Winter Caravan gets in gear, hitting three states in a day

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Twins hit three different states on the south leg of their annual Winter Caravan on Wednesday, as they made stops in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

It was a rare three-state-in-one-day trip for the Twins, who also saw their northern caravan leg nearly reach Wisconsin with a stop in nearby Winona, Minn.

"It was pretty neat to hit three states that all have Twins fans and love Twins baseball," Twins reliever Brian Duensing said. "So it was a long day, but it was a lot of fun."

With broadcaster Dick Bremer and relievers Duensing and Ryan Pressly on the southern leg, the Twins started the day in Spencer, Iowa, which was the site of the club's night event on Tuesday and which featured roughly 100 fans in attendance at the Legends Event and Social Center.

The caravan went from there back into Minnesota, making an early stop at the YMCA in Worthington. It featured many local children who make use of the YMCA, and even saw the club's mascot, TC Bear, take part in a yoga class.

The next stop was a lunchtime event at the Ickey Nickel in Sioux City, Iowa, to mark the second straight year the Twins stopped at the restaurant.

But the highlight of the day was the club's night event at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, as more than 700 fans showed up for the event.

Bremer served as the emcee for the event, which had the customary question-and-answer session with the fans followed by an autograph session.

"This was great," said Duensing, who is on his fourth caravan. "This is the biggest caravan event I've been involved with. With 700 people and the event sold out, that's pretty impressive. It goes to show how many Twins fans are here in South Dakota."