Minnesota Aug/Sept 2007

We are getting ready for our trip to Minnesota. We are leaving on this Friday. (oh, the things I still need to do!!!) We were planning on leaving a day earlier, but with the reservations that Rod's sister Mona made... we need to be there one day later.

Mona is a travel consultant, planner for Schwans in Minnesota. She lives near their headquarters in Marshall, MN. That's where we usually go and stay (at her house). She's a trip planner... And when we visit, she takes the time off of work. So it's her vacation too. We often just let her know what we want to do while we are there, she puts in her things that she wants to do, and we have a fun family vacation! She often finds us our places to stay. Sometimes we get free hotels because of her connections.

This year we are going directly to the lodge, staying there for 3 days and then going on to the cities. We're going to take the kids to Camp Snoopy - the amusement park in the middle of Mall of America. Rods Mom, Mona, and Mona's son Ronnie Jr., are going to go with us to the Mall. So Rod's mom will probably watch Julia while the rest of us ride. It was a ton of fun when we were there last time. Maybe they'll have a new ride! I think all of us meet the height requirements... so we'll be good to go.

Then, after Camp Snoopy, we're going the next day to the Minnesota State Fair. Where we eat deep fried cheese, called Cheese Curds. Yah. Rod loves them. It must be a Minnasotan-I ate them when I was a kid-thing. His whole family loves them actually... The state fair isn't exactly like our state fair... it's about four times the size. It's a really big deal. It's one thing that Rod did as a kid that we can do with our family... so it's quite special. The whole family goes. We don't usually spend the whole day together with the family, but we go together and we do spend quite a bit of time together. We usually get some really fun pictures. If we have time (which I sort of doubt) we may go for two days.

The only serious plans we have after the Lodge is that we are going to have a family get together at Rod's aunt's house,near where Rod grew up. Rod's cousin Stacey and her husband will also be in town that week. So I believe that's going to be on Sunday, the 2nd. Usually this means that any family anywhere near there (or not) show up to visit. We usually have one of these family reunion type days each time we visit. This is where i've been able to meet Rod's extended family. It really helps me to feel more connected to the family.

We should be leaving Minnesota sometime the 3rd and be home sometime on the 4th. Just depends on where we stop and for how long. Rod really wants to go to Cabelas this year. Who knows, maybe we'll do it on the way... And if we drive through Mitchell, SD during the day this year, we'll probably stop at the Corn Palace... If I have sometime while travelling, I'll see if I can post some pictures... Have a great Labor Day Weekend!