Another Road Trip… this time with Hubby...

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Minnesota… a little too warm to work outside (90s) but lovely for going on a road trip in our Mini Cooper with the windows down… ahhh!!

We were looking for something to do, something a bit off the beaten path… we just didn't want to deal with crowds, and we were in the mood for a bit of a drive in the country… so we headed to Scandia, a small town to the North of where we live, hunting down a rock shop I'd heard about online…  We didn't find the rock shop (the address was faulty), but as we drove through town we saw a sign for the Gammelgarden Museum… so we went, not having any idea what it would be…

It is a museum of "Swedish Immigrant Heritage"…

This plaque on the ladies room door was too cute!!

We were able to get bio-breaks in the visitor center, and look around in there a bit, but this was a small town… 

The museum was set to close at 4pm, it was 3:30, we were too late for a "tour" & at this place they insist you go with a guide… but the visitor center was cute!  The lady in the museum store gave us some information to take home, we'll have to make it back there some day…


We decided not to head home yet, but to go a bit further North… Jeff had heard about the Alpine Slide at Wild Mountain in Taylor's Falls, so we headed in that direction… but before we could get there, what should we spot but the Franconia Sculpture Park… its an unusual place we'd seen before from the road on previous trips to Taylor's Falls, but today was the first time we stopped.  Words don't do the place justice, I'll let you browse the pictures instead…

Jeff by a tower of boom boxes...

The Lizard Lounge

Jeff is still a kid at heart :)

New works, in process...

That was interesting… a little crazy/zany, and definitely worth the walk around the extensive grounds…


Finally we were back on track, headed to Taylor's Falls… once we got there we needed something to drink (it was hot today) & so did the Mini (she needed fuel)… I snapped these pics from the gas station (after buying a couple diet sodas)…

Over there, that hill going up… that's Wisconsin, the bridge is one
of a few that cross the St Croix River, a dividing line between
Minnesota & Wisconsin in this part of the state.

That's downtown Taylor's Falls, all 1-2 blocks of it…

To those who know the local area, no we didn't eat at the Drive-In… We checked, they don't make their home made Root Beer in diet, and since I gained weight on our Ukraine Mission Trip (see earlier posts) I'm keeping to my Weight Watchers points…


We went just a bit further North from downtown Taylor's Falls to Wild Mountain (ski resort in winter) and did a ride down the Alpine Slide… it was hot today (did I mention that?) and the ride up the hill was slow & in full sun… but the ride down was fast, shaded, and went through the woods… it was FUN!!  Sorry no pics, left the camera in the car, they'd have been blurry anyway :)

Finally we decided to head back toward home, and decided that we just didn't feel like cooking… so we went to Punch Pizza - a local chain that makes wood fired pizza in an 800 degree F oven - this chain is a member of V.P.N. (Vera Pizza Napoletana).

The place was busy, I guess we weren't the only ones who didn't want to cook today, so we had to wait a bit - but not too long…  The patio was already mostly in shade when we got there, there were birds singing & a nice breeze was blowing, and there were even some pretty flowers in the planter box next to our table…

After a short wait we were rewarded with yummy deliciousness… Mmmm… it smelled & tasted so wonderful!!

That's it… that was our road trip today… a very spontaneous & unplanned chain of events which made for a lovely time together…  I'm a spoiled woman!!