Steve wasn’t quite ready to head back to Mesa and wanted another pin, so we headed north into Minnesota. Traveling through Wisconsin on the east side of the Mississippi we crossed the river into Minnesota and arrived at the Prairie Island Campground in Winona MN.

Hard to see, but that is the Welcome to Wisconsin sign. They seem to be a bit reluctant to “welcome”

Minnesota on the other hand..

Our next spot on the mighty Mississippi River again, and in the front row. Not many people were here, they would arrive on Friday for the Labor Day weekend.

We’d only been in our site for five minutes and Chris was having difficulty hooking up the water and Steve came out to help, he wasn’t wearing his oxygen  and after about 15 minutes in the heat he felt as if he would pass out. So back to the coach we went and as he walked towards the bathroom he started to panic, he got into the bathroom and collapsed against the door where Chris could only see him through a crack in the door as he cried for help. Chris called 911 and suddenly 4 policemen and 4 paramedics were inside the coach trying to help. They took him to the local ER and Chris followed on. It wasn’t long before the doctor realized this case was above his pay grade, in fact he told us he thought Steve was going to be his first fatality and kept calling him “dude”.

So he was whisked off to the closest major hospital, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, in La Crosse WI, Chris followed. Unfortunately, Steve has many health issues and when entering a new hospital we have to start from scratch and try to gain access to his medical records . It should be an easy process but never is. They decided the issue was with his heart so he would have to undergo tests. It sounded as though this would be a long process and Chris was concerned not only about Steve but we had to leave the park in a couple of days and it was Labor Day weekend so no availability anywhere.

Steve doing a walk with the PT folks to ensure he can maneuver ok. It didn’t go well and he ran out of gas on the way back

The owners of the park were very kind and offered Chris the only site they had, which just meant a short move. Steve was released from the hospital on Thursday with no answers but feeling better but no driving for 4-5 days. As soon as we got back to the campground the owner called to advise the people who’d booked our site for the holiday weekend had just cancelled and we were welcome to stay as long as we needed.
Now that’s Divine Intervention.

The view out our window at our desk area.

The night Steve came out of the hospital we went out for sushi in Winona at Miya Japanese bistro and it was very good and the presentation was nice, it even lit up. The owners were very friendly and we sat at the sushi bar chatting with them.

The park had activities planned for the weekend and Bob’s Smokestack Ribs, live entertainment for both nights.

People eating and listening to the entertainment.

Let’s add some more drama for our stay in Minnesota we said. Trying to leave and the awning won’t go in, gee we wonder why, then we know why..

That arm should be straight not an “L”

We saw a mobile RV guy running around the campground Friday and Saturday, so a call to him and he bent the arm back and got the awning pushed back in and zip tied it so we could be “Rollin Down The Road” again.

So well-rested and temporarily repaired, the awning and Steve, we headed south toward Iowa.

Steve had his pin for Minnesota and even one for Wisconsin. “I slept there, and that’s the criteria “