The Cranberry Sandwhich Up North

North Shore a Delicious Sandwich

We visited a few of the North Shores waterfalls on the Minnesota side and we worked up a huge appetite! There’s fast food....nah! We wanted to sit down and try something new. We googled what was up there and we decided on The Rustic Inn Cafe.

We’ve been to the other pie shop which is very good and have been there a couple of times. It was just time to try something new. It was a beautiful day so it was busy just like the parks where we were visited. It was a 45 minute wait but we didn’t care we didn’t want to move anymore so we waited. Plus it smelled amazing in there!  We ordered, Josie ordered the quesadilla’s and Jenn ordered the Bacon Cheese burger and Cody had the chicken tenders. I decide to get out of my comfort zone and try something other than the burgers or steak. I went with a turkey club served on cranberry bread. This was the most amazing sandwich I’ve had in, well ever!

The bread was soft and everything went really well together. I tend to dissect my food, pull this or that out. I ate the whole sandwich with out pulling any thing out. Ok ok I didn’t eat the pepper.  This was amazing and I’ll stop every time at the Rustic Inn Cafe just for this. What a great way to end our fall trip on the north shore finding a great place to eat. The service was great and the atmosphere of the café was very cozy like a cabin I wouldn't mind getting stranded in a snow storm here. I come out weighing a bit heavier but it would be worth it.   If you’re up traveling through all the waterfalls that the north shore has to offer be sure to stop in and grab some grub you won’t be disappointed.
Side note they have a small candy shop right the in the restaurant. We were so stuffed we forgot to grab a bag full of goodies. I guess...….I know there will have to be a next time.

Rustic Inn Cafe website 

https://rusticinn.cafe 

Life can get crazy!

It’s been since 2015 since our last blog. With kids getting older and more active when we have a spare moment it’s nice to just chill out. Now our kids are three years older yikes and able to give us a few hours I thought I’d start this blog back up. I’ll be blogging about the trips we’ve take and some of the bumps in the rv we’ve had. I hope you’ll enjoy and maybe also learn something along the way. Wait till I talk about our slide out debacle. Sometimes it just takes a moment to slow down. Haha!Safe travels everyone and stay tuned.Like us on Facebook at Gasoline and Marshmallows.

Maple Syrup Demonstration at Lake Maria State Park

Cody and I headed to Lake Maria State Park for a maple syrup demonstration. We learned a lot from the people there. How to tap the trees and how to cook the syrup and how to identify the trees to tap. It was a great time and we'd recommend it for a day trip.

Here's our video of the trip.

https://youtu.be/QXRfPd0d7Ks

Our Premiere episode of our podcast.

Gasoline & Marshmallows takes a leap to podcasting. We are first time RV'ers and now we're talking about it. We review rv parks that we stay at and talk about our experiences. 

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Gasoline & Marshmallows Podcast 

http://www.gasolineandmarshmallows.com/podcast.html

Kieslers Campground and Rv park

One thing I've notice driving this rv is there is more road construction on every major hwy across Minnesota than there are lakes. 

We head to Weseka Mn to Keislers on clear lake. We were a little rerouted due to some construction and made our way to the campground. We pulled in and noticed it was busy there and there was a line of RV's and trailers waiting to get in. Jennifer went to go check in and when she got back we followed the guy on a golf cart to our site. He guided me in as I backed in and done, again lucked out being level. (Great feeling to just back in and SET) We were on a wide site plenty of room from the next site next to you.

The site in the rear of ours seemed close but the firepit was a good distance away. Lots of mature trees again at this park,it looks like they take good care to get the trees trimmed for the RV's and trailers. We went to the arcade for a little fun then hit the two parks they have close by the pool & shuffle board. 

Jenn heard from a lady that at least 100 campers were coming in on this Friday WOW!

We walked across the street to take a look at the lake, it's a good size lake for jet skies and fishing. We walked to the big dock to get a different view of the rv park really nice area and had socks to park your boat.

Then I turned on the geocaching app and saw a few close by. We found one that had coordinates on it, but we skipped it to find a little easier one We were getting hungry and need to head back. After dinner  we started a campfire and relaxed. We tried something new we used a roasted marshmallow and two fudge striped cookies and made a different s'more. We loved these, they were amazing, fantastic and delicious! Ok they were great. 

