2007-07 Independence Day

We spent the 4th of July here in Eagan beginning with the local parade. LeAnn's niece Heidi invited everyone over to her and Julie's house for the day. They live just a block from the parade route, so it makes for a good starting point. We got down to the parade and put out the lawn chairs and blankets. The kids all invited friends along, so we had a good sized group out on the curb waiting for candy. Both of LeAnn's sisters and their families along with Ray's mom came after the parade to Heidi's.




Since this is not an election year, the number of politicians in the parade was less than in some years. The local boy scouts, girl scouts, dance teams, bands, churches and fire departments were all participating. The Shriner's bagpipe band in full Scottish garb was an unexpected treat.


After the parade, we went back up to Heidi's for an afternoon of swimming, bean bag toss, and rodeo golf. We also grilled hot dogs, bratwurst and hamburgers to go along with all the side dishes like potato salad, taco salad, and pasta salad.



As it got dark, we waited for the fireworks coming from the Community Center. While we were waiting, we made root beer floats (using keg root beer!) and we lit some sparklers. The fireworks started about 10:00 and lasted close to 25 minutes.

2007-07 Taste of Minnesota

On Sunday afternoon we headed down to Harriet Island on the Mississippi River to attend the Taste of Minnesota festival. The festival is across the river from downtown St. Paul, so there are some nice views of the city skyline.

Shuttle buses run from downtown to the festival grounds, or you can park on the festival side of the river and walk in. The festival has vendors selling their wares and crafts (sunglasses were the most popular item this year, there must have been at least a dozen vendors) along with local restaurants selling food and beverage. The variety of food is great, form Australian Breaky Pies, to Shwarma/Gyros, turkey legs, sweet corn, onion blossoms, ice cream, fresh squeezed lemonade, beer, wine and dozens of other options. Since you can't bring in your won food or beverage, your are a captive audience for the sights and smells of the food booths.


You have to buy tickets (scrip) for the food and beverage from various ticket booths on the grounds. This serves 2 purposes. The first is reduce the cash handling and build-up of cash at the individual food booth. The second is to make it seem like you are not spending real money for the food. It is also less easy to figure out what exactly they are charging you for the food.

There was a carnival area with rides and a midway to help entertain the kids. Radio Disney also had a stage where they were playing music and having dance contests. There is a large open area with a main stage for the bigger music acts. When we were there, a military band was playing as it was the middle of the afternoon. The bigger name entertainment took the stage in the evening, but we left around dinner time. The evening show was followed by a fireworks each night. The festival runs from the weekend through the 4th of July.

2007-06 Family Golf Outing

On Saturday, we went to the local par 3 course with Kara and Hailey and a couple of their friends along with our neighbors, Mike and Nancy. This is a nice course for beginners to learn on as almost everyone there has kids in their foursome, so there is not a lot of pressure for speed of play. The course is short, but there are some sand traps and water on it which provides some challenge for everyone.

The greens are not cut very close, so the ball does not roll real easily, which is good because if you can get on the green, it will usually stay. Kara was able to take advantage of this on the second hole when she had it roll up on the green from her drive and then 2 putted for par! Both LeAnn and Mike had a birdie during the round.

We had wanted to get the kids back out golfing again, but hadn't had much success, so we were glad we were able to get a couple groups together. We are hoping to get a few more rounds in with the kids during the rest of the summer so they can feel comfortable golfing in the future.

2007-06 The Bloomin' Idiots Ride the MS150

Over the weekend of June 8th and 9th, Ray, LeAnn and Mariah joined over 3000 other bicycle riders participating in the MS150 bike ride from Duluth to Blaine, MN. This 150 mile ride is a charity ride to benefit the Minnesota Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Our team this year consisted of 7 riders. Besides us, we had LeAnn's brother-in-law John, niece Heather, and two friends Russ and Sonja. Ray started riding for MS back in 1996 and others have joined along the way. The team this year has completed 45 rides between them. This represents 6750 miles, or about the distance from Minneapolis to Shanghai, China.

