The Journey 2008: Day 9

We begin day 9 in Minneapolis, MN (well a suburb) and at a place you might have heard of...Mall of America.

This place is huge with its very own indoor theme park, and stores for everyone and everything.

We had to go to the Lego store which had all sorts of different large lego models and structures.

Downtown Minneapolis...Some interesting buildings, and pretty dead since it was a Saturday afternoon.

After checking out the downtown area of Minneapolis we went to John Piper's church, Bethlehem Baptist church, which is right in downtown to hear John Piper preach on Psalm 42. If you wanted to listen to it, or any other sermon that John Piper has given for that matter, they are all available for free on his website at:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/

Check it out.

After Church we headed over to Minneapolis' twin St. Paul which is the capitol of Minnesota. Here is state capitol number 4 on the road trip. If those clouds do not look too inviting that is probably because this was the time we were hearing our very first tornado warning siren. We were just wondering...okay what do we do now? Lucky for us it was a Saturday and we were downtown in an area where there was no one around to ask where to go and what to do.

So we jumped in our car and drove to the St. Paul cathedral because hey, we had wanted to check it out anyway, and what better place to hide out from the possible tornado than a large structure built out of heavy stone.

But of course I had to take a couple of pictures of the clouds and possible tornado before I headed in.

Here Morgan is telling me to stop taking pictures and get inside.

They were finishing up a mass when we walked in, so we sat down for the last few minutes. At the end the priest informed everyone that they could stay as long as they like due to the weather conditions outside. Well everyone just left. I guess they have tornado warnings all the time, and so this must not be anything new for them. We were just scared tourists that didn't know anything about tornadoes besides what we saw in the Wizard of Oz and Twister. We decided to follow everyone else, and we headed out to grab some food.

Here are a couple of shots of our tornado shelter. (AKA St. Paul cathedral)

Here we are at Mickey's Dining Car in downtown St. Paul grabbing some grub. We had heard about this place from one of our favorite shows, 'Feasting on Asphalt' and of course had to check it out. Thanks for the tip, Alton.

As you can see it was good.

Well that ends day 9. A day of fun checking out new cities, eating new places and experiencing new weather conditions. Tomorrow more of the Minneapolis area, and the reason for the whole trip in the first place, Carrie and Tom's wedding.

The Journey 2008: Day 8

We begin our day in Aberdeen, SD with a good breakfast at Sammy's Restaurant and Omelette Shoppe. True to their name they had good omelette's. Amy decided that since it was later in the morning she was going to have a hamburger and skip the omelette...also she does not like eggs so I think that played into her decision as well. We also stopped off at the Red Rooster Coffee House to grab Morgan some liquid energy as we like to call it.

Next off to Storybook Land which is part of a park in Aberdeen

The drinking fountains are a little intense.

Look at the siblings playing nice.

Oh what fun in the park.

Morgan is trying to catch a ride with Elphaba.

Dancing with the Tin Man

Morgan is getting ready to start her organic farm.

Captain Morgan and first mate Amy are living out their pirate dreams in search of buried treasure.

Look at their faces so intense...who is going to win the race?

Somewhere over the rainbow...there is no place like home. Well we are not going home yet. There are many more adventures to be had, but we are leaving storybook land behind, but first Amy is trying to snag some of the leprechauns gold...either that or some lucky charms.

Off to a new state. We spent a good amount of time in South Dakota, but now it's time to check out North Dakota...at least for half a day.

Here is the North Dakota highway sign. Any thoughts on this one? More to come to find out which state we visited has the best one.

Back in Deadwood, SD we talked about the Chubby Chipmunk...well here is the goodness. We decided to document the truffles before we broke into them while cruising the highways of North Dakota.

Just before the border of Minnesota we found the Dairy Delight, and what a delight it was. Great milkshakes with some many flavors to choose from. Morgan got a good steak sandwich, and Amy and I had hamburgers. (that is 2 for the day for Amy if you are counting)

The Red River serves as the border between North Dakota and Minnesota. Hello to Minnesota, new state number 2 for the day.

Another state highway sign. A little boring I think. At least it has a little color on it. What do you think?

We are now on the road headed to Minneapolis, MN our destination city and reason for the road trip. Enjoy the open road, big skies and beautiful view.

Of course we had to stop here...but alas no Starbucks in Starbuck, MN. We must press on.

Those clouds look a little intimidating. The storms were great on the road trip. Not like what we get here in California where it comes in slowly and rains lightly for a day or two. These storms would come on you fast, hit you hard and be gone in no time. It reminds me of the storms I experienced while living in Washington, DC for a year. All the storms just added to the fun and adventure of the road trip.

We continued on to Minneapolis. Dinner at Dairy Queen, and you guessed it, Amy's 3rd hamburger of the day. A day that we will give her a hard time about for a very long time. She says that she regrets that third hamburger, but I think she wanted to make history on The Journey...a little something to remember from the trip. =)

There is day 8. We added North Dakota and Minnesota to the mix bringing our grand total to 11 with 8 states left to go.

The Journey 2008: Day 7

Here we are back again for another day of photos. Sorry again for the wait. Hopefully I will stop slacking and get myself back on track with the whole blog thing.

We begin in Deadwood, SD for another full day of South Dakota fun.


Here is our Bodacious room at the Historic Franklin Hotel.

We went to pay our respects to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.

If you are ever in Deadwood, SD you have to...need to...must stop at the Chubby Chipmunk for some amazing truffles. Morgan described them as "phenomenal".

At the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD Morgan and Amy chose sides in a pre-historic battle.

After the battle we headed east to take on the Badlands

After seeing this sign Morgan was not so excited to get out of the car and explore the Badlands.

Here we are in Badlands National Park. What a beautiful and diverse landscape, enjoy.

One moment you see this landscape...

...and the next you see this.

Beautiful sky and a grassy prairie.

What a contrast in views we had along the route. It was another beautiful day in South Dakota.

The colors looked even richer in person.

Morgan loves encountering animals in the wild...at a safe distance of course, and as long as they are not something like a rattlesnake like the signs warned us were around.

Yes we were there, and had a great time. When we going back to South Dakota?

There's a storm coming in.

Amy and Morgan hanging on to metal handrails, something everyone should do with a thunderstorm approaching...kids don't try this at home. They are highly trained professionals...

After all that time in the heat of the badlands we need some refreshment and shelter from the storm thats a comin.

Where should we stop?

Any suggestions?

Not much of a coffee fan...

Homemade ice cream...now you are speaking my language.

Welcome to Wall, SD. The home of Wall Drug (just in case you couldn't tell from all the signs leading into the city from all directions)

Almost there...

We made it, now time to explore.

Shhh, its sleeping...

Morgan living out her little house on the prairie dreams.

When in Wall, SD do as the locals do and take a ride on the Jackalope. Okay maybe the locals don't, but where else are you going to be able to ride a jackalope? I mean we are talking once in a lifetime experience here, am I right? haha =)

We were wild and crazy in our younger years before we became parents.

After all that and finding our way through the large exciting maze that is Wall Drug (they do have maps provided) we got our refreshments. Milkshakes made with homemade ice cream. All good.

After a quick stop in Pierre, SD at the state capitol. We grabbed some dinner and headed off to Aberdeen, SD for the night.

That ends day 7, another day full of fun and adventure in South Dakota. Tomorrow more states, more adventure and of course more fun. Stay tuned.