Minneapolis 2024

23 March 2024 - With Felix heading to Europe with his high school German Club, we decided to stick closer to home for our own spring break plans. Iris and I had plans to go to the Mall of America during winter break, but my mom's passing cancelled those. So instead, we decided to take the trip now, one Felix wouldn't miss too much. 

We left home around 9:15 am. We had to make a quick stop in Marshfield for Nick, then we were off. We stopped to charge and eat at Noodles & Co in Eau Claire. The weather was cold (in the 30s) but clear. Once we got near the Twin Cities, Nick dropped Iris and me off at the Trader Joe's in Woodbury while he went to charge the Tesla. We stocked up on food and drinks, then Nick picked us up. We drove to IKEA first, as Iris had never been to one. She was impressed by all the stuff, but we walked out of there an hour later with only a few small things. After that, we checked into our Airbnb in Minnehaha Falls. Iris immediately fell in love with the first floor apartment in the bungalow. It's a quaint 1920s house, and she loves having her own queen-sized bed. After we got settled, we all drove over to see the Falls themselves, because the weather was good today. It wasn't a huge cascade at this time of year, but it was pretty. We then drove up to Surly Brewing Co. for dinner. Despite it being around 4:45 pm on a Saturday, we had to wait a while for a table, much to hungry Iris' chagrin. Once seated, we ordered food and drinks on our phones and had little interaction with waitstaff, which was different. Iris got a burger while Nick and I got grain bowls. We enjoyed our dinner, then headed out. Nick dropped Iris and me off at the Mall of America so Iris could get her first taste of it. We walked about half the mall and just got her a black tank top. She took a look at the rides and made a plan for tomorrow. We took the train back to our rental around 8 pm. My feet were very tired by then, so it was nice to just put on Spaceballs and relax before bed.

Visiting Minnehaha Falls

24 March - Despite my intention of sleeping in, I was awake by 7:30 am. Once everybody was up, we got ourselves breakfast (bagels and cream cheese, with smoked salmon for us). I did some Italian lessons (in preparation for our next trip). We all got ready and walked to the train station around 9:30 am, and then took the next train to the Mall of America. Iris wanted to do the rides right away. We bought some points, then let Iris decide what rides. She chose the Fairly Odd Parents rollercoaster that we could do together. She was nervous, but the line moved pretty quickly and soon we were on. It was a lot of fun, especially because it was just the three of us in the car, which spun on the track. After that, I left them to do a little shopping of my own. Iris rode the Ninja Turtles ride and was in line for another spinny ride when I tracked them down. (I did buy myself a fall/winter coat from Columbia, on sale for $130). Nick and I watched Iris spin around

Iris on the Brainstorm ride

After Iris got off, we were hungry. We went up to the 3rd floor and found a quick ramen place, where we each got different types of ramen and boba tea. Once sated, Iris wanted to see one more time if the high ropes course was finally open. It was, so we walked back across the mall to get in line. She ended up waiting about an hour in a slow moving line (very much testing her patience) to finally get her chance, then spent about 15 minutes actually on the course (there weren't too many elements that made her pause). 

Iris on the highest level of the course

After she was finished, we walked back to the train station and barely caught the next train. It had started snowing while we were in the mall, and it was coming down pretty heavily when we got off the train. We got back to our rental around 2:30 pm and relaxed. At 3 pm, we put on the UW Badgers women's hockey National Championship game versus Ohio State. Alas, they lost 0-1. Iris was sullen because she didn't want to watch the game and was bored. Sigh. 

We made a feast of dumplings from Trader Joe's for dinner. Afterward, we taught Iris how to play the card game Dominion, then watched Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

25 March - We again had a quiet few hours in the morning, working on Italian and eating a light breakfast of scones. It was raining, which made the snow we got yesterday even slushier. We drove over to St. Paul to do the Trapped Escape Room I booked the night before. (We did our first this past fall in the Dells and Iris really enjoyed it, so we decided to do another). We had an hour to do the Wizard's Tower room. We finished in 49:15. :D 

We did it! 

