The next morning, we liked this park so much that we didn't start out right away.The kids worked off a lot of energy on the jumping pillow again and then went for a cooling swim in the pool.We did another load of towels afterwards and headed for LaCrosse, Wisconsin.It was a late start, but no problem, we were not going as far today as we had previously been grinding out.

But the best laid plans don't always work out.Less than 100 miles into our trip across Minnesota, we had a blow-out on the right tire of the trailer.We got the kids out of the car and they sat over in the high grass and wildflowers beside the highway.The picture of Elise sitting among the yellow flowers depicts that scene.After the first blow-out in Louisiana, Paige had bought a jack especially for the trailer and felt she could fix it.However, after a few attempts at jacking up the trailer, we were beginning to have our doubts.I walked about a half mile up the interstate to read the sign for the next exit so we could tell AAA where we were on Interstate 90.Then we were informed that road service on the trailer was not included.So we called Progressive, yes, we had road service.They could not figure out where we were and we were getting nowhere fast. A similar problem Paige had in Louisiana! (Remember, "What state is Louisiana in?") Just about then a farmer and his wife pulled up in their truck and the two of them changed the tire in about five minutes. In the process, Paige learned exactly where to put the jack…not where the trailer paperwork says to do it!!! I said good bye to Progressive.

Then we had to find a replacement for our spare.The farmer, Tom Prins, told us about a town a few exits up where we could get one.Paige was worried that we might have another blow out before we could get that far.He said, "Here is my card, if you have any trouble between here and there, call me.We will come and help you."

We drove safely to Jackson, Minnesota and Tom and his wife were patiently waiting our arrival.He was worried that the tire place would take advantage of us since we were out-of-staters, desperate for a tire and females.We got the tire and the guy told us our lugs were so hot that they burned him and he thought we needed our wheel bearings repacked.He could not do it, but recommended a little place that could.It's Friday evening about ten minutes til 5 on a holiday weekend, and we didn't feel like our prospects were too good. First we went to a Chevy dealer, who told us they could not do it. They sent us to Speedy's Repair Shop and he said he would stay and check it out for us.We went and had dinner at the Pizza Ranch in the meantime. When we got back to the garage he still had not started on it.Finally, he got all of his other work done and started on our problem.He taught the kids how to repack bearings, (he's a vo-tech teacher), put our new license plate on, straightened out a bent part of our hitch, oiled the squeaky ball of the hitch, and repacked the bearings. Total bill $65.00!! And it was now 8:15 p.m., Friday night of a long weekend! We love these Mid-westerners.

All of these problems definitely delayed our plans so we decided to change our destination to another Jellystone Park in Austin, Minnesota.They even had a jumping pillow. We arrived too late to participate in any activities, but thought the next day we could.