Roadtrip Part 2

October 2, 2008

It took us about 5 hours before we reached the border of Minnesota but we still had quite a ways to go before reaching MOA. We crossed a bridge and there was THE sign.

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Minnesota welcomes you!

At this point I was really happy and excited while Rob was really close to throwing me into the river we were crossing. HEH Here’s why…

S: We’re in Minnesota!!!!
R: Yes we are
S: So where is the Mall of America?
R: Ummm honey, we just reached the border.
S: I know, we’re in Minnesota!
R: MOA is a third of the way up the state
S: Oh ok, that’s not too bad. How far are we?
R: Pretty far…
S: Ok….how long of a drive left?
R: 3 or 4 hours
S: What?! But we’re in Minnesota!
R: …….

(Ten or fifteen minutes later….)

S: Are we there yet?
R: No…
S: How about now?
R: No…
S: Now?
R: No
S: NOW????????
R: NO!!!!!!!!
S: Why not?
R:

Repeat the above conversations, oh let’s say about 10 times, throughout the journey. I’m sure at SOME point Rob would’ve driven off a cliff somewhere. Lol.

It should be noted that I’m actually not THAT annoying. I was having some fun and trying to make Rob laugh because most of the time he had the look going as he was concentrating on the driving. All I wanted was to get a from him.

The scenic, although longer, route took us across the Mississippi River. That was the whole purpose of the scenic route.
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Side note from Rob “The first time we crossed the river, you didn’t get the pictures you wanted. So I drove back to Wisconsin for a couple minutes, turned around and crossed the bridge again so you can have your pictures, remember???”

Heh, thanks honey. I owe you one.

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The view after the bridge was so breathtaking that even the pictures doesn’t do much justice.

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One of the many dams along the Mississippi River

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We stopped so many times during the first hour or so on this track across the Mississippi River, one of the longest rivers in the United States and fourth longest in the world. I remember reading somewhere that it runs through like 10 states.

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On a highway lookout stop

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Oh so pretty!

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Not so pretty but must camwhore a bit lah!

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Along the Mississippi River are naturally formed and man-made lakes. Lake Pepin is a naturally occuring lake and the largest lake on the river. After reading up some information about it on Wikipedia, I’ve been zooming in my pictures to see if I caught a lake “monster”. Apparently, there have been sightings of Pepie, a version of the Loch Ness Monster throughout the years in that lake.

Anyway, no such luck lah. Thought that if I did capture a picture of Pepie, I could make some money selling the picture to a magazine or something and be rich!

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Lake Pepin

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We stopped by a town called Winona for a quick bite at McDonald’s. At this point I remember asking Rob, “Are we going to get to MOA in time before the stores close? I wanna go shopping!”. Of course he laughed at my eagerness to shop and I also remember him using that against me.

S: Oooo let’s stop and take a look here
R: If we keep stopping you’re not gonna get a chance to shop today
S: Oh…ok. Let’s keep going.
R:

We kept driving and driving until we saw this nice little town by a lake a little over an hour later. There were many sailboats on the lake. I couldn’t ressist, we HAD to stop and take some pictures. I think the town is call Lake City. Heh how creative.

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I think the most we spent there snapping pictures was about 30 minutes. I would have loved to dip my feet in the water or something but shopping at MOA was my ultimate goal for the day. Ahhh women…Lol

And so about 2 hours later (and after checking in our hotel room), we saw this…

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NO not the “Right Turn Lane” sign. Look BEHIND IT, at the humongous building


MALL OF AMERICA!

The journey started at 9am and we arrived at MOA just before 7.30pm. The roadtrip was SUPPOSE to take 6-7 hours but with my constant shenanigans “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now? Now? Are we there yet? How far is it? How long have we been driving?”, “Oooooo! Look at that!” or “STOP!!! Picture op(portunity)!!!” or “Honey, I gotta pee” or “Baby, I’m hungry” or “Ummm I really need to stand up…my ass is killing me!”, it took us about 10 hours. *sheepish grin*

Roadtrip Part 1

September 28, 2008

The day started at 9 am when we piled all our stuff in the car and headed towards Minnesota. We tried to sleep as early as possible the night before but I think we both were too excited about the trip the next day. I know I was.

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Rob getting gas AKA petrol

Driving for some thirty minutes, we swung by a rest stop for gas and Burger King for breakfast. Rob introduced me to French Toast Sticks. Apparently he ate a bunch of these when he was a teenager and he told me stories about how he would skip the first class of school JUST to go eat French Toast Sticks. (The rebel!). In his own words “They were the best thing on earth back then!”

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And you know what? I agree with him! They are GOOD! If you love French toast like I do, this certainly will tease your tastebuds. I cook my French toast on a pan, Burger King’s French Toast sticks are FRIED!!! OMG they are SO TASTY!

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French Toast Sticks dipped in Mapple syrup. YUM!

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Pink lemonade for breakfast 😛

Then we off to continue our journey to MOA.

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We took the scenic route which was the longer way but it was well worth it. We drove past many farms and little towns. The view was great, I really love the countryside!

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Our route cut through Wisconsin and when we reached the Wisconsin Dells area, I saw tons of water parks and resorts around. It looked like a lot of fun but we had a schedule to stick to so we drove on.

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The sign says “Wisconsin Welcomes You”

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Earlier on in the week, we heard news about Lake Delton in Wisconsin Dells that dried out, like completely dried out. All that was left was mud and stones. So we figured we would take a detour and sneaked in stopped by one of the resorts in Witomy to check it out. I was dumbfounded….

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According to Rob (2008) [Practising my citation skills for my thesis, please don’t mind me :P], it’s a man-made lake with an edge very close to a river and the water broke through and emptied in a nearby river. To quote Rob again, “This is what happens when human messes with nature!”

We stopped only for a little while and went on our way. Along the way, we drove past more farms and prairies. It was a sight! I loved it. There were horses and cows and sheep. Very different from the tall buildings and highways, away from civilization. Again I have to say, I love the countryside!

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Cool looking rock formation

Last but not least, this is me in the car with a mouth stuffed full of gummi bear candy. 😛 I tried to coax Rob into competing who can have the most gummi bears in their mouth (like we did during my first visit there, roadtripping to Wilmot) but he said it was too early for candy! *GASP* So, in the end I syiok sendiri (entertained myself) lah!

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In the mean time, I’m preparing pictures for Part 2!

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