Bayport, MN (Andersen Windows and Doors)

We left the Mississippi River and traveled a short distance up the St. Croix River to Bayport, Minnesota to tour the Andersen Corporation factory, manufacturer of windows and doors. In a book we had read they give a morning and afternoon tour and we arrived for the afternoon tour, but the nice receptionist said they had the morning tour and seldom give them in the afternoon. She said she would make a phone call to find someone to take us on a plant tour and asked us to wait. In a few minutes Guy Karth appeared and wow, did he give a great one and a half hour tour. Guy is Project Manager, Materials Management, so he knows the inside out of making windows with all the technical data that I love.

First, a little about Andersen Windows and Doors. The privately owned business was founded in 1903 by Danish immigrant Hans Andersen and his family in Hudson, Wisconsin, where logs arrived via the St. Croix River. Today, Andersen Corporation is an international enterprise employing about 14,000 people at more than 20 locations worldwide with headquarters in Bayport, Minnesota, a 2.8 million-square-foot facility that covers 65 acres. Andersen annually manufactures more than six million wood windows and doors, with sales worldwide.

Each Andersen window is still hand-made, but computerized machines are taking over more of the work such as the machines that inspect wood for knots and determine exactly where to cut. That not only makes a stronger window, it reduces waste. And Andersen does not waste anything. Small pieces of wood and sawdust are recycled and only 1% is considered waste.

Guy took us through the cutting of wood and frames, to inserting the glass, to painting and vinyl coating, to final inspections, to the products being packed for shipping. They make so many types of windows I had a hard time keeping up with the models and processes, but I did notice every window is quality made and will last a long time. Andersen products are available in more than 600,000 unique shapes and styles. If we ever settle down and buy a house again I want it to have Andersen windows and doors. We later visited my son and he is adding two rooms to his house and I was happy to see Andersen Windows labels on all the windows.

We want to thank Guy for taking an hour and a half from his busy schedule to show us the plant and educate us on Andersen Windows. Sorry, pictures in the plant are not allowed.
 

Mall of America

Just south of Minneapolis in Bloomington is Mall of America, one humongous shopping and entertainment complex. The Mall has a gross area of 4.2 million square feet with 2.5 million square feet of retail space. There are over 520 stores on three levels with a fourth level on one side. The Mall contains about 50 restaurants, an amusement park with roller coaster, Ferris wheel and other rides, a 14-screen movie theater, a wedding chapel and many other features. There are several large “anchor” stores with the largest being Macy’s (280,000 sq ft), Nordstrom (220,000 sq ft), Bloomingdale’s (210,000 sq ft) and Sears (177,904 sq ft). The Mall has no heating except the entrances, and even in Minnesota’s sub-zero winter temperatures, the entire Mall is kept warm through skylights, lighting, other electrical devices and the heat produced by employees and guests. More than 40 million annual visitors can park in the 20,000 available parking spaces or ride busses to the Mall. And the Mall will get much larger with a 5.2 million square feet expansion which includes another 380 stores, an ice skating rank, a dinner theater, a water park, three hotels and an additional 8,000 parking spaces.

We walked around most of the Mall and did a little shopping and eating. Escalators and elevators took us between the levels and I was most impressed with the Lego Imagination Center where the large displays are made from Lego blocks.

Sartell, MN

The city of Sartell, Minnesota (near St. Cloud) is divided by the Mississippi River and my oldest son lives 3/10's of a mile from the river. Troy is a doctor (neurologist), his wife Sandy is a nurse and they have two boys Luke (10) and Logan (8). We parked our two motorhomes on the street in front of their house which made it convenient for visits, especially from the boys who were in and out of the motorhome often. The afternoon we arrived the boys were in a play, the Wizard of Oz, in a downtown theater and Luke was the Lion while Logan was a Munchkin and Monkey. They both did outstanding jobs. They were excited about attending a late night Harry Potter Party and getting the latest Harry Potter book after midnight. They dressed for the event, but we were to tired (too old) to go with them.

Luke is into computers, acting, the arts and writing plays, while Logan loves BMX racing, rockets and technical stuff. I told Logan to dump the air bags and extend the jacks to level and stabilize the motorhome and I explained in theory how the system works. The system has manual controls with a dozen buttons, a dozen lights and two bubble type levels and without further assistance from me he did a prefect job. I have seem many adults struggle leveling a motorhome and never get it completely level and here was an eight year old doing it perfect the first time.

We enjoyed our visit and Troy’s cooking, eating out, going to church, seeing the two room addition to their house (under construction), and spending time with the boys. We wish we could see the more than once a year, but it is a long way to central Minnesota and its too cold to go there in the winter. In addition to visits to their home over the years we have met them in Kentucky, in Chicago, several days at Walt Disney World, five days at Yellowstone National Park and a week in Utah. Who knows where we’ll meet next time.

End of The Great River Road

The source of the Mississippi River is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and they have a nice state park with campgrounds, but most sites are reserved months in advance and many are too small for large motorhomes. So we decided to stay at Leech Lake Corps of Engineers Park in Federal Dam, Minnesota and take a day trip to Lake Itasca. With narrow roads, tight turns and many trees, it was a challenge getting the motorhomes in the campground and parked in our sites. It was hot so the shade trees helped and we took advantage of the 50-amp electric to run the air conditioners.

As we drove to Lake Itasca we crossed the Mississippi River several times and it sure looked small. It actually flows north about 60 miles, then east a couple of hundred miles before beginning its southern journey. At New Orleans the channel was 200 feet deep and we found places where the river was 3 miles wide with as many a 42 large barges plying the river. Now we were looking at a small wading stream with a large sign announcing the Mississippi River. The river flows out of Lake Itasca and there are rocks for walking over the river, a wading area for people who want to walk through the river and a log for walking over the river. We walked the rocks and logs, but did not remove our shoes and walk through the river.


We began the Great River Road 80 miles south of New Orleans and 74 days later we stood at its source. What a trip. Look at our wrap-up report which follows.