Hearts in Hawai'i
Our 2024 Minnesota State Parks Trip--Day 8
6/17/2024
Washout!
When you plan a Minnesota trip this time of year for a week or longer, Mother Nature stands a good chance of altering at least some of your plans. It certainly did that this morning, starting with a thunderstorm with very strong winds driving hailstones into the window of our hotel room! Torrential rains added to the "fun".
There was no way we were going to be able to hike at either Nerstand-Big Woods State Park or Sakotah Lake State Park, so those two parks were dropped and now added to a SW Minnesota trip to be done somewhere in the future.
What to do? We hung around the room for awhile and then drove down to the Apache Mall to check it out. It's similar to Duluth's Miller Hill Mall in size, only nicer and busier. A place called Love Minnesota had some decent T-shirts (pricey, but what do you expect from a mall store?) so my collection grew by two shirts.
Another downpour happened in the late morning and then it looked like things were clearing up somewhat so we drove up to Newt's North, meeting with my cousin Tom and his wife Linda. I had never met him until our family reunion two summers ago when I had the opportunity to meet all of my Uncle Harold's children, which was an incredible treat! We chatted and munched tasty burgers (Taco Salad for Tom, French Fries for Patty) for well over an hour. Just as we were set to leave, another cloudburst occurred, forcing me through the fierce rain to retrieve the car and return to the door to pick up Patty. We fought our way through a strong rain storm all the way back to the hotel.
Me and cousin Tom at Newt's
Earlier in the day we had packed some items but we now did nearly all the rest of it, a few items left to be packed in the morning before we checked out and started on our way home by 7:00 tomorrow morning. It will be nice to get home and retrieve the dogs, but this trip has been a true pleasure.
Previous: 6/16/2024--Our 2024 Minnesota State Parks Trip--Day 7
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last updated june 20, 2024
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