Heading West

July 29, 2010 

We left Two Rivers, WI and headed northwest toward Green Bay.  One of our lasting impressions of Wisconsin and Illinois is that the coast line along the Great Lakes would be a wonderful place to come back and explore in more detail.  There are lots of cozy little towns, nice green space, lots of outdoor recreation, and the coast is beautiful.

We drove up to Green Bay and of course I insisted that we go by Lambeau Field.  If you know anything about NFL Football, Green Bay is steeped in tradition.  The old Lambeau Field has been redone but they still have the statue of Vince Lombardi and Cruly Lambeau out front.  When we arrived there were many people going into the stadium for what they call a "Shareholders Meeting".  I don't know if they really are shareholders or just season ticket holders, but they estimate 15,000 people were going to attend.  People were coming out with Packer souvenirs and t-shirts so I tried to walk right in like I owned the place but they caught me at the door because I didn't have a ticket.

After a couple of hours in Green Bay we headed for Minneapolis, Minnesota.  We found a nice KOA campsite northwest of town which was convenient to the freeway.  I went into town and did a driving tour prior to attending the Twins/ Seattle Mariners game.  I learned that the Mississippi River starts about 200 miles north of Minneapolis and it runs right through town, separating Minneapolis and St. Paul, the twin cities.  They have a lock on the river to allow marine navigation.  Minneapolis was famous for (other than the location of Mary Tyler Moore Show)being a "milling" city.  They have old mills that are in ruins and they have made them into museums.

You can see from the picture that they have built a new structure right into the old mill ruins and it is now a museum.  I wonder what architect and engineer put their name to that project as it looks rather fragile to me.

Of course, my friend Larry Bloom would argue that Minneapolis is famous as the home of the Minnesota Vikings football team. Yes Larry, this is the "Mall of America Stadium".  For those who don't know, it is an identical stadium to BC Place in Vancouver, only some would argue that they have a better football team.

This bizzar building is in St. Paul.  I got this shot while I was driving along West Riverway Drive on the Minnesota side of the Mississippe River.  I didn't have time to go over and investigate but it does make for an unusual picture.

As I said earlier, I went to the Twins ball game.  After driving around Minneapolis for over 2 hours, I found a parking place for the truck near Target Field.  I thought I would go and pick up a ticket and then head to a bar to mix with the locals and talk some baseball.  What I learned from the ticket window was that all Twins games this season are a sell-out and the only hope for a ticket was to stand in line for the last minute release of some tickets.  I was in line for 2 and a half hours....now my wife will tell you, I am one of the worst people when it comes to queing up for anything.  Half an hour before game time, I got a ticket and had a great time.  Justin Morneau of the Twins, who is from New Westminster, BC, did not play because of injury.  Twins won 5-3.

July 31, 2010  After 2 nights we left Minneapolis and began a "B-line" to head west.  We are following Hwy 94, and tonight we are overnighting in a small town called Jamestown, North Dakota.  In the morning we will continue our journey westward.  We hope to travel 500-600 kms per day until we get to Great Falls, Montana.  From there we will probably turn north to head for Calgary and Hwy 1, the Trans Canada Hwy.