Welcome to Minneapolis

Having been on lots of road trips, and many baseball games, it is surprising that we have never done more than just drive through Minneapolis on the way to somewhere else.  But, we finally made it today, after a trip from not-so-exciting Green Bay.  It was a slow uneventful drive through the Wisconsin countryside, which was very pretty, pastoral, peaceful farmland.   

Bucolic Wisconsin landscape

We stopped for lunch at a strip-mall outside Chippewa Falls, WI, (a town of about 13,000) and then, just to make the trip interesting, we drove into “downtown” C.F. to see if we could find the Falls, and to check out the city.  The restaurant we ate at could have been anywhere (except for the local baseball game on the TV), but the city itself was another example of small-town America going about its business, and from the outside could have been any year from 1960 to today.  I find that very comforting.

The Falls

Downtown Chippewa Falls

We arrived in Minneapolis in late afternoon, and checked into our hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Our hotel is only a block from the Mary Tyler Moore statue (if you are under 50, ask your parents), so we had to walk to it, and of course have a photo op. Tomorrow we are going to ballgame #2 on our trip, and Ballpark #21 on the Bucket List.  Our initial impression of Minneapolis is that it is a lovely city with great architecture.  There seem to be lots of skyways between buildings, which is probably because of the cold winters.  On Monday, we are going to explore other parts of the city.

We can turn the world on with our smiles

Our road trip is almost halfway over, and I am in no rush for it to end.  We are enjoying all the variety this country has to offer, and there is so much more to see!