Minneapolis

Minneapolis was so much fun! We spent a whole week on that part of our journey (whether actually in the city or with our friends from the city at a lake house up north). Dad came to spend some time with us--yes, it'd only been 3 weeks away from home and we already had him come visit. Mom will be in Montana in just over a month too, and I like it!

It was a 5 hour drive from the southern farm to Larry's lake house. Dad's friends from college, Larry and An

dy and Larry's son, Ben and Dad were

all there waiting for us. Andy, Dad, Pramod and I all went/tried to water ski--dad was the only one able to do it, and tubing. It was Pramod and my first time doing either and we both loved the tubing.

We all stayed at Larry's house in Minneapolis--Larry was a great host and we really appreciate him taking us in and we enjoyed his company! On our first day in the city, we rented bicycles--which is a really great way to get around and see the city. On that day we saw a sculpture garden, we went to the top of some really tall building, we had a picnic lunch by the Mississippi, and saw some other views from a theater.... sorry, when Dad's around then he's the one who knows what we're doing and I don't pay much attention to the names of things or places. Dad left the next morning, but he was there long enough for us to enjoy his company and for him to get us settled in this place where he once lived.

Pramod and I saw the Mall of America which is HUGE. Besides being so big, there are a bunch of cool things in the mall besides the usual clothing and accessory shops. Of course, there are the rides in the middle of the mall, there was a Lego station which had giant Lego figures, there was a store called MagiQuest, which I just googled and found is an online action game. I'm not quite sure what was going on, but it seemed like there were little quests and the people who worked there were all dressed up and acted in character--which as some of you may know, I'm kind of into. There were a couple of board game shops that carry the latest board games (ex. Settlers of Catan and Agricola), a hobby shop that we saw with RC airplanes and cars, and there was even an old-timey photo shop with costumes to dress in for the pictures. I kind of wish that Pramod and I had taken one, but we'd already spent a shocking amount of money on our trip so far, so we're not going for any frill at least for a while. I'm sure that some day we'll do it if we really want to.

The last day that we were in the city, we rented a kayak and went around Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and that last one that is also connected. t was so beautiful and nice. I love the fact that Minneapolis is a city and

there are lakes all over the place

That night we had dinner with Lotte-a friend of ours who has lived in CA, just moved to Minneapolis, but we know her from the last time I was in India (2 years ago now!). We also met her husband, Trac. It was really great to see them!

Sadly, we didn't see Jonathan GH. :( Sorry Jonathan! I was a flake and we never made it happen...

So that's our detailed trip of Minneapolis.