Minnesota Travels

By vschilling
Sun, 06/17/2012 - 10:32

Minnesota Trip -- April 10-16, 2012

April 10

Tuesday was a travel day. That meant we were up before dawn to drive to the airport. We had some very confused animals that morning.

It took most of the day to get across the western United States. I got some cool shots of the Rockies from the plane though.

We arrived in the Minneapolis airport and promptly got lost. We were in the wrong terminal! (I didn't even know that airport had more than one terminal!) We ended up taking the long and not very scenic route to the light-rail station so we could travel to the other terminal. Which was really only a problem because I had to haul my rolling suitcase along behind me the whole way. Otherwise, it would have been an entertaining rather than exhausting adventure.

Finally, we got our car:

and got checked in to our hotel. Dinner time! We scarfed down far too much food at Chili's and crashed for the evening.

April 11

Up bright and early on Wednesday, we went for a walk at Normandale Lake.

The sun was shining, even if it was a little brisk.

All in all, it was a beautiful morning.

Wednesday afternoon was reserved for family time. We hung out and Dave began his mission of introducing his mom and his aunt to the wonders of the Internet using an iPad.

The best part, of course, is that Dave's mom fed us a lovely dinner featuring pork chops. We saw a little bit of Paula, but she was not feeling well and didn't hang out much that afternoon. Jim also came by and hung out with us. It was a nice afternoon.

April 12

Baseball time! Twins played the Angels at Target Field.

Thursday was game day. We parked at the Mall of America and traveled to the game on the light rail. It was so strange, the whole thing is done on the honor system. You can get on and off at any of the stations all day long and there are no gates or ticket-takers. No one ever asked us for our tickets.

There was this nagging worry in the days beforehand that the weather would not cooperate but the day was sunny and bright, if a little cool. We sat in the outfield and soaked up the rays.

The most exciting part of the day was the homerun that landed about 6 feet behind us. It flew right over our heads. The kids next to us all jumped up trying to catch it, but it was too high. It almost beaned some guy who was busy texting or something on his phone in the last row of the section. Dave was convinced that if we had recorded the game (at home) we could have seen ourselves on tv.

We waaaaaay overspent on the food we bought and left early to avoid being crushed to death in the light-rail car on the way back.

With time to kill before dinner, we walked around the Mall of America. Dave was already suffering withdrawl pains from the iPad, so he took care of that problem at the Apple Store. We finished up with dinner at Bubba Gump's.

All in all we had a good time.

April 13

On Friday the thirteenth, we walked around Lake of the Isles.

We got a little damp, but mostly windblown by the blustery weather that morning.

We always go back to the spot where I walked on the ice in 2000. Well more or less. I know it's around here somewhere...

More Lake of the Isles scenery:

After our walk around the lake, we went to Dave's mom's place to dry out (well, okay, it was just my feet that needed to dry out). Tutoring in the mysteries of the iPad continued. Friday evening brought us a family dinner that included us, Dave's mom, Scott and Jody, and Jim (and Paula coming and going) crowded into the little apartment together. We ate chow mein and had a lovely time.

April 14

Saturday morning brought us breakfast with Mary, Carol, Mike, and Mary Katherine. It was wonderful to see them all again. After breakfast we went with Mary and Carol to visit Aunt Diane. It was good to see her and I think that she was happy to see us. She even noticed that I had cut my hair! When we arrived, she was certain we were all going to go out for lunch. I suppose because that is what we always all do together when the two of us come to visit. In many ways, she seemed just like the same Diane we have always known: always complaining about something. ;-)

Saturday also brought us warm and sunny weather. A brisk walk around Lake Calhoun showed us that Minnesotans were ready for summer to arrive. The park was busy with walkers, joggers, the occasional inline skater and people out to simply soak up as much sun as possible. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for walking.

April 15

On Sunday morning, we went for another walk around Normandale Lake. It's so much prettier than our neighborhood at home.

Sunday afternoon was our last chance to visit with family. We hung out at Dave's mom's place again in the early afternoon. And once again, she fed us! That day we had sloppy joes. Yum. Dave had one last chance to fit in everything he needed to share about using the iPad. Jim came by on his way to work, so we got to see him one more time as well.

After leaving Dave's mom's place, we stopped at Normandale Lake on our way back to the hotel. It was very nice to just sit and enjoy the lake.

We were very zen at the lake until Dave got a message from his mom that there was a tornado warning in Carver county. Then the evening got very interesting. When we got back to the hotel, the TV was shouting BREAKING NEWS!!!! and tornado watch! and tornado warning! The front marched right past us and the tornado watch came right along with it. So, from 18 stories up, we were able to watch the front go by: