WHAT’S IN MINNESOTA???

That was the usual response when we told friends that we were planning to vacation in Minnesota. We spent August 19-26 in my beautiful home state (Weldon’s first time there and his first vacation in 13 years), and the following synopsis and pictures will give you a glimpse of what's in Minnesota.

For one week, WE were in Minnesota, doing the touristy thing....

Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes or the Land of Sky Blue Waters. And to go with all that water? Perfectly warm, sunny days! We were smart to not vacation in January :-)

We took an informational cruise on Lake Superior (very impressive). We visited the Great Lakes Aquarium, the nation's only all-freshwater aquarium, and drove a few miles along the “North Shore” so we could stop and dip our toes in the cold water.

We took a train ride along the St. Croix River

and visited Lake Itasca where we walked across the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi.

We tried to stay off the main highways and always looked for a scenic route, where we saw farms ,

peat bogs ,

swamps ,

forests ,

and interesting weeds that Weldon couldn’t name.

There are agates in Minnesota, and Weldon learned the fine art of hunting the elusive gem. If he couldn’t find an agate, he was happy just picking up PLRs (pretty little rocks).

Although the state has all kinds of wildlife, big and small, the best we could do was hear the cry of the loon and see a bald eagle and a few deer.

Weldon saw a moose, but he doesn’t have a picture to prove it :-)

The MN State Fair is in Minnesota! Weldon was disappointed that Machinery Hill doesn’t exist anymore, but at least he got to visit the “Moo Booth.” Although the "real farm" milking cows wouldn't be there until the following week, we got to see the "4H cows" and sheep, poultry, rabbits, horses, and all the other attractions that make up the MN State Fair.

I was thrilled to find that Tiny Tim (also known as Tom Thumb) Donuts are every bit as good as I remembered,

and we saw the (90#) butter sculptures of Princess Kay and her attendants!

Now you're jealous, aren't you?!

Most important of all, my FAMILY is in Minnesota!!

What a fabulous vacation! Can we do it again? Can we?? Can we???