It was about 11 am when we finished. We noticed that there were several Middle Eastern restaurants nearby, so we went to one (Shish) for an early lunch. We got falafel/schwarma/fattoush deliciousness, plus gave Iris her first taste of a Turkish coffee (she wasn't a fan). Once finished, we looked for something to do next. I saw on that there was a waterfall nearby. We parked near the Mississippi River, put on our boots, and attempted to find Shadow Falls. We walked to the edge of the gorge and down the path toward the creek. Thankfully, we were following fresh tracks in the snow so we could tell where to go. Once we reached it, the waterfall was little more than a trickle, but out it was still pretty.

Shadow Falls

Nick wanted to get some work done, so we headed back to the rental. Iris and I hopped on the next train heading downtown to do some looking around there. There were some interesting characters on our train car, but we made it without incident. It was raining harder when we got off the train. We made a nearby Target store our destination, five wet blocks away. Iris found some yoga pants and a paint set. From there, we walked a few blocks back towards the train stop, where I found a crepe shop. We warmed up with some crepes and coffee, and got one for Nick, too. Our Metro tickets were still good, so we caught the next train back to the rental and got in around 3. We spent some time relaxing, then went out to get dinner from Poke House in St. Paul. We brought them back to eat at the rental. Iris's stomach wasn't feeling well, so she waited a bit. After dinner, we played another game of Dominion. 

26 March - We woke to snow. We decided to stay in for a while so Nick could get some work done. Iris and I did lots of Italian and put on a recent UW Badgers softball game. We headed out shortly after 11 to Himalayan Restaurant. We were trying to find an Indian buffet, but, alas, those seem to be a thing of the past, at least around Minneapolis. Anyway, we each got a different thing and made our own mini-buffet of appetizers, noodles, and chana masala. It was very tasty. 

Next we drove through the snowy streets to the Midtown Global Market. I was looking for some spices and hoped to find them there (I did not), but we did buy a few treats for that evening. From there, we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. We spent a couple hours wandering through the galleries, looking at the various collections. Iris started feeling a food coma after the big lunch, so we didn't see everything, but the Asian exhibits were interesting.

Tired Iris, pretty pottery

Trying to identify the skyline through the snow

From there, we started our drive to Shorewood, stopping on the way to charge. We arrived at 3:30 pm and spent several hours at the home of my friends Kendra and Paul from high school/college, and their daughter Eleanor, who is a year old than Iris. Unfortunately, Paul was off on a trip, but we had a lovely time catching up with the ladies. We got Thai food delivered and played Midnight Party and Forbidden Island together, before we left around 7:30 pm. Once back at the rental, we started to get our stuff packed up and put on some softball to watch.

27 March - After our last night in the Airbnb, we were up, packed and out around 8:30 am. We woke to a clear, sunny morning, which was a novelty for this trip. We did some charging in Oakdale, then more in Eau Claire, but we were home at 1 pm. It was nice to see the kitties in person (we had peeped in on them with our Echo Show a couple times during our trip, which probably freaked them out) and be back home.

Trip cost: $

License plates: 30 of 51

Superior & Duluth 2021

31 March 2021 - After over a full year of COVID-19 social isolation, cancelations, telework and virtual school, we decided we needed to get out of our house for a few days. Nick and I were vaccinated 10 days ago, so we feel slightly more comfortable about putting ourselves in social situations - but not entirely, which is why I planned a waterfall-hunting trip centered around Superior. Nick and the kids have never been up here, and I was a sophomore in college the only time I visited (and that was only overnight). I found a nice two-bedroom Airbnb apartment and started planning from there. I asked my parents (now fully vaccinated and fully immune) if they'd like to join us, and they rented a hotel room nearby for a few nights. 

We got everything packed and left Rapids about 10:30 Wednesday morning in Nick's Tesla. Low 30s, but mostly sunny and smooth sailing to Eau Claire. Our plan was to supercharge while eating lunch, then get to Superior around 3-3:30. The supercharger had other plans... What should have charged at ~75 kW/h charged at 10, meaning we had to stay well over an hour and a half to get enough charge to make it to Superior. (To kill time, I took Iris on a walk to the nearby mall, buying a pair of leggings and gum for her, and a 5-pack of face masks for me at Old Navy.) It turned out that the charge we got was barely enough. We found a 13+ mph wind from the northwest the entire way, which cut into our power. Initially, we were concerned we wouldn't make it (which made Felix (and us, if I'm honest) nervous), but Nick dropped our speed and we pulled into the Duluth supercharger at 5:20 pm with 8% charge remaining. Whew! We walked a little ways downtown to a quiet Iris pub (the Dubh Linn). The kids played darts and my folks joined us for dinner and a beer. This was our family's first time eating indoors at a restaurant since March 6, 2020. Felix kept his mask on, but it being a large, mostly empty space made us feel better about sticking around and chatting. We left ~7:30, made our way over to Superior, and got into our quaint apartment in a house built in 1911. Got ourselves settled, then relaxed for an hour of MST3K on Netflix. Got us all to bed.