We placed our bikes on a truck in Blaine and boarded buses for the ride to Duluth. We camped overnight at the Proctor high school, and went down to Canal Park in Duluth for dinner. It was a very nice evening on the shores of Lake Superior, being much warmer than it normally has been. It was breezy though, foreshadowing what was to come on Saturday.

We awoke early on Saturday morning to get in line at 6:00 for breakfast. The line stretched around 3 sides of the gymnasium and took about 45 to get to the cafeteria. We were served pancakes made by the dozens on a special grill with an automated dispensing system for the batter. Heather was lucky enough to be singled out to catch her pancakes rather than being handed a plate with them already on.

We got on the road about 7:30 and were in the middle of the pack. This meant long lines at the rest stops, which are stationed about every 12 miles. They are manned by volunteers and are well stocked with fruit, peanut butter sandwiches, cereal bars, water and Gatorade. The wind also started to kick up and slowed us down. We made it to lunch about 12:20, and finally to Hinckley (the halfway point and the end of day 1) at about 4:30. We parked our bikes in the bike coral and headed off for a cold beer. John's wife Sue came up and met us in Hinckley for the evening festivities. After cleaning up, we ate dinner at one of the casino restaurants and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

We got up early again on Sunday skipped the pancake breakfast and instead opted for the quick continental breakfast at the hotel. This allowed us to hit the road at 6:30. The wind was very calm for the first 4 hours and we made very good time to our lunch stop in North Branch, making the 37 miles by 10:00. A few slices of pizza, some chips and fruit, and we were ready to hit the road for the last half of day 2. We kept up a good pace the rest of the way, and brought the whole group through the finish line around 2:30. Sue had been working her way to Blaine, meeting us for lunch and at the afternoon rest stops before catching up with us at the end. Heather's husband Jason and son Reed also came to the finish line to celebrate with us. We had some sore bottoms, tired muscles and bodies, one busted spoke, and a close call to a collision, but we still were talking about making plans for next year.

After completing the ride, everyone feels a sense of accomplishment, not only for themselves, but also for those they are riding for and who will benefit from the $2 million raised for the MS Society here in Minnesota. You can check out the MS Society web site and still make a pledge for any of the Bloomin' Idiots at Bloomin' Idiots Team Page

2007-05 Mothers Day Race for the Cure

On Mother's Day this year we rejoined the annual tradition of walking in the Susan G Komen 5k Race for the Cure event here in the Twin Cities. We had missed the last 3 while we were living in the Philippines. We started participating in this event in memory of LeAnn's sister Marsha, who died of breast cancer, by forming a team and calling it Marsha's Milers. We also walk in honor of Marsha's sister-in-law Margaret and LeAnn's sister Yvonne who are cancer survivors. Both Yvonne and Margaret walked with us this year, as did Ray's mom and LeAnn's mom, and numerous nieces, nephews and relatives from aged 1-1/2 to 80. We saw two other families from the neighborhood during the walk too.

When we first started walking, it was held at the Southdale shopping center and had around 20,000 participants, but is now held at the Mall of America and has nearly 50,000 participants. Business sponsors provide food and drink, along with information and give-ways such as key chains and literature. The bandannas from Ford Motor company are always a big hit.

The weather started out cold in the morning, but warmed up quite a bit by the time we were done walking. Due to the size of the crowd, it takes about 1.5 hours to walk the 5K. The start line is about 1/2 mile form the sponsor tents, so that adds to the time and distance. Everyone made it around without any trouble, and it ended up being a nice day for the event.

2007-04 A Quick Tour of a small part of San Diego

Ray attended some meetings in San Diego and had a little time after he first arrived to check out the harbor area. He noticed in the hotel they had some cruiser bikes available to ride around the area on, so he took one out. The cruiser bikes are single speed, large seat, high rise comfort style bikes which work well on flat terrain. The bay side area is very flat, so it was a nice way to get around.

I went out to the bike rack to pick one out, went back to get the key and then tried to remove the lock. Unfortunately, the lock didn't open. I had to go back in and get all the keys and try them until I found one that fit. I raised the seat and was off and pedaling--for about 100 feet when the seat had settled back down to the lowest level. NO matter how much I tightened it this kept happening, so I finally wedged the U-lock between the frame and the seat and that kept the seat in a comfortable position for riding.

