My oldest daughter finished camp 2 weeks ago and we pretty much decided the day before she was done to take the camper and get away for a few days. When the kids are older, it is harder to go places all together so we capitalized on the few days we had. Never have we had the opportunity to get away like this in Aug as we are ALWAYS harvesting but this has been an unusual year. We headed on a 12 ish hour drive (split between an afternoon and the next morning) toward Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Our destination was Eden Prairie. We were looking forward to warmer weather as it has been quite cool at home and we were not disappointed. We lived in shorts the entire 4 days. The best part was we lived WITHOUT bugs the entire 4 days! Long, warm walks in the evening without swatting mosquitoes-heavenly. Our first stop took us to Valley Fair- an amusement park with a water park within it.
[caption id="attachment_302" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="At Valley Fair"]
[/caption]The kids wanted to waterslide and that we did. Raging Rapids, Lazy River, Body Slide, Hurricane Falls--sounding good? It was fun. We had a great day and lots of fun.
What visit to Minneapolis wouldn't be complete without a stop to do some shopping at a little place called Mall of America. We have been there before but the highlight of the trip was mostly for the youngest daughter as she loves American Girl.
That evening we went to watch the Minneapolis Twins play Cleveland Indians at Target Field. First ball game for all of us and what a great time we had! Ball is so relaxing to watch. Our seats we deep in left field and though we were close to a home run ball, we didn't go home with any keepsakes. Except of course the Twins helmet that you purchase called the Ultimate Taco where the helmet was full of nachos. Fed all 6 of us, yum!
[caption id="attachment_303" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Minnesota Twins ball game"]
[/caption]My husband and I are early risers and love to chase dawn on our bikes or feet. We took our road bikes along with us and were so glad we did. The most impressive feature of Eden Prairie were the paved paths that were everywhere. We rode our bikes for miles without worry about traffic and being on the busy roads. What a treat. We just had to watch at intersections. It was so wonderful! One morning we explored to the south east and the next morning the north west. There were so many other places we wanted to go explore but not enough time- darn it. Definitely a highlight of the trip. We found a cool place called Green Acres. It looks like it is a events center with the whole farm theme. Cows painted in all colors.
[caption id="attachment_307" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Green Acres"]
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Also did some biking one morning and stopped for a snack at Starbucks. Love doing things like this with my husband!
We also checked out places and things we wouldn't get the chance to otherwise do so mostly because of geography. I have always wanted to try some Newton Running shoes. Our map took up to TC's Running Store. A great place with friendly help and great service. Newtons are certainly different shoes in terms of the way they fit, how they feel on the feet and how the lugs on the bottom feel. I liked them but not sure enough to buy some and try them out. I don't think you actually know if shoes work for you until you put in some miles. A quick run on a treadmill doesn't cut it. It was so good to try them though. The kind I tried were the neutral Distance Newtons.
Also tried on some Zoot tri shoes. These hug like a glove and felt great. They were at a tri shop called Urban Tri and we had great assistance by the owner. He gave us tips and info about the shoes as well as long course triathlons. He told us he was leaving in a week to head to Ironman Canada in Whistler. Shoes were 15% off so the hubs and I both got a pair. I was still a bit unsure of how they would work for me in reality (while running a few miles) as I have not ever run without socks and not sure it would feel too good. And to be honest, they won't work in a triathlon setting as it sits for me right now as my bike shoes pretty much need socks or they will be too big so not really a time saver to go from swimming to socks and bike shoes to removing the socks and running with sockless shoes. So what can I say but that they felt good and I think that as athletes we need to try new things.
While on the topic of shoes- all the kids needed shoes and my husband and I each got a pair so lots of bright colors and styles being sported!
We tried our Zoot shoes out the next morning with a 3.5 mile run. I loved how they performed while running. I had lots of support but they are so light, it is effortless to run with them. My only complaint is that I didn't even think of applying body glide and being the person that I am (meaning if something can happen, it will to me) I managed to have some serious rubbing along the top of the shoes and my skin on the outside of my feet and in the heel area. So am now nursing blisters and cuts. Not really my smartest move considering I have a triathlon in 2 days but oh well. Thank goodness for bandaids!!
Have a great day!
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