VISITING FRIENDS, COSTCO AND TRADER JOE’S – THE TWIN CITIES, MN

No lovely photos, no fabulous discoveries, not much excitement at all.  I can tell you this, though: I’ve lost my enthusiasm for big cities (not that I ever had much). 

We heard from our friends Jeff and Margaret recently, saying they were going to be near Minneapolis for a week, and they had found a good deal (half price) on full hookup sites in a big county park, Lebanon Hills Regional Park (click here to read our review)..  We didn’t have to think long before we decided to join them, since we were planning to head west across SD after our stay in Duluth.  AND… we would be able to visit a Costco!  AND a Trader Joe’s!  Next thing we knew, we had a reservation.

On our day at the Blues Festival in Duluth, I broke a great big hunk off one of my back teeth.  It doesn’t hurt, but I wanted to stay somewhere long enough to get it repaired, which requires a little advance planning.  Looking out into the future, we thought Rapid City, SD, would work.  I was able to get a recommendation from a friend for a good dentist there, and got an appointment for 9/1.

Next step: plan our stops between Minneapolis and Rapid City.  We’ve had some real (unpleasant) weather adventures in SD on prior trips, so we started by checking the long range forecast.  Now, I know we have been spoiled this summer, enjoying mostly moderate temperatures when huge portions of the US have broiled… but when we saw forecasts in the 90’s and 100’s in SD next week, we backed away from our western travel plan pretty quickly!  Hiking the Badlands when it’s 97 degrees?  I don’t think so!

So, how about a Plan B?  Where could we find pleasant weather when we left Minneapolis?  Duluth, MN: sunshine and highs in the upper 60’s.  Hummmm… sounds good!  Before we left the Lakehead Boat Basin for Minneapolis, we reserved a full hookup site for a return trip next week.  

Here in Minneapolis, we’ve three fun evenings with Margaret and Jeff.  Today was our big Costco trip (our freezer is packed full again); tomorrow we’ll make a trip to Trader Joe’s; and on Saturday we’ll visit the highly recommended St. Paul Farmer’s Market.  Sunday we’ll head back to Duluth, and Monday I have an appointment with a dentist within walking distance from our campsite.

No doubt Minneapolis has it’s charms, but on this trip I couldn’t muster the energy to do the research to discover them – nor face the urban traffic.  We’ll be happy to restock our freezer, restock our supply of cheap wines, and head back to our studies of the big freighters of the Great Lakes until the weather cools.