Minnesota - Day 30 - back to Blue Mounds

Blue Mounds State Park, Luverne

Friday, 30 September 2022

today's route

This is actually the same route map I used a couple of days ago, but today I drove the same route back to Blue Mounds as I'd driven coming up to the Jordan campground.  I saw a lot of the same things, obviously, but I also saw some things I'd missed on the way up.

Soon after I left the campground this morning, I heard on the radio that because this has been the driest September on record in Minnesota, the Minnehaha Falls had become nonexistent.  There isn't any water coming over the falls these days.  Pretty sad, and pretty worrying.

On this day in 1960, The Flintstones debuted on TV.  For what it's worth.

I've seen the name "Cambria" in various places around the state - on a building, on a delivery truck - and I finally looked it up to see what it was.  It's an unincorporated town, but the reason I've been seeing it is that it's also a company that produces "engineered quartz surfaces" - meaning countertops, e.g.  They're headquartered in Le Seuer, MN, which in fact I was driving through when I saw a delivery truck that reminded me I hadn't looked it up.

The town of Le Seuer, pop. 4,213, lies in the Le Seuer Valley, which is where the Le Seuer brand of canned vegies began.  That brand is now owned by B&G Foods, which also owns the Green Giant Brand.  And I saw a large billboard of the Green Giant saying, "Welcome to the Valley."  You know - the valley of the jolly Green Giant.  B&G Foods, by the way, owns a whole lot of very well-known food brands.  I wonder why the town would be so small if big companies like those 2 vegie companies are around here.  Maybe it's mainly a farming town?

I heard on the radio the head of the Ft. Myers (FL) Chamber of Commerce say that Hurricane Ian "changed the face of our charming city - well, it's still very charming but . . ." and he went on to mention boats and docks and concrete scattered around where they don't belong.  I thought it was nice of him to quickly point out that Ft. Myers is still charming.

I saw several deer up to their bellies in grain in a field.

I came again to Mankato and North Mankato and this time managed to make it all the way through without incident.  This time I noticed an extremely large facility for CHS and learned online that they process soybeans here, producing oil.

At Mountain Lake, a sign told me there's a Mennonite Heritage Museum.

Passing through Windom, pop. 4,798, I noticed the county courthouse and was impressed enough to stop for a photo.

Cottonwood County Courthouse
built 1905

I saw a Mexico license plate on the highway.  I feel sure guest workers come to this part of the country from time to time - in fact, I've been driving through almost nothing but agricultural country for several months - so I'm surprised this is the first car from Mexico I've seen since I left the border states.

We stopped for a break at Worthington, pop. 13,947, where I was looking for a laundromat, and we stumbled on an interesting park.

Those signs say "Sailboard Beach" and then
"Home of the 2014 United States
Windsurfing National Championships."
Well, the wind was certainly blowing when we were there.

Public art that was just across the street.

At the laundromat, I found the smallest washer cost $4, and for less than half an hour in the dryer it'd cost me $1.75.  These prices were definitely on the high side of what I've encountered elsewhere and I'd've gone somewhere else if I'd had the time and knowledge of where else to go.  But my clothes got clean and they got almost dry.

On the highway a sign told me that Wall Drug (SD) was only 355 miles away.  They are absolutely relentless in their self-promotion.

Back at Blue Mounds State Park, I ran into the "temporary pass" situation again.  This started back when I visited Lake Louise State Park early this month and bought a day pass from a kiosk, except I wrote the check for an annual pass, because I planned to spend enough nights in state parks that it made the most economic sense.  Since then, when I've checked into each state park, the 4 women working at 4 reception desks accepted my temporary pass and my story about paying for the annual pass with no problem.  But the 2 men working at 2 reception desks made a big problem about it, and one was right on the edge of insisting I buy another pass, which would have created a problem (given my stubbornness) so it's just as well he gave in.  Actually, David and Anna mailed me my permanent pass part way through the month, but by then I was getting curious about this male/female reaction and wanted to see if it held all month.  It did.  Weird.

Dext and I were glad to be back in a familiar and comfortable place, I got my shower with no problem, and we got ready to head to a new state tomorrow.