Minnesota Trip - 2005

Day 1 - June 30 - Thursday.
My neighbor, Laurie, drove me to the local Arco Station in Oak Harbor to get the small shuttle bus to Mt. Vernon Best Western where I got on a larger bus which took me to Seatac after stopping at Stanwood and Marysville to pick up passengers.




I told a lady at airport that I was new at this and she helped me check in and get my boarding pass. I went thru security without setting off the alarm. I got some chicken nuggets at Burger King and talked to several people.

Northwest flight 164 (I paid $425 but someone I talked to only paid $275!) took off at 3:45 - 1/2 hour late. It was full to capacity. Would you believe I got out of airplane to take this picture? Guess not. We were served free drinks, and food packages were available for $3.00. Not many people were buying. I had brought some snacks of dried apricots, pepperoni sticks, and crackers.

The plane arrived at Minneapolis airport about 9. It is the 7th largest airport in volume in the country. I had difficulty finding my luggage. Then I saw an electronic board telling the baggage claim area for specific flights. I was at #2 and had to go to #13. It was a long walk. Daughter-in-law Laurie, was waiting for me and we drove to her house in Kasson about an hour away







Day 2 - July 1 - Friday.
David and Laurie have a lovely home and decorated beautifully. I unpacked and did some ironing. I have my own room and bathroom, and there is a computer and a television in my room.
A car exactly like I have at home (Ford Escort) is available to me during my entire visit. I drove around the town and stopped at a few places including the library and an antique store. That evening David arrived home from a business trip to Ohio, and we met Laurie's parents for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Day 3 - July 2 - Saturday.
We took a drive through the eastern part of southeast Minnesota around Rochester and past the Mayo Clinic. David barbqued chicken for dinner. We are enjoying talking about many things. Like how he is my favorite child because I visited him first! Only kidding. I will get to the other kids in due time.






Day 4 - July 3 - Sunday.
I went to church in the morning.
In the afternoon we went to Sam's for groceries. It is like Cosco in WA.
Laurie and I went to Mantorville (logo picture used with permission of Mantorville webmaster) which is a historic site. We visited several antique stores, and I bought her a quilt/wallhanging with a snowman theme. I had been wondering what kind of thank you gift I could give them. She claims she cannot cook, but she made delicious lasagna for dinner ( from scratch, I might add). In the evening we went to neighbors for fireworks. It was fun watching the kids run around with sparklers.




Day 5 - July 4 - Monday.
David and Laurie took me on a 3 hour circle drive thru the southern part of southeast MN. We stopped at a Wind Power Facility where I took some pictures. The windmills are taller than the statue of liberty. I didn't count, but there were lots of them. I asked where the mountains were. Got none! Very flat going south but hilly on the return north.





All farmland, rows and rows of corn and beans, and very small towns with population 300 or less.

We saw some Amish people including a man using a plow pulled by a horse. I treated them (L&D not the Amish) to lunch at Dennys.

In the evening we went to a barbq at Laurie's parent's house. One of her 2 sisters was there with her husband and 2 kids (5 mo. and 3 year). David took me home then went back to get Laurie, and they went to fireworks at a place called Silver Lake. I watched The 4th of July at the Capitol on their super large tv.

Day 6 - July 5 - Tuesday.

I went back to Mantorville and walked across the covered bridge which goes to Goat Island.

I visited a museum,

an old one-room school house and,

toured Dodge County Courthouse - the oldest courthouse in the state still in use.

Then a trip to the post office to mail a postcard. On my way home I stopped at the local nursery to identify 2 plants - Tamarix (picture) which is by deck and Russian Olive which is along highways. The batteries on my camera died so I bought some at the variety store. Since I am on vacation, I treated myself to a Subway sandwich.

Later in the day I did a small laundry. Laurie came home and ordered pizza for dinner.

Then she mowed the front and back lawns.

Day 7 - July 6 - Thursday.

I drove most of the way in to Rochester, parked the car in a shopping mall, and Laurie picked me up and took me to Mayo Clinic.

The new parts of Mayo are beautiful with lots of marble. After visiting her office, I took a tour of the Clinic which was extremely interesting.

I shuddered when I saw the medical tools that were used way back when. Ouch!

Each of the 2 large lobbies have a grand piano that anyone can play. No. I did not play and that's not me in the picture! I'm skinny and have dark hair. There are extensive underground passageways going from building to building and/or garages. They, too, usually have some kind of beautiful decorations or historic pictures.

