MINNESOTA - FAMILY, MALL OF AMERICA AND STATE FAIR

August 22 - 26, 2013

We had a great time visiting Minnesota.  We stayed at the Grand Casino in Hinkley.  Hinkley is north of Minn/St Paul and, believe it or not, the closest campground we could find for the dates needed.


My nephew and his family moved to Minnesota a couple of years ago.  He has faithfully returned to the west coast and we have faithfully "promised" we would visit Minnesota -- soon.  There was no way we were not seeing them.


Ben was so impressed with our home that he decided to move in with us.  Took a couple of minutes to convince him he needed to go with daddy.  But Uncle Ray came through with a camp over while I was in Oregon.

No fish (of course) so a quick game of Frisbee golf.

THEN - we got to see Ben on the ice.  What fun to watch Ben show off his stuff.  We didn't know what he was doing, but he looked really good and fast!

MALL OF AMERICA - I'm not much of a shopper since I retired but I couldn't pass up the chance of visiting the Mall of America.  Ray and I dodged all the freeway construction and headed out to the Mall of America located by the airport.   It was fun to see the amusement park in the middle of the mall.  Most of the stores were the same as the malls we have in Oregon.  I was hoping to see the QVC store but couldn't find it...it might be closed.

The lego store was as impressive as the rides.  Juli told me you could rent a room in Legoland for $250 per hour for parties.  hmmmmm

STATE FAIR - they say the Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest in the nation.  It was large and hot (97 degrees).  We arrived mid-day on Sunday and quickly found a parking spot.  Things were looking good.  Then we set out to find shade and fun things to do, see and eat.  By evening, we had tickets for the Grand Stand - Dwight Yoakum and Sheryl Crowe performing.  As we were walking to our car, there were fireworks -- right on top of us.  Made us giggle and run like heck to the car.  A great day at the fair.