Blogs from Minnesota, United States, North America - page 2

We really enjoyed our last couple days in Europe by spending it in Roma. Walking most of the entire city, we viewed the Spanish Steps, Vatican, Trevi fountain, Trastevere, the Jewish Ghetto, along with many neighborhoods. We walked 22,000 steps on Saturday and another 18,500 on Sunday..maybe why Europeans seem to be thinner! We attended two masses, one at the Pantheon on Saturday night , and one at St Peters Basilica on Sunday. Sadly, If you want to enjoy an almost empty church, go during mass! Listening to a local jazz flute player on the rooftop bar of our hotel and a night cap at one of Madie‘s favorite places called 8 milliliter was a great end to the trip. Morning came too soon at 6:45 with our driver and headed to the airport. Landing safely ... read more

Today was a moving day…a big time moving day. We were on the road at 6 AM and 56 degrees and did not land until almost 5 PM (with a time change of one hour). We did not visit anything or take many photos…if you have seen one corn field, you have seen them all. First let me tell you about yesterday and last night. Have you ever heard of Sturgis? It is a small town off I-90 in South Dakota, just 30 minutes west of Rapid City. Every year they have a motorcycle rally that draws upwards of a million riders. It lasts for 10 days and in that time there are activities going on like concerts. There are 2-4 concerts each day for 10 days straight. Now Sturgis has a population of a whopping ... read more

Rainy Lake Visitor Center, Voyageurs National Park, International Falls, Minnesota Ranger-led programs are some of the most important things to participate in when you go to a National Park. They operate on a schedule and, sometimes their schedule doesn’t dovetail with yours, but whenever possible, take advantage of their programs. Even in this day and age, Rangers maintain an infectious level of enthusiasm which helps animate their message. Plus they simply know so much, because they have the opportunity to read and study a particular park full time - something us casual visitors can only hope for on a four or five day visit. In some places, it can become your only way to see the park, as at Voyageurs. If you don’t have a boat of your own, and maybe aren’t interested in renting one ... read more

Camden State Park, Lynd, Minnesota We broke camp yesterday morning and drove around 380 miles southwest to this State Park in southwestern Minnesota. Our original plan had us spending a couple nights in St. Cloud, but we canceled that stop to add time to our Voyageurs stay. We both think that was a good idea, although it would have been better if we could have been at a better campground - we aren’t very happy with Arnold’s and Joan gave it a pretty poor review. But you don’t know these things when you make early reservations, and there really weren’t too many options available up here anyway. We are now done with Voyageurs and although it was a long drive, we managed it OK. We picked up US 71 right in International Falls and just followed ... read more

We were late leaving this morning which semi got us in a little bit of an irritating situation later in the day. However, we needed the down time, and alls’ well that ends well! We pulled out of camp at 10:20. By the way, there was a sign in the campground office that we thought was pretty cute: “Camping: Where you spend a small fortune to live like a homeless person.” Our morning was perfect at 73 degrees and a low humidity level. Arriving in the town of Bemidji at 10:45 we went looking for information on the headwaters of the Mississippi. As it turns out from information we got at a Science Center in town and along the way at different venues during the day, the facts are clear in that—the facts are NOT clear! ... read more