From (near) Vince Lombardi's Stadium, Home of the Packers

For all you non-football fans that title means we are in Green Bay, Wisconsin. But first the pictures from the last few days. From the top down (I think) :

1. Main St. USA--Sauk Center, Minnesota

2. Gerry sitting on Sinclair Lewis's boyhood front porch

3. Plaque in front of house

4. Our first stop in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

5. My "Oldest and Dearest Friend", Debi Rechnagle

6. Gerry thinking she could be a kernel of corn (ouch)

7. Judi showing off her ability to imitate one horsepower. NOT!!

8. Debi and some of her fellow workers at the Minneapolis History Center

9. Tornado display. Note the upside down piano!

10. Some of the many lovely plantings in St. Paul

11. Drinking fountain masquerading as a Japanese Lantern

12. Gerry on the bridge in the Japanese Garden. Note the reflection

13. Floating plants in front of Como Conservatory. Very popular in Victorian times.

14. F. Scott Fitzgerald's apartment

And now down to business! First order!!!! I must have been too tired when I was writing the other night. I know that Fargo is in North Dakota. We made a big deal out of crossing the state line. But my weary fingers wrote the wrong state. My apologies to all those in the state of North Dakota and thanks especially to Azrael Brown for finding my mistake. Good eyes!

The drive from Fargo, North Dakota was straight down Interstate 52. And I do mean straight! Very little traffic and we love it! Speaking of traffic, this morning when we were leaving St. Paul we encountered road construction and quite a bit of congestion. I had the window rolled down and as this guy in a pickup crept by us he said, "Must remind you of Los Angeles," and we all laughed! This is one of the first bits of congestion we have encountered!!!!

On the road we stopped in Alexandria, Minnesota at the Viking museum to see the rune stone that has been shrouded in controvery for 100 years. They are proud of their rune stone and it was a nice little museum. They are very proud of the Vikings in Northern Minnesota. Yep!

Another detour off the highway was into Sauk Center, the birthplace of Sinclair Lewis. We drove down his Main Street, sat on his front porch, and talked to people at the Sinclair Lewis Interprative Center which is across the street from the Gopher Prairie Motel. Lewis has been a boon to the fame of this small prairie town.

We pulled back on to the Interstate and headed for Minneapolis/Saint Paul and a visit with my "Oldest and Dearest Friend". This moniker harkens back 46 years to Debi Rowbotham Rechnagle being one of the first people I met at McGuire Airforce Base in New Jersey when I took a teaching job in Germany. We have seen each other over the years in California and now we were in her neck of the woods. She lives in the suburb of Roseville, Minnesota but is minutes away from the downtown Twin Cities.

She was ready to hit the road and we soon found ourselves headed for the Minnesota History Center in downtown St. Paul where Debi volunteers every week. Wow!!!!! Were we in for a treat. We pulled in to the volunteer parking area of this gorgeous huge facility, breezed by the entrance desk and headed to the cafeteria for dinner. Yummy and then on into the museum. It is the most innovative, interactive, interesting museum I have ever seen! In fact there was so much to see we went back the next day and still didn't get our fill of all the displays. One exhibition is a replica of an existing 110 year old house in St. Paul. The histories of generations of people who have lived there are told in such incredible ways. Some of the voices you hear are the actual people who lived there perhaps as children. There was a bed Debi instructed us to sit on and we listened to a short funny story about the walls being paper thin and hearing everything that went on in the next room including some shenanigans that caused the bed to fall down, AND THEN THE BED ACTUALLY DROPPED WITH US ON IT AND WE ALL SCREAMED! The house started out housing one family in Victorian days, was divided into 3 apartments for Italian immigrants, and today houses recently arrived Mhong immigrants from Laos. The memories are funny, poingnant, sad, tragic, happy. There was a wonderful surprise around every corner.

Another exhibit almost killed me. We could pretend we were a kernel of wheat or corn and go up into a grain elevator and then come down to be stored. It is sort of like the climbing structures at MacDonalds. Judi is a bit more agile than I but we both hung in there and made it through the process. I have winced in pain all day today as I got in and out of the car. Upper thigh muscles you know!!!! The picture of Judi pushing on the bar is to see how much it takes to duplicate 1 horsepower. When all 4 of us pushed as hard as we could we could move the bar. One person? Not a chance! Let's hear it for those hard working horses. And on and on it went! If you are ever in Minnesota this is well worth a stop!!!! The website is www.mnhs.org

It was hard to tear ourselves away on Wednesday but after a short visit to the gift shop it was back in the car for a drive around St. Paul to see among other things, the Cathedral where perhaps Leo's mother took her first communion. This was early in the 1900's before they moved to Wolf Point, Montana. Then we drove down Summit Ave. to see the mansions and an apartment where F.Scott Fitzgerald lived for a time. (This might be called our literary tour!) Next stop was the Como Park Conservatory, Zoo, and Japanese Garden where Deb also volunteers. After a luscious lunch we strolled through the tropical conservatory and then to the

very peaceful Japanese garden. Notice the picture that is lableled "masquerading Japanese lantern". It is really an old public drinking fountain that was in downtown St. Paul. In the picture you can still see the metal hook that the drinking cup hung from. Then back to Debi's house for a little rest while she ran off to do something and then she roared back and we went on a drive through Minneapolis before it got dark. We saw where the bridge had gone down but from a distance with the debris cleaned up it was hard to imagine the magnitude of this horrible tragedy. We were struck by how many bridges there are over the Mississippi! The Twin Cities seem to be striking that urban balance that is so lacking in many areas. The university has a huge impact, employment is high, and if you could stand the winters, it would be a great place to live.

Debi lives in a beautiful neighborhood of lots of trees and a lake just down at the end of the street. Her son, Steven, as a youngster would take his canoe down the block for a little spin on Lake Josephine. We had the pleasure of meeting Steven whom I hadn't seen since he was about 8 years old, and his fiance, Sheri. They are so excited about their upcoming wedding this Saturday and it was great to share a glass of wine, see the wedding rings, and join in their happiness. Max, the black and white border collie joined in all the fun too. We had a wonderful time and how Debi fit us in with all the plans for the wedding we don't know! She was off to the airport this morning at 6:00 to get her daughter, Carol, so we had a chance for a short visit with her also. We were tempted to stay for the wedding which sounded like soooooo much fun!

But we were on the road by 9:00 heading for Green Bay, Wisconsin. The road wound through lovely woods, rivers, lakes, marshes, pastures, and with the ever present feed silos and barns. We commented over and over that it looked just like a postcard!!! We have begun to see some color in the leaves and know this is just the beginning.

We have discovered our new favorite motel. Candlewood Suites in Green Bay just down the road from Lambeau Field. $86.00 two rooms with queen bed and fold out couch. Full kitchen, long eating bar, 2 TV's, 3 phones, luxurious towels, automatic ice maker, and an internet hookup. No reason to ever leave. Tempted to just stop and live here but guess we will head out to the Door Peninsula and look for a fish boil tomorrow night. Stay tuned.

Love, The Gotta Go Girls