Minneapolis - 8/22/14

Up at 6:30 to shower, coffee and face the day.  The Baymont Suites beds were OK, the pillows not, the shower surprisingly competent. We stepped out of the room and were nasally assaulted by the stench of either sewer gas or someone's backed up toilet. Ew.

The free breakfast comprised of some fruit, a waffle machine, biscuits and gravy, and assorted pastries.  Acceptable, but the downer was that the coffee machine was out of order.  We had b&g and a waffle, downed some juice and grabbed extra coffee packets from the front desk.  We brewed new coffee in our room and headed out - left LeMars at 8:30, headed for Minneapolis along highway 60. This was a great dual carriageway for most of the trip.

We took a side trip to Iowa's highest point, the middle of a cornfield in north central Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border.  Corn towering over the  car, and grasshoppers flying into the windshield.

Around 11:30, we stopped at a McDonald's for our obligatory road trip fast food break and pressed on to our destination. Road construction detours delayed our arrival at MSP until 2:00.  We pulled into Terminal 2, parked in the garage, and walked right into the Customs office for our appointment.  Surprise!  Their office moved on July 1 to Terminal 1, so on to the Metro train, then to the tram then to the moving walkways to travel over to Terminal 1.  We arrived at the check-in for our 2:45 appointment at 2:25.  They were running behind due to staff vacations and we finally got in around 3:15.  I was photoed and fingerprinted. They told me I passed and my card would be in the mail.  I am now Global Entry qualified. Woo-hoo!

On to Embassy suites.  We checked in and dropped our bags, calling April Dillon to confirm we had arrived.  At 5:15, we headed over to April's to pick up our chair and have dinner.  The chair was more than we had hoped - just perfect. April prepared sea bass on the grill, a couscous and current salad, and a cold tomato and watermelon salad dressed with a mild vinaigrette.  All was delicious and was followed by a warmed peach and brandy dessert over ice cream.  A wonderful meal and great company.  April's hospitality was perfect, her home lovely, her new kitchen remodeling enviable.

We headed back to the hotel and arrived around 9:30.   We read and Deb crawled into bed to watch TV.  By 10:30, she was moaning and groaning with stomach distress.  Needless to say after a few hours of worshiping the porcelain deity, she finally dozed off and slept fitfully.  Mark was fine, so it wasn't the food (or his iron gut overcame the enemy.)  Hope Saturday's planned activities are not impacted.