After days of surviving the Midwest heatwave, we were looking forward to cooler temperatures. But, perhaps we should be more specific in what we wished for? As we headed to Minneapolis in the morning, it wasn't just cooler, but bucketing down with rain, with the downpour so strong that it made it difficult to see through the windscreen. The rain was absolutely torrential, and Michael had to use all his concentration to see the lane markings, and stay steady on the road, and navigate unfamiliar territory.
Purple Rain: Seeing the Outside of Paisley Park
We'd planned to visit Paisley Park, Prince's over 6,00 square meter (65,000 square foot) home and recording studio, which is now a museum where people can do guided tours. While we wanted to see it, tickets would cost $83 each, and it wasn't open the day we were there (tours are from Thursday to Monday). These factors made the decision for us, so we drove instead to see it from the outside. It's incredibly understated, as it seems to be in an industrial area, and the building is mostly white, industrial-looking, and lacking windows on at least a couple of sides.
Mall of America: Once the World's Largest
When Lisette was in high school, she wanted to visit the Mall of America after reading that it was the largest mall in the world. It seemed like the most quintessentially American high school thing to do after school. Lisette did spend a lot of time after school going to Westfield's, the Australian equivalent, in Sydney's Western suburbs, buying cheap sushi from the food court, taking Japanese sticker photos (remember when these were popular?) with friends, and staying out as late as possible.
While the Mall of America no longer holds the title of being the world's largest mall (that went to the Iran Mall in Tehran in 2018 and many other malls in the Middle East and Asia have since surpassed the one in the US), it's still a massive shopping complex, with 4 levels, hundreds of stores, restaurants, a cinema, an aquarium and even a theme park! We weren't there to shop, but since it was raining, being indoors was the best way to spend the afternoon.
It was still pouring with rain when we left the RV, so even with raincoats and umbrellas, the ground was marked with a ton of big, deep puddles, soaking our shoes and socks as we bolted to the mall's entrance. Inside, we spent most of our time walking around Nickelodeon Universe, which had a ton of rides with Nickelodeon characters like Spongebob Squarepants. We were impressed with the caliber of the rides--these could be quite scary for not only children, but adults as well! There were rollercoasters with 360 degree loops (including one you could individually control to spin around in the seat), a banana-shaped ride that swung passengers rapidly front and back, and rides that had a sudden vertical drop. We could hear people's screams around us on the various rides. This would have definitely made for an exciting day out for families. Besides the theme park there's a LEGO store for kids to make things out of the LEGO bricks, a Crayola Experience with coloring activities, FlyOver America (a 4D simulation ride over Hawaii), and a mirror maze.
Bulletproof Package Pickup
Leaving Mall of America, we got stuck in afternoon rush hour traffic, which was made worse by the rain and the many road closures due to roadworks. It seems that because Minnesota has such harsh winters, this is the season for fixing up roads, which makes it tricky to navigate as even our GPS doesn't have the latest on what streets are closed. We eventually arrived at a Burlington store (a US clothing chain), where we needed to pick up an important package: the door latch that needed to be replaced after Harry accidentally snapped it in his haste to check on his expedition vehicle when we were in Yellowstone National Park. We've been able to make do without the latch, but it's definitely been more difficult to push the door open from the inside.
Michael went in to get the package, and it was a bizarre and even intimidating experience. Customers couldn't just walk into the store, as it had barricades around it. Instead, Michael was greeted by an armed security guard wearing a bulletproof vest. When Michael said he was there to pick up a package, the guard let him through the barricade, only to open a second barricaded area that he needed to go through! The guard was very friendly, but it was an odd encounter, especially since the area didn't look particularly dangerous, and Burlington is a discount department store!
Meeting Mike and Kim Again
Along the way, we'd been updating Mike and Kim on our whereabouts, as we got closer to their place. We had met them back in Canyonlands in Utah, and had exchanged details as they'd invited us to hang out with them once we arrived in Minneapolis. About a couple of months later, we were finally here!
Mike and Kim often travel around the US and internationally as they're both retired, but had lived in Minnesota for most of their lives. As accustomed travelers, they'd very kindly offered to show us around, and also use their laundry and shower (road trekkers will know the value of a shower that isn't a 2 minute splash-and-dash in an RV, and washing/drying clothes that don't involve counting quarters at a laundromat). We also were able to park in their neighbor's driveway, as they were away while we were there. They were off to a soccer game when we arrived, so after a brief chat, and ended up making plans to catch up with them tomorrow.
The rain had stopped that evening, so Michael worked on installing the new door latch. Unfortunately the metal insert for the striker plate had fallen inside, which meant that he had to take down the entire doorframe to install the new latch! It took about an hour and a half, but we finally have a new door latch, which is much easier to open and close. Hopefully this new latch will stay put!
Route Map
