Minnesota? "You betcha!"

First off, a note to the governor's wife Linda. We (Micky) posted an incorrect spelling of their last name :-(
So it should be:
"The First Lady of So. Dakota,
                Linda Daugaard."
Our apologies.

On Wednesday morning, we mounted our mighty steed and made our way across the farmlands of  eastern South Dakota entering the great state of Minnesota!

We pulled into Maple Grove Minnesota and were welcomed by Paul and Karie Stewart,  their 3 children, Isaiah, Paige and Ella and exchange student "Kapow" from Thailand.

We felt right at home as the Stewart's dog Addison welcomed Micky by biting his hand!

He bribed her with table scraps and was soon  scratching her tummy!

Following dinner, Paul and Karie wasted no time putting Micky to work!

We went for a short ride around Maple Grove on Thursday finding our way to White Castle hamburgers! Kathie's first ever White Castle & Micky's first since he was 18.

Then It was off to watch Isaiah's high school  soccer team whip their opponents 2 to 1

Isaiah doing an outstanding job as goalie!

we then had happy hour appetizers at the Pittsburgh Blue Steak House. Buffalo wings, steak bites, nachos, hash brown potatoes, (which were to die for. Mixed with bacon and bleu cheese) this is one of our servers Tyrone. A very nice gentleman 

On our way home we stopped by Karie's new school. She gave us a tour of the school and her 2nd grade classroom. School starts Tuesday!

The big day finally came! We went with Paul, Karie and Ella to spend the day at the Minnesota State Fair! Unbelievable how huge this fair is. It runs half as long as our Del Mar fair with 300,000 more people attending each year. We both had our first taste of deep fried cheese curds.

Micky and Paul found 2 other sharply dressed gentleman and couldn't pass up the opportunity to have their picture taken with them.

Hard to believe, but we had never experienced a smoked turkey leg at the fair, so this was a first.  As you can see we thoroughly enjoyed this delicacy. We can't wait till next year, but who knows, maybe we will attend another state or county fair before our trip is over!