A Long Weekend in Minnesota

I spent a long weekend in Minnesota beginning June 12th and returning to Florida on June 17th.  As many of you know I have a special brother and sister in Minnesota and it has become too difficult for them to travel to Florida to see me so I headed up north to spend time with them.  My nephew also had a graduation party so it was all family all weekend.

Noreen and Steve - trying on hats at gift shop.

When I left Florida in was in the 90s and pretty humid.  So I assumed it would be that way in Minnesota. When we landed  on Thursday afternoon and I saw all the baggage handlers in hooded sweatshirts and gloves I got a little worried.  I was pretty sure I would be cold.

Paul Bunyan Land - kinda cool.

On Friday morning,  I picked up my brother and sister in southern Minnesota and we headed to Brainerd for a little "up north" vacation.  My other sister lives in Garrison which is close so we could spend time with her too.

Steve - Mille Lacs Lake

Fish in Garrison, MN

It rained pretty much all day Saturday and into Sunday morning when we left for a graduation party in Minneapolis.  Things were not looking too good for the party but as we approached Minneapolis, the sun came out and it was a perfect afternoon to spend an afternoon in the park where the party was in full swing.

Diego Grad Party - Lake Harriet - Mpls.

We headed back to southern Minnesota after the party and it was a fairly nice until about Monday afternoon when I had to return to Minneapolis so I could fly home Tuesday morning.  The rain started falling as I left Mankato and just got worse as I got into the city where I hit rush hour traffic.  It was basically a nightmare.  I could have kissed the ground when I got to Ted's apartment located on Washington Avenue in Mpls.  He lives in an old warehouse which has been made into apartments.  It is an awesome building right in the middle of all the action.  Its just not easy to get to.  Especially in torrential rain and rush hour.

Skyline outside Ted's apartment window.

It was nice to see my family and catch up.  I bought a sweater at a thrift shop in Brainerd.  It was worth every cent.  And its hanging right next to my suitcase in the closet so I don't forget it next time.  Margaret

June Already?

It is hard to believe we are almost at the half way mark of 2014.  Where did the first half go?  Since moving to Florida it is very difficult to keep the seasons straight.  In Minnesota, dirty snow clumps meant spring would show up in a few weeks, orange leaves meant school was starting and the first snow fall was our sign to head south!   We don't have any snow clumps or orange leaves or kids in school so we have to remind ourselves what season we are in.   We've learned that June 1st means Hurricane Season in Florida.  Yikes.

Debora and I enjoying Sanibel Island.

Last weekend we had our annual visit from the Georgia Peaches, Debora and Ken.  The drive from their place to ours is about six hours.  We had great weather so we spent the day at Sanibel Island, checked out the Mucky Duck, headed to Hooters for Debora's first ever visit and then Gary thought Ken would like Barista's, a new coffee place where the servers wear only underwear.  Apparently he thinks the coffee is really good.

A stop at the Mucky Duck.

Debora's first Hooters.

New coffee shop in Cape Coral. 

This week Gary and I decided that a tree that we planted when we first moved here had to go.  It is a Washingtonia palm that grows very tall and just gets uglier and uglier cause the dead branches hang like a skirt on the trunk.  Either you have to hire someone to climb up high and trim the branches or you do it yourself. And it can be dangerous with the razor-like branches.

Close up of razor-like branch.

Good bye ugly tree.

It grows so tall you don't really notice the branches that can become the home to rats and it can be a hazard during hurricane season.  So Gary cut it down while I stood on the street in case a car came by so I could stop them since he was falling the tree that way.  At least that's what he said, since he had me stand right where the tree was coming down.

Old tree out, new Foxtail tree in.

Its been a lot of work for Gary but it looks much better, we don't have that worry if we should be in the middle of a bad storm and the rats moved down the road. Now I gotta go turn the calendar.   Happy June!  Margaret