Monday, August 31, 2009

More Minneapolis

We are such 'tourist-y' tourists...
...everywhere we went I took my camera - here we were just walking around downtown on our way to a restaurant - and I had to take some artsy-fartsy architecture shots...
...and a picture of the metro...
...and then I embarrassed the Man by making him take a picture of me with one of my heroes...
...there's a neat statue in downtown Minneapolis memorializing the famous Mary Tyler Moore hat toss...

Mall of America

Several people had told us to visit the Mall of America while we were in Minneapolis - well, we are not shoppers so I was skeptical...
...but we hopped on the Light Rail (don't you just love public transportation) - and headed to the Mall...

...go see Joanna's post about the Mall at Keeping Feet...
...first stop - LegoLand - pretty amazing creations...
...next stop one of 3 stores with public Wii games (remember we don't own a Wii - but that may be in our future - Scout loved it)...
...then Scout wanted to try an Aquamassage - so funny...
...but we're on vacation so we indulged - and the funny thing is how many people walked by and commented on the little boy in the Aquamassage - and several talked their Mama's into letting them try it too - there was a line when we left...

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Minneapolis

We got home - unpacked - did laundry - repacked and took Jack to the dogsitter's - then left for Minneapolis. We live fairly close (about 7 hours away) but this was our first visit to the fair city...

...the view from our room...
...same view at night...
...pretty statues in lobby...

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Free Fireworks

We were nestled all snug in our beds in our hotel room - when we heard a Boom! - followed by another Boom! and another......now Jack doesn't like fireworks - so he jumped up and started barking (he had to be shut up in the bathroom for a little while - we made it up to him with a treat and extra snuggles after the show...

...These fireworks were after the game - the Sioux Falls Canaries were playing the Sioux City Explorers and it was right outside our window...
...what a nice little vacation finale...

Friday, August 28, 2009

Handstand Practice

As we travel back to ND - Scout gets to unwind after a long day of travel with a trip to the pool......it gives him some time to practice his strokes...
...and his handstands...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Arch

...we pass by the Arch practically every trip down south...

...I've never been inside it - I can't explain why I like it so much...

I always take a picture of it - just like I always take one of the Mississippi (which we cross several times - each way)...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

SCUBA

From 4 wheeling to SCUBA - Scout loves it all......he donned his Auntie Karen's SCUBA gear again this year for a little diving in Grandma's pool...
...I took some underwater shots with his waterproof camera...

...so much fun!!!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

4 Wheeling


Scout had a blast riding his Papaw's 4 wheeler around the back yard...
...he even took his Mama for a ride...

Monday, August 24, 2009

Mt. Mitchell

We drove up to Mt. Mitchell - the highest point east of the Mississippi......it was awesome!!!
...it's quite cool at 6684 feet above sea level...
...Did you know that Elisha Mitchell is buried up there...
...as we stood on the observation deck - we watched some clouds roll in...

...I wanted to call someone up in ND and say - I'm the tallest thing east of the Mississippi - where am I??? - but I refrained...
...the clouds started to look more and more menacing from the west...
...there was one of these neat maps facing each direction - they show the names of the peaks - it was fun seeing them from above instead of looking up at them...
...still pretty clear to the east...
...but the clouds descend over the observation deck...
...and finally engulf us altogether...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Mineral Museum

We stopped at the Mineral Museum on the Parkway......of course our little rock hound was in heaven...
...they had super hands-on exhibits...
...inside...
...and outside...
...of course we had to add to our rock collection...

...this pretty rock is called chalcopyrite

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Parkway

We took a nice long drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway...
...we saw a funny road sign that I've never seen before...
...rock formations...
...a couple of views from overlooks...
...or just snapped out the window - driving up the parkway...
...strange hanging moss...
...I've not ever seen this before - it's sort of like Spanish Moss - but I don't think it grows this high up......a closeup...
...pretty pink flowers...
...a couple of views of clouds and treetops...

Friday, August 21, 2009

Linville Caverns

We took a trip to Linville Caverns while we were in NC - we had been once before when Scout was about 18 months old and we have a lot of the same pictures from then - needless to say Scout doesn't remember the first visit......There were lots of limestone formations like this....
...the fish swimming out of the cavern - this is how they found the cave - because they saw the fish swimming out....
...This is the Wedding Chapel - you can see the bride and groom in the middle...
...a big slimy blob of limestone - you weren't allowed to touch anything - but I'm sure it was slimy....
...just some more limestone....
...more weird formations - our guide asked us what it looked like??? - lots of funny answers....
...one of the original lanterns used for exploring the caverns - then the guide turned off all the lights and we were in total darkness - you couldn't see anything at all - it was really a disorienting sensation...
...then she turned on this one light - you still can't see much - but as your eyes adjust - you can imagine what it must have been like for the original spelunkers - wading through the water (we're walking on fairly dry sidewalks) with these lanterns exploring the caves - imagine if they dropped their light - Yikes!!!
...just some more pretty formations....
...and finally the 'bottomless pit' - they know it's over 250 feet deep but they have never reached the bottom umwha-ha-ha-ha....spooky...