The Vikings still have a bit of off-the-field work to get done -- second-round draft picks Chris Cook and Toby Gerhart must come to terms -- but we are getting very close to seeing some actual football activities.

Chip and I will be heading for Mankato in the morning and will begin updating the blog and our twitter accounts when we get down there. To follow me on twitter just go to www.twitter.com/juddzulgad. To follow Chip go to www.twitter.com/chipscoggins.

The Vikings will be arriving in Mankato late Thursday afternoon and into the evening. We will have a few hours of access as players check into their new dorm -- Gage Center is out and Sears Residence Hall is in -- so we'll get to ask about various topics. I'm guessing an aging quarterback's name will come up once or twice.

Brad Childress will have his opening news conference of training camp on Friday afternoon and that will be followed by the first practice. Same as last year, we'll have plenty of in-practice updates on Twitter so if you can't make it down to camp make sure to follow us.