Minneapolis

We spent five days in and around Minneapolis so that Mike could speak to four different Parkinson's support groups.  Mike had given several different support group talks in the Seattle area before we left, but this was the first time he was able to coordinate our path/ right turns with scheduled groups.  He contacted the Struthers Parkinson's Center which offers over 90 different groups in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan.  After Mike had given his first presentation, the staff began contacting other groups on our approximate route to schedule him in the next couple of weeks.  Mike was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1994 and is doing very well considering how long he has put up with the debilitating disease.  We attribute part of his well-being to his continual activity.  The other part has a lot to do with luck.  I am very proud of his attitude and his willingness to try to help others.

We stayed three nights in a KOA campground that had a "heated" swimming pool but even when the outside tempurature was hot, the pool was cold.  It was also indoors.  And there were so many viciously hungry mosquitos, that you took your life in your own hands when you left the trailer.  We spent the last night at a beautiful county park on a lake, and wish that we had discovered it earlier in our stay.   There were several dead trees with large black lumps in them.  I watched and the lumps were moving and had bald red heads.  Later, as I saw one of the lumps fly away, I realized that they were turkey vultures.  They are much more graceful flying than sitting in a tree.

Minneapolis appears to be a very friendly and comfortable city.  In the neighborhoods we drove through, there were many beautifully manicured lawns and gardens and of course, many lakes.  We have noticed in Minnesota that the churches we saw were 48% Catholic and 48% Lutheran.  Many have their own cemetaries.  In several small towns that we drove through, we would see the Catholic and Lutheran cemetaries and then the other more general cemetary, even though you could bury all the current residents in one cemetary and have plots left to sell for another century.

The weather has gone from 90 degrees with 90% humidity to 75 degrees with showers.  I don't know how cold it gets at night, but I do know we are using more blankets.  We are heading into Wisconsin to go to the Chequamegon National Forest for the weekend.