Prior to arriving in Minneapolis, Stargazer found shelter from the winds at Palisades State Park outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Many of the state parks have unique stories to tell; PSP was once a town with three stores, blacksmith shop, hotel, and more. A railroad passed through Palisades, but now there are limited remnants; although the Balancing Rock where the town mill was located was very cool. BTW: Another great hike with Otto, but when I told him it was time to go, I got the stink eye!

The next day the winds were again blowing, so we traveled back roads to Minneapolis. Between the winds and the trucks, Stargazer was rocking and rolling all day. Our first visit in Minneapolis was with Greg and Ann’s son, Sam, daughter-in-law, Melissa, and grandson, Alfred. Alfred kept us entertained and was especially proud of his new big boy bed; the one his dad used as a kid. Sam and Melissa are rocking it as parents!

Next we headed to good friends Judi and Al Bryl’s home in Maple Grove. I have known Judi since the mid 2000’s when we started working together on the Lumens lifelong learning programming software Cem Erdem, Kathy Brady and I designed in 1999. Judi and Al kept was busy with long parks walks, amazing meals, a visit to a local brewery where Al and I were told we were too early for beer (and I thought beer was a breakfast drink), an amazing yarn shop that Melinda follows on Instagram, and two new great card games – Hell’s A Popping and Golf. Otto was very pleased (no stink eye) that Judi was a treat pushover!

Melinda completed a bucket list task by visiting Birchbark Books, started and owned by Louise Ehrlich, one of our favorite authors. BB includes an excellent selection of Native culture books and art. Like visiting friends and seeing where they live, visiting BB, especially since Ehrlich’s last book, The Sentence, included lots about BB, helps us better understand and explain places we visit.

We are on the road again and the winds have died down some, but we are still blowing in the wind!