The Sisters of St. Francis were pioneers at St Marys Hospital which became part of Mayo clinic.

The Mayo brothers did not want lay people to be nurses and used interns. The head nun convinced the brothers that lay people would perform well and they agreed to use them because the interns were more interested in watching the surgeries than tending to the patient.

The nurses worked every day from 6 am to 8 pm. They were allowed one evening off a week for courting and a few hours off on Sunday to attend church. Their duties included a lot more than nursing, such as carrying coal, washing windows, and scrubbing floors.

Laurie drove me back to my car and I went home. We met her parents and her 17 year old son, Erich, for dinner at a nearby restaurant. They are all so very nice to me.

Day 8 - July 7 - Thursday.

At 9:00 I drove to Owatonna which is about 25 minutes from David's house. First stop was the Chamber of Commerce for a map.

I toured a complex of old buildings which was the site of an Orphanage from 1898-1945.

I went to a Wells Fargo bank that is a historic site and asked them to check my account just to see if it could be done. Yep.

It began pouring rain and I got totally soaked so instead of walking to the library, I walked back to the car and drove the 2 blocks. It is also in an old restored building. The librarian said I could dry my hair in the ladies room using the dryer which is for hands. I did so. Now I know my hair is truly wash and go.

By this time it was 2:00 and I was getting hungry. I stopped at a place named Hardees that had a special. $3.99 for hamburger, fries, and drink. It was the biggest hamburger I think I have ever had. It had stopped raining so I went to a place called Yester Year that had buildings representative of the 1800s. The gear shift on car was stuck and I had to ask someone for help. It seems all that was necessary was to push on the brake peddle.

On the way home I stopped at the library in Kasson and chatted with the librarian. We had emailed each other. I finally got home about 4:00. Quite an interesting and fun day. I was not hungry and neither was Laurie. I had some fruit and crackers. I forgot to mention that while I was in Owatonna I must have stopped at least a 6 times to ask directions!

When I wasn't out sightseeing, I lounged on the deck enjoying the weather.

A cute little bunny liked to play in the backyard.

Day 9 - July 8 - Friday.

Today I drove to Olmstead County Museum in Rochester. They have a massive archive of information.

This time I only got lost 2 times. I mailed another postcard. David got home from Wisconsin and barbqued pork chops. He is quite a good cook in addition to being a good decorator.

Day 10 - July 9 - Saturday.

In the morning we drove east about an hour to Redwing which is on the Mississippi River and strolled down to the river and around the town which has old buildings.
We Visited a historic Railroad Station where Amtrak stops and a place that features Red Wing Shoes.

The next stop was Treasure Island, an Indian Casino. David and Laurie played the slots for a while. They wouldn't let me play even tho all the other old people were playing. Driving home we saw a dead deer and several dead raccoons on the side of the road. I think I smelled a skunk, too.

We had dinner with Laurie's parents at Hubble House a historic restaurant in Mantorville which used to be a stagecoach stop.

Day 11 - July 10 - Sunday.

Time to go back to Washington. David took this wonderful picture of the sunrise. Actually, he took about 25 pictures. I liked this one the best. On the way to the airport, we stopped by the Mall of America. No time to go in, and I can visit all the same stores at home.






David took me into the airport and showed me how to check in electronically while Laurie drove around and probably around a few times. He was given a gate pass to help me thru security. This time I set off the alarm and was wanded and patted down. An Interesting experience. The flight left on time l:35 and was again full to capacity with many people waiting standby. There were several suspicous guys on board and one sat next to me. I think they were a tech group possibly from India. They all had the same laptop computer. Usual food and drinks. For the most part we were either above clouds or in them. It was not until we were descending to land that I saw land and the Space Needle.

I had a reservation for the 5:00 shuttle to Oak Harbor, but since we were on time I hussled to get my luggage and was able to get the 4:00 shuttle. It took me directly to Mt. Vernon without stopping and I transfered to another bus to Oak Harbor.

My friend Lisa picked me up at the Arco Station and took me home after a brief stop at her house. She had loaned me her luggage and I think she wanted to make sure it got back safely!

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!
Thank you to my many friends who encouraged me to take this trip even tho I was reluctant to do so.

Please visit a webpage I made about Minnesota from A-Z