Chilling in our Airbnb apartment

1 April - Never a great night sleeping in an unfamiliar place, but got enough. Woke around 8 am. Attempted to make breakfast (fried eggs, turkey patties, toast), but the electric stove and nonstick pans thwarted us a bit. Made do. Mom and Dad came over and we all got ready and left around 9:45 to start today's adventure. Felix picked Amnicon Falls as our first stop. It was chilly (below 30°), but pure sunshine. We put on our hiking boots and took in the covered bridge and roaring falls. Beautiful! 

Upper Falls at Amnicon Falls

We walked the loop to see the falls, including a fall of ice in one area. The kids were impressed. We could walk on the rocks and be inches from the rapids. Gorgeous to see. Deafening to hear. Mom and Dad brought their walking sticks (forgot ours...). We spent about an hour and a half walking, exploring, taking pictures. Cool to see the ice formations hanging like chandelier crystals above the rushing water.

Family by the Upper Falls

We drove on quiet county highways to Pattison State Park. Our first stop was the Little Manitou Falls. Nice little hike down and around. They were bigger falls, which perked up progressively grumpy Iris. (Nick carried her, which helped warm her cold legs.) 

Next, we drove to the parking lot for the Big Manitou Falls (highest waterfall in the state). Wow, very high and impressive (even for Iris). We saw it from the far side first, then walked over the bridge and to the near-side lookouts. Felix made my heart sing, telling me how amazing he found the waterfalls. :) It warmed up to the mid-30s. We placed an order for sandwiches for lunch(since we were done looking at the waterfalls around 1 pm), then drove up to Duluth to pick them up from the Northern Waters Smokehaus. We took them back to the folks' hotel room, where we ate while watching the Brewers' opening day game versus the Twins. Iris got impatient, so after 5½ innings, we all went down to the pool. We had fun spimming and playing with the kids in the little pool Even Mom and Dad got in briefly. We got out and back up to the room in time to watch the Brewers rally and win the the 10th. Woo! After a quick Kwik Trip stop for butter, we headed back to our apartment. Mom and Dad joined us to watch the UW volleyball team win the Big Ten title, have a snack dinner and play many hands of sheepshead. We also put on some MST3K. Nice evening.

Big Manitou Falls

2 April - We were up and eating breakfast by 9 am (butter today made everything better). We headed over to Duluth for a charge. We had to wait a bit, but got some coffee and split a doughnut while we waited. We were finally ready to go around 10:30. We headed north on highway 61 to Tettegouche State Park. It was in the 40s and windy. We all decided to hike to the High Falls. 1.5 miles from the parking lot. So much mud! It took forever (nearly 2 hours) to walk a mile. Nick and Iris didn't want to go so far, so they went to the Twin Falls instead. 

Twin Falls

We trekked the 0.5 miles to High Falls. It was nice to see, but given the trail conditions, I'm not sure it was ultimately worth the interminable hike. We got slowed so often by mud or ice-covered areas, and there were many, many elevation changes. Drier conditions would have made it easier on all of us, I think.

High Falls

Mom and Dad (who were such troopers) rested at the top of the stairs. Felix and I went up more stairs to the the top of the falls. A little further on, we found a swinging bridge over the river. No one else was around, so it was cool being up there, just the two of us. 

Swinging bridge above High Falls

It was drier on the way back, so we made much better time. We did the return hike in 40 minutes. There was a very cold wind blowing off the lake as we ate a hasty lunch on a picnic table outside the visitors center. My hips ached, but I wanted to see the shore, so Felix and I walked along another path down to a rock-strewn beach. We found some interesting pebbles for souvenirs and I took some pictures. 