The area around the hotel is filled with marinas and businesses catering to boat and ship ownership, building and repair. I first went west and out to Shelter Island. This is a long strip of land that provides a protected area for many large boats inside the harbor itself. There are many statues and benches along the peninsula including a memorial for the tuna men who started the tuna industry here. A duck boat was out in the bay while I was there, and I later saw one (maybe the same one) out on Harbor Drive as he was heading back to the east.

This took me back past the hotel, and I kept riding in the direction of Harbor Island. This is another long strip of land in the bay filled with large boats and fancy hotels. Both areas had very nice views of downtown, and Coronado Island, which faces the ocean. Lots of military aircraft are in the air, and military boats in the water due to the naval air base located on Coronado Island.

Not a lot of time to see much else, but if I would have realized the Padres were playing a home game Wednesday evening, I probably would have went down watch the game. As it was, I discovered they were playing when I flipped on the tube about 9:30.

2007-04 Arizona Vacation

During the kid’s spring break, we went down to visit LeAnn’s mom in Apache Junction Arizona. Apache Junction is just east of Phoenix. LeAnn’s mom has been spending the winters there for over 20 years. Mariah did not join us this year as she was supposed to be on a trip to Brazil with her high school band, but due to an air traffic controllers strike which occurred in Brazil as the kids were en route, the trip was cancelled. You can read all about it in the previous blog.

We got in late on Sunday evening, and went to pick up our rental car. When we got to the desk, they did not have any minivans available like we had reserved, so they transferred us to another agency which was able to rent us a van.

On Monday, we went swimming at the community pool in grandma’s park, trimmed up her cactus (and only got a few cactus needles embedded in our skin from the prickly pear despite wearing gloves and using tongs) and drove around the park with the kids in grandma’s golf cart. They really have a good time driving this around. We enjoyed relaxing as we prepared for our two day trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon on Tuesday.

We made it up to Sedona in the late morning and stopped at the information center for some information on tours. The volunteer there was very helpful and mapped out a self-guided tour that would allow us to see the highlights of the Red Rock region. Our first stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is built on an outcropping and a beautiful view of the valley. Parking is very limited and you have to wait in line for someone to leave before you can pull in, but fortunately, most stays are pretty brief and they have guides controlling the flow.




Our next stop was the airport mesa overlook where we could see north and westward. Sedona strings out through the valley from east to west. We stopped at a pull-off and parked for a quick hike. We went over the rise and then could see back east and south. Although we couldn't see the Chapel again, we could see the fancy house situated just below the chapel.




We drove north from the airport lookout and into the canyon valley, before heading down to the red rock loop and Crescent Moon Ranch state park. Crescent Moon Ranch state park had a nice hiking trail that went down to the base of the cathedral rock formation. At the end of the trail was a swimming hole, but no one was swimming at the time. A bunch of people had piled rocks up to form pyramid type structures. There were hundreds of these in a large rock bed which was full of flat rocks. The trail continued on the other side of the creek, but you had to wade across the water to get too it, so we just headed back.

As our day was ending, we headed up to Midgley Bridge which crosses Oak Creek. As with the entire area, there are plenty of hiking trails emanating out from this point. We walked down a little ways and took some pictures of the canyon back towards Sedona. There were a group of people who had hiked down to the river and were picnicking and playing Frisbee.

We then headed to the downtown area to stroll around and check out the gift shops and have a treat. The evening was quieting down and some of the stores were starting to close as we headed out of town for our overnight accommodations in Williams. When we arrived in Williams, we went downtown to find a place to eat and stumbled across the Pine Country Restaurant which provided large portions and good food.

Wednesday brought us to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Tusayan just outside the gate and watched the IMAX film on the grand canyon, picked up our day pass, and headed in. The crowds were large since it is a holiday week and lot of people are on vacation. We parked our car near Mather overlook and started off on the Rim Trail. The views are just spectacular from any place along the canyon. Rather than moving our vehicle from place to place, we just used the shuttle service provided. They were convenient and could get you closer to the places you wanted to be than you could drive and park. Some of the roads that used to be open to traffic are now just used by the shuttle buses.

