom’s cats. It was an easy call, as mom would have wanted the cats cared for, so we agreed to the deal with the couple. So, a huge step forward in finalizing the estate.

And now for the road trip to MN, here’s what happened.

Our drive to Minnesota was uneventful. We drove 1000 miles the first day under perfect skies, with no storms. Because I was a little paranoid about blowing a trailer tire, we kept the speed art around 70mph for most of the trip. The next day we drove an additional 500 miles in similar beautiful weather, landing in Little Falls, Minnesota, for the evening.

The next morning we stopped by Thielen Meats in Pierz, as recommenced by Dave F. It was a great recommendation (voted the #1 meat market in Minnesota and celebrating its 100th anniversary this year). We bought some beef sausages, smoked mozzarella, a whole smoked white fish (yum), and some smoked pork ribs. Everything was great (we should have bought more).

Photo Credit: Thielen Meats

A short time later, we arrived at Dave’s place. Dave and I have been communicating about this racer for several years, but for all the reasons you already know, it wasn’t until this spring that it was practical for us to go fetch the jeep.

Some of the worst damage:

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UPDATE: We began Wednesday in Dickinson, ND. We stopped in Montana to visit Dan and April’s new bison ranch, then planned to stop in Missoula for the night. However, our concern over degrading weather on Thursday between Spokane and Missoula convinced us to push through to home. We arrived at 3am, Thurs morning, pretty bushed! I will give a full trip update once I recover from our drive.

We had a good time talking with Dave in Minnesota when we picked up the race jeep. He showed us around his collection of jeeps, which was a surprise! We leave from Dickinson, ND, this morning and have about a day and half left of driving, so more to come, including our story of the TICK invasion!

Map of our drive west this week. We plan to return that same route, unless a weather change directs us differently.

Early Sunday morning we head for Minnesota on our quest to retrieve the Parkette bodied racer from Dave. If all goes as planned, we’ll be in Mora on Tuesday late morning.

Unfortunately, it is pouring rain this morning here in Prosser, so trip-prep on the trailer will have to wait until the expected sunnier weather this afternoon.

Given we’ll be pulling our trailer there and back, we won’t be doing much sight-seeing. We do plan on meeting with a reader in Montana on our return trip. It turns out that one conversation between him and I radically changed his family’s life and I couldn’t be more happy for them. More on that later.