View of Shovel Point from the beach access

We joined Nick and Iris back at the car, where they had been watching Netflix while the car was charging (hooray for destination chargers!). We left Tettegouche and headed back toward Duluth. We stopped at Gooseberry Falls State Park with low energy and expectations. Boy, were we amazed. it was very busy (good tip-off). We took the easy walk from the parking lot to the spectacular Middle Falls. From there, we broke into three groups to do the falls loop (a 1.0-mile hike). It was easier with much less mud. Nick went ahead with Iris. Mom took Felix back to the bathrooms before doing the loop, and I hiked with Dad. It was such a nice hike with great scenery that it really lifted our spirits despite the many miles on our legs today. 

Middle and Lower Falls

We ordered pizzas to pick up at 6, then headed back. We took the two-lane scenic route hugging the coast on the way back. Mostly trees and cabins to be seen, but got nice (hazy) views occasionally. Felix is captivated by freighters. We made a quick stop for lotion to ease itchy skin, then got pizzas and a growler of their beer (souvenir!). [While I was waiting, I was approached by a 30ish man in a beret who asked if I was a farmer. I said, um, no. He said that it was kind of hard to tell with our masks on, but I looked like a mushroom farmer with whom he's been communicated. Okay... I told him I was just a tourist and never raised a mushroom in my life, though it would be interesting to try. When I told Nick, he said he was expecting this to end with a cheesy pick-up attempt.] Mom and Dad met us at our apartment and ate with us. We put on MST3K's Mac & Me, which the kids love. They left around 8:45, and the kids went to bed. We didn't stay up much later. I'm going to be moving slowly tomorrow...

3 April - I didn't sleep well, and everyone else rose early too. We made breakfast and relaxed for a while. Shortly after 10, we made our way to the touristy area in Duluth by the harbor. We looked in a few shops in the DeWitt Building. Iris picked out a stuffed animal for a souvenir (no surprise there), while Felix got a little keepsake box with things that we saw on the trip on it (freighter, lighthouse, Gooseberry Falls). We treated the kids to some sweets at a candy store (ordered through plexiglass, no one allowed in the store). Mom and Dad met us there and did a little looking of their Mom's own. She bought two waterfall prints to frame and hang. Once we were done there, we drove over the lift bridge and along the island. We stopped at the park at the end of the road and let the kids run across. It was partly sunny, mid-60s, light wind - pretty nice. It was about noon, so we made our way back t a nearby restaurant away from the touristy ones (The Silos Restaurant). We had some local beers and everyone found something reasonable to eat. And it wasn't very busy, which was nice. Mom and Dad left to drive home after we ate. We headed inland to Enger Park to take in the views. The park was still closed for the winter, so we parked on the shoulder near the park entrance and hoofed it from there. We weren't alone - many other people had the same idea. We saw some nice views of the cities, harbor and lake. 

Enger Park views

We each rang the Japanese bell and we climbed up by the tower. Felix noticed a freighter going from the river to the lake, so we headed back by the rocks to watch it. Over the course of 20 minutes, we saw the lift bridge rise, the ship pass under, and the lift bridge lower. I took a time lapse video to show Nick and Iris (who headed back to the car to get out of the sun). From there, we went to the charging station to fully charge in preparation for our trip home tomorrow. I walked to a nearby game store and bought a new family card game and a variety of dice. Once we were done, we headed back to our apartment. It was about 4 pm. We spent a quiet rest of the day there. The kids played in the backyard, we tidied up, and we played a round of the new card game (Guillotine). We ate leftover pizza for dinner and watched the Brewers game before bed. 

4 April - We got up around 7:30 am, got ready, got our car packed and were on the road by 8:10. After a quick coffee stop on the way out of the area, we had an uneventful drive to Eau Claire. Nick dropped Iris and me off at Walmart so I could get some groceries, and went to supercharge, which worked much better today. It took only about 30 minutes to charge enough to get home and pick us up. It was fair and warm (mid-70s). We should be home shortly after 1. We're all looking forward to seeing the kitties. 

What did the kids think about the trip:

• Iris: It was one of the best trips because we spent more than two days there. The only thing she didn't like was our apartment was old. "It felt like sleeping in the '90s."
• Felix: It was great. He liked seeing the views of the lake and the waterfalls.