Cousins Road Trip to MSP!

After a fun but exhausting work week in Kentucky, I packed up and flew to my next destination. First stop: picking up the rental car in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Then on to meet up with cousin J3 at Northwestern College in northwestern Iowa, and finally, on to Minneapolis... 

Buckly the Bison in downtown Sioux Falls

J3 was convinced that I would show up on campus in a rented muscle car. Unfortunately, I wound up with a Ford Taurus... with BC plates. Seriously! On the plus side, we had a v6 engine and plenty of trunk space for our blitz road trip. 

See? BC plates! 

I was assured that 7am wasn't too early to get up and start driving, so after picking up J3 at his dorm room, drive we did. For the record, I-90 is more boring in Minnesota than it is in Eastern Washington. Every time I road trip in the mid-west I'm grateful that I live in the PNW!

After four hours of driving through flat nothing-ness, we were more than happy to arrive at the Mall of America. J3 had never been there, so it made sense to drop by and stretch our legs! Thing had changed a bit since I was last there as a 3rd grader... Camp Snoopy is now Camp Nickelodeon, and somehow they crammed in a couple of roller coasters. My favorite corner, Lego Land, is smaller, but it's still there!

Camp Nickelodeon (Go Cougs!)

Last time I barely came up to the bottom of the letters!

Our destination wasn't a mall, but a friend's house near downtown. We arrived at Amy's in time to refuel with some delicious home-made squash soup, then set out on a "hike." One of the most wonderful things about Minneapolis is the system of bike paths and hiking trails that weave all through the city and along the river. We took the trail down to the river, which was lined with the last of the autumn colours. Besides the bridges and tops of the U of M buildings poking up over the trees, you would never know that we were in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the mid-west.

Lake Ave / Marshall Ave Bridge

We spent the evening making apple crisp, visiting friends on the northwest side of town, taking a night drive down Hennepin Ave past First Baptist (site of some of my earliest memories), and finally trying to find somewhere to watch the Cougs game (which is hard when your adventure buddy isn't 21!).

Sunday morning, we made breakfast with our hosts and their friends, then watched the first half of the Vikings at Philadelphia. We left during half time and listened to the second half of the game on our way back to Iowa. In the end, it was probably a good thing that we left when we did. The Vikings ended up getting crushed by the Eagles! As I dropped J3 back at his dorm, we decided that next time I come out in the fall or winter, we'll go to one of the Vikings games at that gorgeous new stadium we saw...