We woke up the next day to beautiful weather we made a favorite for breakfast which Jennifer made some changes on egg bake in the Dutch Oven. 

We use extra heat and used no hash browns this time man it made a huge difference. It didn't seem to take as long time. We even had some left overs for Sundays breakfast. 

We decided to take a walk to the rc track and this was a really cared for track. I didn't get a chance to go and try it out this time but if we ever get back I will be on that for hours!

After the walk we headed to the pool, which was I would say medium and it was busy which made it feel small. They have two water slides one big one and one for little kids. (Just a quick not if you have kids or your in the pool yourself please get away from the end of slide people can get hurt.)  There's a also a dolphin that shoots water on you. There is a shallow pool for the little ones to splash in. We were there about an hour and decided it go back and relax and have lunch. After we had lunch I took a nap and Jennifer and the kids hit a coloring activity. When they came back I woke up it was time to trick or treat it was trick or treat weekend at the park. They went out and trick or treated and I handed out candy. It was pretty neat I saw a Crest Toothpaste bottle thought that was creative. When they were done we had dinner. We grilled some small steaks and relaxed.

 The kids hit the park one more time. The dance was going on in the main building so we had music again while the campfire was a blazing. 

On Sunday this was the last day and we got to stay a little longer it was a 2:00

check out. We headed to the pool and after about 45 min we decided to clean the rv and get ready to go. We still had about two hours befor check out so the kids and I headed to one of the parks. Jenn stayed back to finish cleaning. While I was taking my seat I said howdy to a fellow with his son..he didn't say anything back, I was wondering what's up with this guy. Then he walks over to me, I'm looking but not looking. He says hello Mr. Felten and to my surprise it was an old buddy from work who I haven't seen in about 3-4 years. It was great they just bought a trailer and it was their first time to. He came over and saw our rig and I went over and saw theirs. We decided next year we'll get together for a weekend which will be fun. Two hours away and I meet my old buddy so awesome. I had to leave cause it was 1:00 and we had to dump and roll. This is a good park, pool with slides, two playgrounds, shuffle board, mini golf and a rc track if that not enough a lake you can dock at and a walking trail that goes all around the lake. If you want a fun filled weekend check out Kieslers

http://www.kieslers.com/

Safe Travels everyone.

Yea Boo Boo!

Day 1

After our sugar rush in Jordan Minnesota to the Largest Candy Store in Minnesota we headed to Beaver Trails Jellystone park in Austin Minnesota. We were on some very nice roads on they way smooth and not bumpy which always makes for an enjoyable ride. We would've taken interstate 35E down to Interstate I90 but our sugar tooths took over. When we arrived at the park at about 3:00 in the afternoon Thursday, it's  right off the interstate you come off Exit 187 off of I 90 and boom you're there. We went down a long road to the ranger station and checked in while Jennifer was checking us in a lady in a pink golf cart took us to our site who was very pleasent . B1 a nice and level spot with plenty of room and right next to the park so we could watch the kids from under our own canopy. There was plenty of room between RV's and the stagger them so the the hook ups are between the sites and tour campfire ring and picnic table are not looking at the sewer hook up. Big plus in out book. 

The hook ups are in between RV's.

DID I SAY LEVEL.  *maybe lucky

The site

We had rented a golf cart to ride around in so we decided to take a tour of the grounds. With mini golf,pool, pool with slides, inflatable water slides, paddle boats,arcade,petting zoo,an rc track and 4 playgrounds the kids were going to be busy. We decided to have a little dinner and roast hot dogs over a campfire and the kids hit the jumping pillow & the playground.

Jumping Pillow. Lot of time spent on this. 

The playground/a view from my seat. 

It was nice to have the playground right across from the site the kids could feel a little more freedom, and the site was in eye site of the jumping pillow to. The only down side to having the site so close and open to the road and playground is it's very busy & a lot of traffic however we'd take the site again. We decided to break out the RC car and try the track out, we had a ton if fun out there the car isn't the fastest car and the batteries don't last long but it was fun to run it. We all took turns till the batteries wore out and we headed back. We decided to call it a night from all the traveling and went to bed. 

Day 2

We all slept in and after breakfast the kids wanted hit the pools. The 3 slide pool had a height limit 48 inches which my son didn't make and he was bummed. My daughter got to go down it and had a lot of fun.

My son and I went on the inflatable water slide which they said if he can climb to the top he could go on it.

 Can my boy climb! The lines were short on Friday so he got to go up and down a lot and the slide was fast. He loved it, my daughter got in it to and had a blast. Then they both went to the regular pool and jumped in and swam around. When we left the water for awhile we went over to the arcade this arcade gave out tickets and they had a ticket machine that gave out the prizes pretty neat. 

Our favorite 

It was a great Friday we even rode the train. With not a lot of people the kids got to use everything with no lines. Later in the evening Jenns sister came to join us for the weekend. I went over and met my neibours Bill & Melissa who I found out don't live that far from our house. It's funny when you meet people and find out they live just down the road. Small world.  We had a Dutch Oven meat loaf that was awesome for dinner. I had some of the root beer soda I picked up at the candy store, which was fabulous. After dinner the kids played and played. This is the first time I remember our son going to sleep right after we put him to bed and he slept in till 8:30. He was tuckered out.

Day3

I woke up and decided to do my rv park walk. I walk on the park roads all over the park just to see how big it is. The park is 2.21 miles estimated. 

I got back to the site and we had breakfast and hung out all day. We took in the pool again and the parks. My daughter and son took another ride around the park and saw some guys at the rc track with a real fast car I stopped and talked about rc cars for a while and learned a lot about the hobbie. Santa may have to bring a family rc car for next year. *wink. We the. Headed back to the rv and found out there was going to be a dj and dance at the pavilion across the street. We had our dinner bacon wrapped chicken. 

After that we relaxed and listened to the music. 

Day 4 

Dump and Runn this was the last day of the trip. The night before we cleaned up the site outside and got stuff out away so we had time to be lazy in the morning. We let the kids hit the park and we took one last tour on the golf cart and brought it back to the ranger station. We dumped the tanks and cleaned up the rv and headed home. 

We absolutely loved this trip. The park was clean there was plenty to do, the staff was excellent. The weather was fantastic! If you want a fun filled weekend go check out Beaver Trails Jellystone Park in Austin Mn. 

http://www.beavertrailsjellystone.com/

Safe Travels Everyone. 

The Pond 

Mini Golf

Sugar Rush in Minnesota

A friend of mine told me about this store in southern Minnesota that had every type of candy made or at least close to it. I mentioned it to Jennifer and we decided to reroute ourselves on our trip to Beaver Trails campground. On our trip down HWY 169 it took me back to our trips out west for fast draw contests not relizing we've past the heaven of sugar goodness multiple times. We arrived at the  huge yellow building with plenty of parking no matter what size of vehicle or rv, you can park here. We noticed the pie light was on which means fresh pies are in the oven. (I like my apple pies) We walked in and right away I saw the soda wall of all kinds of soda in glass bottles. (My favorite) 

THIS IS SHOT FROM THE ENTERANCE

They have many varieties of cotton candy, licorice,chips,candy bars,soda, bubble gum and bubble gum machines and candy cigarettes.... WHAAAT!!  Yes candy cigarettes. 

Candy Cigarette Table

This table took me back to my parents store. Just so cool and no I don't smoke and I use to have these all the time pretending I was cool or a gunfighter or my dad for that matter. I bought one box for my western room. 

Now they have a honey wall, a peanut butter wall, a jams wall and a maple syrup wall!!  Many kinds of to choose from it was awesome. 

HoneyWall 

Maple Syrup Wall

They have a Bacon wall with everything toothpaste to tooth picks. It was actually really interesting. 

Bacon Wall

Cotton Candy Wall

Licorice Table

British Candy

This is a small sampling of what they have at this store. When you visit don't forget to get the homade stuff, pies fudge and more. This will be a stop from now on our way to a site. Well worth the rerouteing of the trip. We actually got out cheap. I got a few bottles of soda with western themes on them and a weird soda flavor Bacon!! We'll see how that goes. We got fudge some candy for the kids and chocolate covered chips. Man are they tastey!! 

Of course we couldn't help getting a carmel apple pie & a carmel apple. If you're ever on HWY 169 in Minnesota near Jordon MN be sure to stop at Minnesotas Largest Candy Store. 

Since there's no website I found a Facebook page. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Minnesotas-Largest-Candy-Store/145817128774771

Thanks again and Safe Travels everyone.

Made me laugh

A Candy Neckless

Syrup. Should've bought some

The Loot