The capitol grounds were sprawling from one end of the street to the next.
We walked in the building to a grand staircase in front of us.
The inside was beautiful, with intricate paintings on the ceilings and walls.
The rotunda was grand with large archways lining the halls.
We peered through the gates at the Senate and House chambers…
…and stopped at the visitor’s center for our stamp before exiting the building to search for a Minnesota coffee mug.
FAST FACTS about Minnesota:
- Although Minesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” it really has close to 12,000 lakes.
- The largest shopping mall in the US, the Mall of America is located in Bloomington, MN. It has a theme park, movie theater, zip lines, over 500 stores, an aquarium, a wedding chapel, 20,000 parking spaces, over 50 restaurants and much more.
- Minnesota has more shore line than Florida, California and Hawaii combined.
We sat on the front steps for a bit while RJ looked for a camping spot for the following night and I looked up places to buy a coffee mug.
After fifteen minutes or so and no luck with either the mug or campground, we walked back to the bike.
Before making it out of St. Paul, we stopped on the side of the road because RJ was panicking about finding a campsite for the following night. We had forgotten that it was Labor Day weekend and every KOA, national forest and state park were completely full. RJ called place after place and 45 minutes to an hour later, he found a campground that had one spot available. With that taken care of we took off for Wisconsin. Well, we tried to…RJ had left the key on in the ignition and the bike was dead. Completely dead. Now what? We had spent so much time looking for a campsite and we had to find a coffee mug yet. Lucky for us, we had just so happened to pull over right by a sloped alley way. RJ walked the bike to the top of the hill and I pushed him down the alley way with all my might. But to no avail. It was hot out so I peeled off my riding gear and put it in a pile next to the dumpster at the bottom of the alley way. We started taking everything off the bike-both saddle bags, the camping gear and the top case. And I pushed the bike back up the slope – rather grumpily, I might add. One more time I pushed the bike with all my power down the hill and voila! the bike came to life! We put the equipment back on the bike, I geared up and we were off to find a coffee mug.
Now, these mugs are a stressful part of RJ’s life. I’m rather particular when it comes to choosing a mug and RJ complains bitterly how they pretty much ruin his life and we waste so much time looking for the stupid thing. The capitol had a gift shop but only one plain mug and I just wasn’t feeling it. RJ told me to buy it because he knows how frustrating it is to look for mugs along the way but sometimes I have a hard time listening to that still small voice inside my head–I mean, my husband. So we started our search for the right mug. We stopped at so many gas stations without any luck at all and every stop was making RJ a little testier. Finally, several miles before we left Minnesota, we stopped at the last gas station before the state border and found a cheapo mug that I didn’t even like all that much but I had to buy it or else I wouldn’t have a coffee mug at all. RJ thought I deserved a crappy mug since I wouldn’t buy the one at the gift shop and we had to search everywhere for another one. I told him I would always remember this mug because of the fond memory of searching for it.
We continued our drive to the KOA in the freezing cold and several hours later pulled in around 11. With chattering teeth and numb fingers we set up the tent by flashlight. The only redeeming thing about that freezing cold drive was the Taco Bell within walking distance from our campsite.