Monday, September 29, 2025
Kristine sent a message last week that she and Mike were driving a car to Minnesota and were we free for visiting on Monday. Yes!! No school today assured my availability and retirement cemented Keith’s. Yay!
She suggested I figure out something to do. I tried to think of something fun to do and struggled. Kristine and I never are at a loss for chatting, and I think Mike and Keith give us a run for our money, so I figured somewhere to walk and talk was probably what I was looking for. I tried to find a corn maze open on a Monday, then decided Como Zoo was a fine idea. They were in, so off we went.
The lion roared. We heard him just as we came into the zoo, but when we finally got to his enclosure he gave us half a dozen good roars and huffs. That guy has a deep voice that really carries.
We saw quite a few animals up and moving around, plus a few resting in good view. There were not many people around and there were six cars in the parking lot. Quite a change from a summer day. The weather was almost 80 and had just the highest wispy clouds. Perfect.
Keith and I enjoyed the polar bear the most. I forgot to ask Kristine and Mike. We enjoyed just how giant he was, and how much fun he was having destroying a plastic kayak. Gorgeous animal.
We went into the conservatory. I should go there in the winter – it was super hot and humid in the fern room. That might be awesome in January. In the fancy room it said no posed or group photos. I just went ahead and posed. The fancy room at sharp and scary plants as well as beautiful ones.
We went to Hazelwood for lunch afterward. It is a not-new restaurant in Woodbury that we have never been to before. Maren has recommended it to us, but we rarely go out for sit down meals. It was DELICIOUS! Keith and I really ordered well – an open-faced turkey sammich for me, and open-faced meatloaf sammich for Keith. They were substantial meals, but we could not stop eating until they were gone. So delicious. The smoked gouda potato soup with bacon and chives was killer. It is the Monday soup, so I will go there on Mondays. Or I will learn to make smoked gouda potato soup with bacon and chives.
We came back home to show them our new house. They didn’t even notice the clutter and boxes and overall mess. How nice. We sat around for a couple of hours with no shortage of things to talk about until it was time for them to go to the airport. Their plane was delayed a bit more than an hour, so we could have kept them, but you never know about that. They got some solid lounge time in.
We started talking about a trip to Japan. I don’t know if the timing will work out, but we are looking at our calendar and looking at flights and getting excited. Kristine might come along on our transatlantic Disney cruise. All trips are better with people you like!
So if I joined my duster on that transatlantic Disney cruise, would I be included in people you like? Asking for a friend.
Definitely!♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Now I’m a duster! Lol
You are a duster, but what am I?
Well she isn’t a duster but a seester! Ugh.
🤣
So I asked Mike what he liked best and we got distracted. I think he liked the plants. I did really like hearing the lion roar and the polar bear. He was really just a big dog, like a golden retriever… But the tigers were pretty cute too, like big kitties. I loved that it was free and why didn’t I bring the kids more when we lived there?
I think he liked the plants too. Yes! Lion roars were terrific. I think we didn’t take the kids there more is because the summer parking is not the same as a Monday in September. It is very full and intimidating.