Heading North again

We had a leisurely morning on Friday. Earla was up and at 'em early, all dressed and ready for the day by the time I rolled out of bed at 8. I was still greeted with coffee and great conversation. We, then, enjoyed a lovely breakfast of fruit and toasted English muffins with peanut butter. We chatted and chatted over coffee. While Gert ran out for a while in the late morning, Earla and I finished getting things together. We had wisely decided by this point that, at each destination, we would remove just what we needed from our large suitcases and carry it in in a small bag. Large bags and stairs can be an excellent education! We looked at maps and figured out our next route. And, we managed to start a game of Scrabble -- unfortunately we didn't get to finish it. When Gert came home, we had lunch. Gert had fixed a delicious pasta/tuna/vegetable salad. We had that with sandwiches, jello, and pumpkin bars (YUMO)! After lunch, we headed out. The pictures are of Gert and Earla in the dining room and the outside of Gert's house. We stopped for gas for the first time and figured that we are getting about 34 miles per gallon... not too shabby. We chose to take I35 north from Owatonna to St Paul. Ardys (my sister) works at Borialis yarn shop, so our intent was to get to the yarn shop before she was through with work... we almost didn't make it. We had Ardys' directions from 35W and the shop's directions from 35E, and managed to get quite turned around. A call to the shop set us straight and we made it just before 3:00. We had a nice tour of a very nice shop with luxurious yarns. We bought yarn for hats for Tanzania. Then, we got into Ardys' car and headed towards Minneapolis wanting to meet my niece, Amy, at Caribou Coffee. A short stint on I35 was the only negative part of that journey. We went through the U of M campus, some nice neighborhoods, and found the coffee shop. Amy met us there and we had a great conversation. She went off to work and we headed back to St Paul. This time we ventured through the neighborhoods and chose some beautiful routes including Minihaha Parkway. We arrived at Ardys' in time to turn around and head out for dinner. We met my cousin, Ellen, my niece, Beth, and my grandniece, Myah, at Chianti Grill. There, we enjoyed a little wine, a little pasta and stories, while competing with the Twins/Yankees game. Myah, who is 5, ordered a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. It was at least a 12 inch high, 4 layer cake that was at least 3 inches thick... amazing. It was served with 6 forks. We let Myah have at it and she took most of it home! After dinner, we returned to Ardys' townhouse for the night. We chatted with David (my brother-in-law) for a while. Ardys and David gave us a tour... their townhouse resembles an art gallery, so much fun.. Then,David graced us with a couple of piano pieces while we chatted. Earla headed for bed about 11, and the next time Ardys and I looked at our watches, it was 2 a.m. The day came to an abrupt halt!