Trip #3: The dog AND the kids this time!

Skyline of Minneapolis.

This trip is a bit different than previous visits to the Twin Cities.  We decided it was time the kids come along to see the place that saved Rilley's life.  We left home on Friday after work and in an attempt to make the long drive a little easier for them, we broke it up by stopping over in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  This was roughly six hours into the trip and we arrived there around 11:30pm.

Bright-eyed and ready to hit the road....
We'll see what another 10 hours in the car will do to them!

Saturday we were up at 8am, had breakfast at the hotel, refueled and hit the road shortly before 10 o'clock.  We must admit, given that we spent close to 10 more hours in the car, only stopping twice the whole time, once for coffee at the Oasis near O'Hare airport and once for fuel when we were about 3/4's of the way through Wisconsin, the kids handled it pretty well.  We didn't hear "Are we there yet?" too often.  Rilley though, seems to be getting used to the drive and slept a lot of the way.

Oh, wait!  There was one more, 10 minute stop...apparently ever since Sara found out that Wisconsin is famous for cheese, we just had to stop and pick some up.  Fortunately, these tourist type places are conveniently located at just about every exit off of the I-94!  I must admit, despite the inconvenience of having to stop again...the garlic cheese curds Sara picked up are actually quite tasty!  (We also picked up some fudge...haven't tried that yet.)

Humbird Cheese Mart
Exit 143 on Interstate 90/94
in case you were wondering.

Finally, we got to our hotel in Minneapolis around 5:30pm.  We're actually in the suburb of Eagan, just south of the mighty Mississippi, because we needed to find a dog-friendly hotel that had direct access to the outside from the room.  This makes it easier for middle-of-the-night trips outside.  The Residence Inn is actually set up across fifteen individual buildings, each with four ground floor units and four second floor units.  We requested a ground floor room as it has a sliding door to a small (tiny actually) fenced in patio.  Although, I'm not convinced that, if left unattended, Rilley wouldn't escape...not that he hasn't tried already!

Checking out the patio.
(With Katherine keeping a watchful eye.)

"I wonder if I can squeeze through these bars?"

To wrap up a long day of travel, we looked up a pizzeria that we had tried the first time we were here.  Pizza Luce and their famous pink boxes.  To our disappointment, the closest location in St. Paul doesn't deliver to Eagan.  No matter, we ordered it as take out and Katherine and I hoped in the Jeep and drove into St. Paul to get it.  It wasn't that big of a deal though, since the hotel is right near the highway it only took us 15 minutes to get there.

Ok, so this time the box was blue...hmmm, the wonders of Photoshop...that's better!
(I hope I picked the right shade of pink...ok, maybe it's more of a fuschia.)

More to come over the next few days.  We still have Rilley's actual follow up and MRI to do.  As well we will be having lunch with the man behind the vaccine...yes, we finally get to meet up with Dr. John Ohlfest!