Minnesota Memories

Mall America was something else. We went in through Norstrom's, one of the four stores that anchor the corners of the mall. It is so large that there is an amusement park in the mall so you can ride the rides summer, winter, fall and spring.




After our visit to the Mall, we took a train and went into downtown Minneapolis.
Athens has its bulldogs, Minneapolis has baseball players. They are on street corners and in front of certain special buildings.
Those overpasses connect the buildings so in the winter folks can go from building to building without going outside.


There she was, standing on the corner, just like her TV program....Mary Tyler Moore, throwing her hat in the air with that wonderful smile.
Well folks, we are on to Grimes, Iowa, just outside of Des Moines, Iowa...working our way back east to end up in Myrtle Beach, SC by September 7.....Your Happy Travelers.

Wisconsin River---another boat ride

Before we left the Wisconsin Dells, we decided to take another boatride to check out the landscape that gave the Dells their name.
A photographer named Henry Hamilton Burnell, loved the Dells so much that he bought up the land on either side of the Wisconsin River. He then replanted trees and did all he could to transform the land back to the way it was before the logging took place. When he died the land went to the state.



Our tour boat stopped at one point for us to get off and walk among the monumental limestone formations.


My beloved takes a minute to confer with this colorful Captain. He is such a good sport.
Well the Happy Travelers will be moving on to Minnesota so more later from your very Happy Travelers.

Wisconsin Dells---Memories

We arrived at the Wisconsin Dells and were greeted by this tall guy wanting people to come into his restaurant for a pricey meal. Sorry about the scramble in pictures but the whole time we were traveling through Wisconsin, we saw farm country like the second picture. Third picture is of the billboard for Paul's Restaurant and fourth is more farm country. Internet has been a little difficult because the signal keeps fading on me and kicking me out. Hopefully, I will be able to publish more later.





We arrived at the Carr Valley Cheese Factory at 8 a.m. sharp one morning after about a 45 minute ride through the country side and a couple of small towns/villages. They were in the process of making cheddar cheese in the first set of vats and Montery Jack in the second set. They gave us a sample of the cheddar cruds that folks up here are crazy about. To me they were very salty and rubbery but I am from Virginia, what do I know.


Then it was on to the boat ride on the Wisconsin River. More later from the Happy Travelers

Painted Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising, MI

While we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we stayed in Munising, right on the shoreline of Lake Superior. While there, we took a boatride along the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore. The Captain of our boat explained the coloring of the rocks made by different deposits of copper and other ores and minerals. It gave me an opportunity to take about a zillion pictures but I have tried to pick out a few that would give you a taste of what we experienced.



Can you see the profile of an Indian Face?





This is a very old lighthouse, not in use since the early 1900's. It looks like an old school house or church.
A lovely sunset over Lake Superior and the end of our boat ride. But it is time, my posterior has fallen asleep. (the seats on this craft are not very well padded---even though I am, the seats are still rock hard)
The Happy Travelers go into Wisconsin next so more later.....

Tahquamenon Falls

We had to go over the Mackinaw Bridge to get to the Upper Peninsula on our way to the Falls. This bridge is 5 miles long and on Labor Day, there is a special event where folks can walk across the bridge.
We stopped at a Scenic Wayside on Lake Superior and enjoyed watching the kids chase the birds around the sandbars. The water is so blue and it was such a beautiful day.

These are pictures of the Upper Falls. The water is so rusty looking because of the tanic acid from the trees decomposing. It is said not to harm the fish, just looks awful to me.



About 4 miles from the Upper Falls, are the Lower Falls.


On our return trip, we stopped in St. Ignace at the Mackinaw Grill and had lunch on the deck overlooking the water. The breeze was blowing, the seagulfs dipping and diving, boats coming and going....lovely.
More later from your Happy Travelers.