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Pablo, Olivia and Maria's Trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin Sept 2003

This Labor Day weekend we decided to take a trip to Minneapolis to see the great Mall of America. On the way of course we stayed in some very nice little towns along the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers.

Our trip started Friday night. We drove 4 hours from Chicago to La Crosse Wisconsin. This is a beautiful small town located on the Mississippi river. This area is called Bluff Country, named after the awesome bluffs along the Mississippi and surrounding rivers. It truly was a spectacle. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel right on the river. Saturday morning we walked around town the small park next to the hotel along the river. This was a great town. On the way out of town we drove to a scenic outcrop overlooking the town. See the pictures!

We left La Crosse heading north on HWY 16, on the Minnesota side. The road went along the Mississippi. We stopped at a lock and damn to see the boats pass through. It was cool. We also stopped at a few other towns, Lake City and Wabasha, which was the town where Grumpy Old Men was filmed.

We arrived in Stillwater, Minnesota around 7PM. We stayed at the AmericInn hotel. We drove around town for a few minutes and went back to the hotel. We had a swim in the pool and went to sleep.

The following morning we headed toward the Mall of America. On the way there, we drove around Minneapolis. It's a very nice city. The Mall is rather large with a 7 acre amusement park in the middle of the mall. Other than that, it's a typical mall. Olivia played in the Cereal Adventures kiddy are, and loved it!

After the mall, we headed south to our next destination, Rochester, MN. Home of the Mayo Clinic. WOW! On the way to Rochester we stopped at Rice Lake State Park and hiked around a bit. Then continued to Rochester. Rochester is another nice small town. Not much to do, but as with all Wisconsin and MN towns, they have a lot of bike/ski trails.

Monday morning we walked around the small city park in Rochester. We happened to see hundreds of geese at the park. Maria got scared since they kind of began to surround us. I guess having several hundred geese surround you is a bit scary.

After Rochester we headed south. We planned to go back to La Crosse since we liked it so much. But of course we took the scenic route. We took the Root River State Trail scenic HWY. This was truly a great drive. I want to go back. The road curved its way along the Root River between tall tree lined bluffs. We stopped at a small town for a bite to eat. Nice little town along the river and the state bike trail.

We continued east back to La Crosse. When we arrived, we got a room at the Radisson Hotel right next to the park on the Mississippi. Right next to the Marriott we stayed a few nights before. We walked around town again and watched the sunset over the river. It was a great trip!

Maria and Olivia on the Mississippi - La Crosse WI.