JULY 4TH CELEBRATION & MORE

Hi there!

July 4th would not be July 4th without fireworks. Pat's son Luke bought fireworks for us all to enjoy at the end of the day. The neighbors and their kids along with Luke & Andie's kids, Pat's grandchildren, had a wonderful time. With most of the neighborhood contributing to the firecracker noise it sounded like a war zone. The fireworks came after the meal, of course. We bought 2 whole spatchcock chickens (butterflied with breast bone removed) and the girls seasoned them with dry rubs; One with a lemon pepper rub and the other with a herbal rub. Luke grilled them on his high-tech, digitally temperature-controlled grill so the results were superb. We all sat on the patio enjoying the chicken along with a tray of fresh vegetables from the Farmer's Mkt. Pat boiled small potatoes, halved them then finished them with herbs and butter in a cast iron skillet which produced a nice crunch and flavor. A caprese salad was added with fresh tomatoes, soft Italian cheese, and fresh pesto....mmmm! Wine added the finishing touch! Our celebration ended at about 10:45 pm, way past our bedtime!

Minneapolis had a couple days of rain so we went to the local library and checked out some books to fill the time. Pat had to go into her office for a couple of meetings on these days. On Wednesday I decided to replace the house batteries in the motorhome. Typical battery life is 3-5 years and my house batteries are now 4 years old and were beginning to fail to hold a charge. An ounce of prevention is worth than a pound of........you know the expression. Better to start the balance of our trip with new ones rather than experience failure somewhere in the 'wilderness'. As you recall, I had to replace the engine start battery in Vero Beach after the hassle of jump-starting the mh a couple of times (in the rain).

Pat has to go into the office today for a couple of hours (they are trying to convince her to extend her contract beyond Sept.). While she is gone I plan to scrub the outside of the mh so its clean to begin our continued journey. Saturday we will attend a Minnesota Twins baseball game, taking the light rail line to the ballpark. The train station is conveniently nearby and this saves the hassle of fighting the downtown traffic. Luke bought 40 tickets for the season so as you can see, they are big baseball fans! Both Tucker and Zoe play in a little league.

There is not much more to add, so until next time..........

Have a good weekend.

Dick