Road Trip - Part 2


We arrived in Minneapolis that night after leaving DeSmet. Sue's flight wasn't until the next afternoon, so we had some time to meet some of my old friends and watch the Twins playoff game on TV. We also did a little driving around before Sue's flight the next day..

mpls_jimsue
Lake Harriet isn't far from James' house, so we took a trip up to see the old house and went down to the lake.


mpls_petempls_waitingondiane

The weather was perfect (except for the mosquitos). We spent Friday night at Pete's house and he had a fire in his fire pit, and we did the same at James'
the next night. James broke out the comfy furniture and was a very attentive host!


mpls_dianeatthemall
Before we left town Monday morning, we stopped off at the Mall of America.
This is (obviously) at Camp Snoopy.


We then Headed towards Cleveland through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We decided on that route since the scenery would be very nice this time of year. As it turned out, the entire trip through the U.P. was so foggy that we didn't see anything! Oh well, we tried. So we drove through to Cleveland since Evelyn was flying in Tuesday night. The one thing we wanted to see in Cleveland was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum:

cleveland
We ended up spending about four hours here; it was very interesting, with a LOT of things to look at.
They don't allow photos inside, so this is all you get...


We then spent that night in Erie, PA before heading the next morning across New York state towards Boston. It was during the drive through New York that we saw the best of the autumn leaves:

newyorkcolors
This was taken from a rest stop in New York. I'm not quite sure what Evelyn's doing..
I thought maybe she was just going to walk home...!


Evelyn suggested we go to Boston; there was an exhibit at the science center there which displayed much of the props and costumes and technology used for the production of the Lord of the Rings movies. It was very large, quite comprehensive, and very interesting. This is the only stop for the show, so you had to see it in Boston or not at all. We were there for hours:

boston1boston0
Again, no pictures allowed in the exhibit, but some of the extra stuff outside was pretty neat.


Also leaving from the Boston science center is the Boston Duck Tours. This is a tour of historic Boston in World War II amphibious transport vehicles. Part of the tour is on land, then they drive right into the harbor and finish the tour on water before retuning to the science center. It was really neat, something to do when you're in Boston..!

boston2
Diane and I made the unfortunate decision to sit right up front, so we really couldn't see as much
as we might have. But I'm still glad we did, since all the other seats have almost no leg room.
This is a picture out the side window while we were on the water.


Also while in Boston, we got to see Diane's friend Linda, who was a bridesmaid in Ray's & Amy's wedding. We had dinner in one of the Cheers bars (not the famous one though, but just one to use the name), then went to see the famous Faneiul Hall in the middle of Boston. We took off that evening in order to get out of Boston and find an affordable place to stay!

The next day (Saturday) we headed into New Jersey in order to visit my old friend Glen from Oglethorpe Univ, whom I hadn't seen in 19 years. After a meal at his house, we drove straight through to Evelyn's townhouse in Annapolis, MD, where we stayed a couple of nights:

evelyns1evelyns2
Evelyn moved in a couple of years ago, and this is the first time I'd seen it finished. She used bright bold colors on the walls, and I think it looks great..!


Continue to the next section...