The week leading up to leaving for Minnesota was torture. Each 8 hour work day felt like it was being prolonged into twice as long. Friday evening after work finally rolled around, which meant time to pack. It feels like lately, packing has become second nature. I love going places and seeing new things, but too much travel can lead to disconnection of reality. Saturday morning I drove to my friend Seana's house to leave my car and to have her drive me to the airport. With a layover in Denver and two rather uneventful flights, I finally reached Minneapolis on time around 6pm. My mom and uncle picked me up. After dropping off my luggage at the Hotel, the three of us went and had dinner at Olive Garden. I had forgotten how long it's been sense I had eaten their; about 4 years. I realized then that I really don't like chain restaurants. I find it a little disturbing that it doesn't matter whether you order food from a Olive Garden in California or Minnesota, it will always taste the same. I could only imagine the cook in the back taking the saran wrap off a frozen pre-made meal and re-heating it. And to get that mouth-watering dipping sauce; just add water are the instructions on the package. This probably isn't the case, but it's the first thing that comes to mind. If you like reliability and lack of variety in your foods, then maybe chain restaurants are for you, but not for me. Before it got too late, we headed to Grandma's house to say hi. Everyone seemed the usual. I guess no change is a good when your Grandma is 86 years old! Back at the hotel, I put in the ear plugs and was out cold.
-Heather
July 19, 2009
Amazingly, we got out of the hotel before noon. The only set plan we had for today was to make dinner for the family at 5:30pm. So, without any clue of what we were going to do for 4 hours, we got in the car and drove; to where, we weren't quite sure. Mom mentioned that Grandma used to sell some of her ceramics at an antique store in a place called Long Lake. There are only some 15,000 lakes in Minnesota and apparently there are 5 lakes called Long Lake. 2 of them were located semi-close to Minneapolis. With my mom driving trying to explain where Long Lake was, she realizes I was looking for a lake and she was 
describing a town. Who would have thought! We stop in Wayzata, grab a bite to eat and then continue on Hwy 12 out to the middle of nowhere. Everything was so green and small farms speckled the landscape. Silos are just as intriguing to me as going into every Medieval Church I see! Apparently Long Lake has changed a lot sense mom had last been there. The restaurant that was once called Bighorn was now called Bighorn clothing and the antique stores had disappeared. We drove through 3 more towns before we turned around and headed back. A quick stop at Ridgedale Mall and then grocery shopping at Byerly's we then headed for Grandma's to cook her, my uncles, and their neighbor Barbara dinner. It seems we always cook the same thing, teriyaki chicken with a vegetable and basmati rice. After dinner, Kurt, Grandma, mom and I watched Love Actually. We're now back at the hotel, mom asleep on the couch and me typing. Tomorrow we're going to take Grandma clothes shopping! She hates shopping so we'll probably put her in a dressing room and bring her clothes, or at least that's the plan. :-)
describing a town. Who would have thought! We stop in Wayzata, grab a bite to eat and then continue on Hwy 12 out to the middle of nowhere. Everything was so green and small farms speckled the landscape. Silos are just as intriguing to me as going into every Medieval Church I see! Apparently Long Lake has changed a lot sense mom had last been there. The restaurant that was once called Bighorn was now called Bighorn clothing and the antique stores had disappeared. We drove through 3 more towns before we turned around and headed back. A quick stop at Ridgedale Mall and then grocery shopping at Byerly's we then headed for Grandma's to cook her, my uncles, and their neighbor Barbara dinner. It seems we always cook the same thing, teriyaki chicken with a vegetable and basmati rice. After dinner, Kurt, Grandma, mom and I watched Love Actually. We're now back at the hotel, mom asleep on the couch and me typing. Tomorrow we're going to take Grandma clothes shopping! She hates shopping so we'll probably put her in a dressing room and bring her clothes, or at least that's the plan. :-) -Heather
Ahh, there you are. So you don't like franchise food and you don't like the same-ole, same-ole teriaki chicken...you need to find a rich lawyer. The resturant turned into a clothing and antique store...well, that's a change. love, dad
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