We had wanted to hike a short way down into the canyon with the kids to give them the interior view, so we headed to the south Kaibab trail head. We loaded with water as the trail is almost 100% in the sun, except the first section which is up against the canyon walls and fully shaded. That felt really good on the way back. We hiked down to Ooh-Ahh point, which is aptly named as you can see out in many directions from there along with the spectacular views looking back up to the top of the rim. The total trip is listed as 1.5 miles, but seems longer. We were amazed at how many people we saw that had no water, no backpack (supplies), or inappropriate footwear (sandals) that were taking the hike. We saw people of all ages from 2 to 60+ taking on the hike. It is quite a draw for all who come.


We made it safely down and back and then headed off to lunch at the Canyon Cafe. A little souvenir shopping and then a couple of last looks at the canyon from this main area before we headed off to watch the sunset from the Desert View lookout. This was one of the first tourist sites with a watchtower built out of the native stones to allow enclosed viewing in 360˚ so you can see both the canyon to the north, east and west along with the desert to the south. This is also one of the best sites for actually viewing Colorado River as it comes in from the east. We then loaded up and headed back to Phoenix.

Thursday was spent relaxing at the pool and then dinner at the Organ Stop pizzeria. This pizzeria has an original full size theatre organ which was used in the 20’s and 30’s to provide music and sound effects for silent films. The largest pipe is 33’ tall and it requires 4 giant turbines to provide enough air for the pipes. The organ and the organist are raised out of the floor and then plays for about 45 minutes doing favorites and requests. Various sound effects and instruments are also played from the organ keyboard. Instruments range from xylophones, drums, piano, and brass. The 4 organists who play there are great musicians and who put together their sets on the fly. We sat through 2 sets as we ate and relaxed.

Friday morning we got up and went golfing on the sand green course next to the park appropriately called Sandy Greens Golf Course. The fairways are bare desert without grass and the ball bounces every which way if it hits a stone or pebble on the way to the green. The ball is teed up for every shot on a rubber tee like those used in the mats at the driving range. The “greens” are compacted sand and are dragged with a carpet after each group to keep them smooth. You can see bird tracks along with our tracks from being on the green. Golfing on the desert course requires a different set of skills especially around the green.

After golfing we headed to the local flee market to look for bargains. The flea market consists of 4 aisles that are each about ½ mile in length. The whole market is under a roof to protect the vendors and shoppers from the sun and rain. The variety of merchandise ranges from cheap knock-offs to fine handicrafts. The aisles are wide and it is easy to get around. It opens early in the morning and starts to get quiet shortly after noon as the heat drives people home.





In the afternoon, we drove up to Tortilla Flat, a small town along the Apache Trail on the way to Roosevelt Dam. It has a restaurant, gift shop and ice cream parlor with some very good prickly pear ice cream. It has been a tradition to sign and leave dollar bills which are then stapled on the walls. They have estimated they have over $80,000 stapled to the walls. The place burned down in 1987 and all the money stapled to the walls was lost too. We passed Canyon Lake on the way to Tortilla Flat and it was crowded with boats and swimmers. We all felt it would be quite a trek to trailer your boat in and out of the lake going back and forth on the narrow, winding road.

On the way home, we went to dinner at the Mining Camp Restaurant. It is a restaurant at the base of the Superstition Mountains built in 1961. They serve all you can eat ribs, chicken and ham family style (large serving platters from which you dish your own helpings). All the place settings are tin and laid out on large wooden picnic tables as you walk into the mess hall. The food was terrific, and we were stuffed by the end of the evening. Usually, it is very crowded, but since it was Good Friday and the menu only includes meat, it was not busy.

We had Easter dinner on Saturday at LeAnn’s mom’s along with LeAnn’s nieces Beth and Laura, who live down here now. We were glad they were able to come over for a visit and dinner. We cooked ham on the grill and ate outside, which is a treat for us Minnesotan’s at Easter time. We started to wind down and get packed up and ready to go as we had an overnight flight back to Minnesota leaving at midnight.