Day 4: A Day in Minneapolis

Ding Dong got his hose back by 9:00 a.m. as promised, and we made the short drive to The Mall of America on the south side of Minneapolis. Now we are NOT the mall loving sort, but the kids have watched the t.v. show called Mall Cops, so there was a curiosity factor.  Could it be true that this mall has a full-sized roller coaster inside of it?  Well, it's not just one roller coaster; it's a whole amusement park!  Honest to God... Think of it as an indoor Universal Studios.  The place has at least 4 roller coasters, perhaps 15 or more rides in total!  Overstimulation to the max.  The mall also has an indoor aquarium and CPR Seminar on center court, where they offer CPR Training Sessions to large groups of shoppers every 15 minutes using a massive screen.  That's a brilliant idea, if you ask me.

After indulging in a single roller coaster ride aboard The Orange Streak, we traveled to Target Field, home of The Minnesota Twins baseball team.  We boarded the Light Train (yes, the Mall has its own train station) and arrived at the brand new stadium with time to spare.  Good thing, too, because Ron had to pound the pavement to score four tickets (from a scalper) for this sold-out game. We ended up with two pairs of tickets with great views of the game.  And yes, the Twins did beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0!  The kids had a blast.

Eighteen stops later on public transportation, we were reunited with Minnie Winnie, who waited patiently for us in an IKEA parking lot the size of Rhode Island.  We drove a short while in a northwestward direction and boon-docked at a Cabela's for the night.