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Day Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight - Driving to Minneapolis and Hastings, searched by a border agent,
Hastings, Minnesota
The final dip into the states for this trip was to cut across North Dakota, Minneapolis, Wisconsin and Michigan in order to spare myself the boredom of Northern Ontario, and get to see some more interesting sights, and pick up some final gifts for friends and relatives.
The day started fairly early, as I drove Jon to the Winnipeg airport for his flight back home. I had slept on a recliner the night previously and slept fairly well for having done so, (Seth has some very nice furniture on which people can sleep, ) so I really wasn't that tired to start my trip.
I don't know, however, what I looked like, and must have looked a little suspicious, since I got to the border to enter into the states, immediately had my passport temporarily confiscated, and was told to pull up to garage #1 for a car inspection. I think the odd points of entry and departure for my trip must have tripped some sort of potential danger sensors in the officer's head, though, so I complied, and headed to the garage. I waited for about five minutes, went into the garage, and followed procedure for a car search, was questioned about what I do, why I was doing it, what was in the car, what kind of souvenirs I was bringing back, etc. I was then told to wait in the room while the officers searched my car for, I don't know what, drugs? Money? Animals? Fruit? All of the above, I suppose.
After having searched the car, and being satisfied that I'm as boring a person as I claimed to be, I was allowed to proceed. I drove south for quite a while, though less time than I had anticipated it taking, and ended up at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. This was an attempt, in my head, to mentally compare the two major malls I'd been to, the West Edmonton Mall and the Mall of America. I was so tired by the time I arrived at the MoA, however, that I pretty much did not have the energy to do it justice, especially on a Saturday afternoon, with as many people as were there.
I did the nickel tour, saw the giant theme park, was able to absorb how large this place actually was, and then went to starbucks to attempt to upload photos. Being the MoA, and having a ton of folks there, I had less speed on the Starbucks network connection than I used to have in the dial-up days, and only succeeded in uploading about half of the photos I had taken. In any case, my impressions of the mall were: 1. It is very large, larger than I could dedicate the mental resources to see that day. 2. It is a more daunting proposition than doing the WEM, but probably easier to see everything, since it's in a more compact space, being five stories high and box-shaped, as opposed to the WEM, which is spread out over a much larger distance, and with only two floors, apart from the Cineplex. 3. The roller coasters there are actually real roller coasters, as opposed to the WEM, which is really kids' coasters. The ones at the MoA are for kids as well, but on a much larger scale. 4. The Lego store is cool.
Having done that, I proceeded to my hosts' place in Hastings, MN, and conked out pretty quickly, after a lovely discussion of politics, ghosts, the nature of old houses, and various trips we all wanted to do. Thanks again to Dudley and Amy for putting me up, despite having a ton of packing to do to leave the day after I did for a camping and canoeing trip. They have a beautiful old house, complete with, according to Amy, some very friendly ghosts, and, although I didn't see any while I was there, I'm sure they would have been considerate enough to leave me alone, given how tired I was.
I'm also including the description of Sunday here, mostly because nothing happened. I can't write about nothing and literally nothing happened. No sightseeing, no hosts for the evening, no interesting sights along the highway, just driving, cheap gas, and cheaper eating. Arriving in Sault Ste. Marie was kind of exciting, since it was me, back in Ontario for the first time in a month, and only one day away from the end of my major sightseeing. I stayed in a place called the Holiday Motel, and it was really great for the price. I paid $55 and got pretty much everything I've had at much pricier places for less, along with better TV and very convenient access to my road this morning.
The next update won't be until the 22nd or 23rd, but will contain shots of my cottage, a summary of my trip, and possibly a couple of photo summaries, and my thoughts on the experience as a whole.
See you on the other side!
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