Water Water Everywhere!

“Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding Mona’s hand in mine…”  Yep, today was a rain day…over four hours of driving in the rain.  But, I’m ahead of myself…now let’s start from the beginning…

We started east from Fargo, North Dakota and quickly crossed the Red River into Minnesota.  The landscape here is dotted with lakes (Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 lakes.) and the lakes draw all kinds of water birds such as cranes, egrets and herons.   We could easily see these birds from the interstate, especially a Great  Blue Heron who was standing serenely in the middle of one of the lakes.

About 40 miles into Minnesota we hit the rain.  It was a big storm system and we just drove…nothing else to do.  I kept trying to find a polka station for Mona to listen to, but no luck.

Our first major stop of the day was Mall of America.  We were told by Aleta that we had to stop here if we were in the area.  She was right….this is a destination all by itself!  This place is H.U.G.E!  520 retails shops and so much more.  There is a full-size amusement park with several  roller coasters along with a bunch of other rides.  There’s a hotel/casino, a miniature golf course and even a wedding chapel!

Last but not least is a very cool aquarium.  (Thanks, Ross for the recommendation!)  This place has virtually every kind of sea horse and jellyfish you’ve heard of plus more. Some of the seahorses are only about 3/4″ tall! It also has a tunnel of glass that you walk through while fish of every kind swim around you, including huge sharks and giant sea-going turtles.  Amazing!

But what’s most amazing is that we left the mall having only purchased our lunches and our tickets to the aquarium.  OMG!  Who is this with me and who took my wife????  (Sometimes I wonder if something happened to the real Mona back there in Roswell!)

Today’s journey ended in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  We stopped by friend Ross’s house for a visit, meeting his son, Ben for the first time.  Ross’s wife, Mary, had a busy schedule, but managed to come by to say hi to us. I hadn’t seen Ross in over 17 years so there was a lot of catching up to do!

We caught up on old times on their patio and then headed to downtown Eau Claire for dinner at The Livery.  This is a reclaimed  ivery stable in the heart of Eau Claire with a long history of horses and cars.  This place is remininscent of The Stable in St. Louis and the food was great!

After dinner, we did a little geocaching and then headed to our hotel via Highway 53, which was designed by Ross.  We’ve never driven on a road designed by a friend before.  How cool is that!?!?