Minneapolis

People in Minnesota are so incredibly nice! Everyone we met was so gracious, hospitable, and generous. We stayed at an airBnB there and it was one of our favorites we've stayed at so far. The hosts were really fun to chat with and helpful. The neighborhood was really nice, lots of lakes around here. I've decided I am a lake person and really want to live near one someday.

 We only had the weekend in Minneapolis so we made the most of it and mostly for free too! Our first stop was the Mall of America, we had to check it out. That place is unreal, so many shops and a huge amusement park in the middle of it. The rides were a bit pricey so we just watched and had fun going into a few stores. We then headed to the Minneapolis institute of Art, which was free, and had a lot of exhibits. It was a lot bigger than we thought it was going to be, so I think we only saw about half of it. There were a few festivals going on that weekend, actually I think they have one every weekend during the summer here. It made for difficult parking or getting to a few spots but over all not too hard to get around here.

At the art institute

Legos and Star Wars what could be better? Nerd alert I know

We went to the Como Zoo and conservatory, which is also free. The conservatory was really pretty but very hot! The zoo was cute, but some of the enclosures were a little limiting for the animals. Then again we've been spoiled by the San Diego zoo. Still a fun time and the best part was going on the Carousel! Yes, I know Matt loves me because he will ride a carousel with me.

Bonsai trees at the conservatory

Loved this little guy at the zoo.

He found the manliest horse, it had a tiger on its back.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Snow Cones help beat the heat, especially when it's tiger's blood 

Walking across the Stone arch bridge

The also had this festival called Stone Arch Bridge festival while we were there. It was like a really big Farmer's market with bands too. It was really fun walking around through it and seeing all the vendors and people watching too. Afterwards we went to an outdoor movie in a Park too. They have movies and music in the park everyday of the week going on in different parks in the city. This one was showing Divergent (a new fave now). This was also free and they gave out free Popcorn too! On Sunday we went to church to see a friend I worked with in Morocco doing humanitarian work there. It was great to see him and to meet his family. We also had the luck of being in the same ward as the Rowleys too! We love being able to see people we know on this trip, definitely a highlight. We wanted to stay longer to visit but we had to make our way down to Nauvoo next!

View of the city from the festival

Field Of Dreams

"Is this heaven?" ... "No it's Iowa"

I grew up watching this movie, "Field Of Dreams". It was one of my Dad's favorite and baseball is kind of a important in our family. So naturally I was really excited to visit the place where the movie was filmed. I know it was just a movie set but this place really does inspire one  to live up to something more and live out your dreams...or maybe it's just the movie.  They don't let you go in the house because it is still owned and I think lived in by the family who let them film here. They do let you play baseball on the field though.  

"Ray loves Annie" the main characters in the movie

Nothing says America like its favorite pastime and corn. We've seen a lot of corn fields on our journey across America.

It's still a little short here

Trying to be like the baseball players in the movie

View from third base.

Little known spots of Wyoming & South Dakota

We are in Canada right  now but I will be reflecting back on some of the fun and a few odd times we had in Wyoming and South Dakota.  We had a serendipitous meeting with our friends Lisa and Michael in Glendo, WY. They were making their way across America to move to Logan and we just happened to be close enough to meet up. We met up at the only restaurant in town there and had breakfast together. It was a great little place with quite the trophy room. We loved being able to see them and their cute baby! They are the adventurous type and so it was really fun sharing our stories together. 

Michael, Lisa and baby Burton

The random restaurant we ate at

 We went to Wind Cave NP where we saw prairie dogs (love them they are so cute to me!), we also coyotes, and more pronghorns. We went on a cave tour there that had boxwork on the ceiling. I know what the heck is that? It is just how the deposits and time have eroded and formed these spider web looking intricate design on the ceiling of the caves.

Inside the cave

The boxwork on the ceiling of the cave, they have the largest amount of boxwork in these caves in the world. I'm sure geologists will appreciate this.

We made it to Mt.Rushmore and it was very awe inspiring. It was interesting learning about how they were able to create it and through all the challenges of making it they kept on pushing forward to make it a reality. 

And most importantly we learned that Thomas Jefferson helped bring ice cream to America with his classic vanilla recipe. So he might be my favorite President now.

Carolina, Carolina.

What they originally planned to have them look like, lots more work I'm sure.

Matt getting good use out of his Binoculars

We survived a terrible storm in Black Hills with 70 mph winds and crazy lighting! It was all around us! We waited it out in our car and then set up our tent again.

The church behind our tent was our beacon of hope during the storm

 We went to the Badlands in South Dakota. It reminded us of Bryce canyon in Utah but with grass.

After the badlands we drove towards Mitchell. Where they have the world's only corn palace. They decorate the outside of this community center with corn every year. They do different themes and designs each year, entirely out of corn. Impressive but a funny idea too. On our way to Mitchell we also stopped at Wall Drug store. This place is so random and is a must see. Don't worry if you forget about it later and you find yourself unknowingly driving towards it because there are sooo many billboards about it to peak your curiosity. The first use of the billboard to bring customers in was started here. It originally just advertised free ice water, which I guess was a rarity back then. They have lots of little shops selling toys, camping gear, cowboy boots, fudge, etc!!! They also have exhibits for random things like a T-rex, mining, splash pad, you name it they've probably got it. 

Outside the corn palace

The Corn Palace

The randomness that is Wall Drug store

Supposedly this bear is 18 feet tall on its hind legs, he was huge but we were not convinced.

We also found another Pizza favorite place. This place was so fun because it was in a small town and everyone knew each other there. It was a buffet of pizza but it was really good and they had creative pizzas. They also would make any pizza you wanted if it wasn't out on the buffet. They are Christian owned chain store and had lots of funny motivational quotes on the wall. Their root beer was an equivalent to Brick oven's root beer so I was really happy too.