BBQ and Beer Lights

We finally got out of town last weekend with the cabin on wheels. It's a shame it sat waiting for us in our driveway since May. Never again!! 

BBQ judging called us to Albert Lea, Minnesota. We stayed two nights at Crystal Springs RV resort by Ellendale. It's a brand new park and we had a nice spot right by a small pond where great blue herons came to roost at night. We watched dozens of them fly in at sunset.  Our wooden egret, George, named after the artist who created him, joined us. You can always find him in our camp sites.

We visited Steve's Meat Market in Ellendale our first day and enjoyed a great meal that evening of locally made andouille sausage with fresh herbs and veggies from the farmers' market.

Saturday found us at the competition. We walked around before our day started to observe the teams in action. We can't talk to them before the event because we are judges. It's always interesting to see the different setups.

No two are the same.

Some have invested great amounts of money in their rigs.

We were each given a ticket for a glass of beer to enjoy after the competition was done! Boy, did that taste good after all that BBQ! Too bad the band struggled matching up their chord progressions. Yikes!

We moved a few miles up the road to Riverview Campground near Owatonna for the next two nights.

The purpose of our stay there was to visit our friends, Stan and Carol. Paul and I used to teach with Stan. They retired outside of town on acreage where Carol grew up and built a new home there. They are master gardeners.

They take land stewardship very seriously and are working with a land conservancy program to revert most of their forty acres back to native species. Their plan is to make their property available for future study programs.

They also have a mind boggling beer light collection in their basement. This picture shows just a small percentage of what is displayed. I think there may even be a electrical brown out in the southern half of the state when they flip that special switch to turn everything on!!!

We had so much fun visiting with them.

Next week is our annual trip to the North Shore.

We are extremely comfortable in our "Al-u-MIN-i-um Con-do-MIN-i-um." I can hardly wait!