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Hi all,

We are back from Minnesota and we had a wonderful time. We picked up Maggie on Friday from the kennel and of course she was ballisto-happy to see us. She was a leapin' and a jumpin' like crazy.

The weather turned out to be good the whole time we were there in both northern and southern Minnesota. Very little rain. We arrived at the MLPS airport in the late afternoon on Thursday. They did not lose our luggage. Yeah! We drove a rental car from the airport to Duluth. We checked in to our hotel, the Days Inn. They had refurbished so it was a nice hotel to stay at. There was a Starbucks just down a little hill from the hotel (less than 1/4 mile) so we were happy about this. There was a nearby mall with lots of restaurants. There was a shoestore called DSW warehouse where I bought a pair of shoes after the half-marathon. I wish Roseville had this store. They have expensive brand name shoes at discount prices. Anyway, the next day we went to the Expo for Grandma's. It was one of the best Expo's I had ever been to. Very large. I bought a pair of running shorts and a pair of pink socks with a cyclist on the sides. We then took a bus ride that went down the route where the marathon would go. It was a very scenic route. It starts in Two Harbors and goes south along the shores of Lake Superior. You then enter a neighborhood where they have modest homes on the right and beautiful mansions on the left. Then you enter downtown Duluth and head toward the finish line in Canal Park. We ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. The next day I got up at 0400, dressed and had breakfast. The hotel was great in that they opened up breakfast at 0400 for the runners. A got up with me and drove me across the street to where the buses would take runners to the start . So, off on the bus I went. So, the half-marathon went Ok. I think I went out too fast and my split times which I got on-line after I got home attested to this. So, by mile 7 I had kind of a weird stance in the way I was running or, bad form I should say. I went on like this until mile 10 where I met up with a gal named Casey who said I could run with her. We paced each other the rest of the way. Since she was walking through the aid stations I did also. And I walked Lemon Drop Hill the only Hill on the course. I finished the half-mrathon in 2:31 at a 11:43 pace which is pretty slow. But at least I finished! A met up with me after the race despite our cell phones not working totally right. We each had peppermint ice cream and some fruit and then headed to the car. A ran in the opposite direction of the course while I was out running so he got a nice run in. We headed back to the hotel and took showers. We then took a drive out to Twin Harbors and looked at some big ships containing ore heading out to the Hudson Bay.

The next day we headed south to Rochester. We spent the aftrnoon at C & G's by their pool chatting away. They barbecued steak and had baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Since I love corn on the cob I had two. The next day we went to the National Eagle Center along the Mississipi (sp?) River. We saw about 4 bald Eagles up close. It was very interesting. I will post a picture soon of J and I with a bald eagle.

We also went to the Spam museum in Austin while we were there and also went on a large paddle boat ride on Lake Pepin (part of the Mississipi River).

We had a very relaxing time with the M's, talking a lot and catching up with talk about family. They are very relaxed so it was easy to feel at home with them. They are the nuclear family A and I do not have other than my siblings.

We flew back home on Thursday and when we got out of the airport the sky was full of smoky haze. While we were gone fires had broken out all over California from lightening strikes. The air quality was very bad. I later heard from my sister M that the air was rated extremely bad for everyone. Officials were saying to stay indoors and not to do of anything with exertion in the outdoors. We then read in the paper that they canceled the famous Western States Endurance Run because of fires near the running route and bad air quality. They have never canceled a race.

Well, that's it for now.

Clyde