Apple Valley - Minneapolis, MN

From Eagleville MO we headed up I-35 north through Des Moines IA.  Contrary to all the rumors you may be hearing on the news, we're not in Iowa because Susan is running for President.  Just north of Des Moines we blew out a tire on the trailer which in turn badly damaged the other tire, took out the fender and made a mess of the trailer.  AAA was out within 30 mins after 20 mins on the phone convincing them that we do in fact have coverage for our 5th wheel trailer:

With spare tire on, we hit Goodyear Tire in Ames, IA (home of Iowa State U) and within an hour they had 2 new tires on and we were on our way again.  We camped south of Bloomington (home of the Mall of America) at a county park called Lebanon Hills in Apple Valley.  What a beautiful park!  Full hookups, really well maintained, free wifi and good DTV reception for $30/night:

One day we hit midtown Minneapolis to bike Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles.  The bike trails in Minneapolis and St Paul are incredible!  They have trails just for bikes with parallel trails just for pedestrians.  These particular bike paths were 1 way so you had to commit to going all the way around the lake.  There are bike trails that allow you to travel all throughout the Twin Cities.  The trails we rode were busy yet it was easy to get around without having to hit your breaks - they've really got the bike trail system figured out here!  The trails passed by beautiful homes and lakes:

Later we hit the Mall of America which was only 8 miles from our campground.  Huge mall, 3 and in some areas 4 floors:

with a huge amusement park in the middle of the whole thing:   

We walked around a couple of floors, stopped for an early dinner at the Cadillac Ranch and then walked the remaining floor. If you can't find what you're looking for in this place, don't bother going anywhere else!

Another day we drove up to the Lino Lakes area on the north east side of town for more biking.  We tried to follow the chain of lakes trail but the trail markings weren't too clear.  Regardless, the bike trails here were very nice too.  This trail is all country scenery.  Wouldn't do the drive again for this particular trail but if you're in this area, it's nice:

Bike trail bridge across a marsh area

Later we tried to check out the scenic route starting in the town of Stillwater.  We checked out the "scenic" route 35 north from there but turned around after 10 miles of country farm houses and cornfields.  It was nice but not what we were looking for.  On our way back we sat on the bridge into Stillwater while many boats (including steamboat replicas) went by while the bridge was up.  The town of Stillwater looked like a good place to walk around and hang out for lunch/dinner.  We decided to head back into the mid-town area to do more biking along the Grand Rounds trail.  We started at the Minihaha Park and followed the Mississippi River north.  Another great bike trail!

Our last night here we hit Saint Anthony Main area downtown.  Cool area with bars and restaurants along the street:

Across the street is the Mississippi river with down town Minneapolis in the background:

There are several waterfalls here too:

We sat at Vic's and listened to the Billy Johnson Roadshow for a while:

We're off to the Green Bay WI area to check out Door County for a few days.

More to come . . .