Where do we come from?

Since we are lying kind of low at the moment. I thought I would share where we come from since we have met so many new people this summer. I have also noticed that a lot of RV'ers with the state maps on the sides of their RV's don't have Minnesota and North Dakota on them.

We come from the land of 10,000 lakes. And yes, I do believe there are 10,000 lakes here. Our town we claim as home now is Fergus Falls. A little dot in West Central Minnesota. Minnesotans say that there are 2 Minnesota's. You have the 6 county area around Minneapolis/St. Paul and then you have everything else. I am glad that we come from the second part.

Fergus Falls biggest claim to fame is that it was home to Minnesota's third state hospital for the insane. A real insane asylum.

 This place is huge and abandoned now. Ghost Hunters have gone in there and have found evidence that it is still haunted. It opened in 1890 and closed in 2005. 

This is what it looks like today. Walking around the grounds was a little spooky. I felt like I was being watched. The doors are all locked and the windows that are broken are boarded up. I guess they do ghost tours around Halloween and I would like to some day go in there and get the crap scared out of me. 

Fergus Falls sits in Otter Tail County. So they have a giant otter in the park.

Driving around the area you will see many lakes and rivers.

This time of year the harvest is in full swing. The leaves are starting to change. We have sumac that turns a deep vibrant blood red.

The maple trees turn a beautiful orange. But I didn't get a photo of one. Small town churches are everywhere. This area is heavily populated by Scandinavians who are primarily Lutheran.

Wherever there isn't a lake, there's farmland. These farmers needed to get their crops to market. So grinding mills sprung up everywhere at the turn of the century. At one point there were 1,000 mills in the state. Near Fergus Falls we have Phelps Mill. It no longer works but it has been restored and is a very interesting stop.

The machinery for grinding the wheat into flour is still inside. 

We do get all four seasons here. Each has its own special attributes. It sounds so perfect. I can hear you all saying that now. Why would we want to leave? Here's why.

The winters are brutal. Below zero temps weeks at a time. Snow and wind. You are stuck inside your house for months. You get so cold that your back hurts because your muscles are so tense. That snow plow was the best purchase I have ever made. I sure became popular in the neighborhood.

So when all my Florida friends get all giddy about some snow, this is what I think about and it makes me shiver.

That's it folks. It is getting cool here so that means that it is time to start heading south.