Trip to Minnesota

Wednesday and Thursday were spent in Minnesota for work.  I had to go up and review/tour a potential supplier to make sure that I would be satisfied they would be able to provide error free components for a new water meter that the company is developing.  It turned out to be 13 hours of driving in two days, but I will say the drive was very pleasant.  No traffic, and very scenic.  The visit to the company itself went very good, and I believe we’ll be using them going forward.

I purposely chose a hotel right near the Mall of America so that I would at least have something to do while I was there.  Though I will say I thought it would be better.  The only time I have ever been to the Mall of America was to do a girl scout overnight when Ali was in Kindergarten I believe (I may have an entry here somewhere about it way back at the beginning of my blog) when we got to tour the aquarium there after hours and sleep in the shark tunnel.  That was cool, though it was one of the worst nights of sleep I ever had.  This time around it was just walking around, and getting a late lunch at one of the restaurants with the co-worker that went with me.  She had wanted to do some shopping for her kids so it worked out good for her.  For me the biggest decision was to go to the Rain Forrest Café, Margaritaville, or the Hard Rock.  The Hard Rock won out.

Coming back the next day I had to stop in Winona, MN at a different supplier.  The coworker that I was with had to stop there for another meeting, so I just tagged along.  It was pretty interesting as we got a tour of the facility, and even some nice marketing swag from them.  But the totally awesome thing was the drive from Minneapolis.  I routed the drive along the Mississippi, and there were some truly breathtaking views of the river and bluffs.  If I didn’t have to stop for work, I may have thought about stopping to take some pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Maybe the next time we take Sarah up to LaCrosse, I’ll take the River Road route back.  It is an extra hour of driving, but you really can’t beat the views.