FROM HERE TO THERE...

A map of some of the places I went to and restaurants I ate at while I was down in Minneapolis last week. I used wayfaring.com to create the map, clicking on the map sends you to the map on their website.

This post may jump around a bit, just typing as things pop in my head. I spent the week in Minneapolis taking two Short Courses at the University of Minnesota. In case you were wondering in what, one was on Aerosol and Particle Measurement and the other on Air and Gas Filtration. The days were long, class started at 8:00 am and usually didn't finish until 5:30 pm. The lectures were held in the Alumni building.

Inside this building they have a room with a history of the university. On one side they have the "Wall of Books". I think it is a collection of books that have been written by U of Minn Alumni, the majority are PhD thesis books.

A closer look at a section of the wall.

Some of the University mascots, the Gopher is the main one, I think the others are for satellite campuses.

On Monday night, they arranged for a dinner cruise down the Mississippi River on a riverboat, the weather was perfect. Lake Itasca in Minnesota is the headwaters of the Mississippi. This the boat after we got back.

There were all kinds of people along the banks of the river, the majority were fishing. We passed this barge along the way.

I'm sitting in the Minneapolis-St.Paul airport writing this, the local time is 5:30 pm and my flight doesn't leave until 6:51 pm. The good thing is it is a direct flight back to Toronto. I arrived over 3 hours early for my flight and check-in and getting through security probably only took 30 minutes from the time I got out of the cab. The recent scare was probably a good thing as people are coming earlier and travelling lighter, especially the carry-on baggage. The delay will come at the other end when I have to clear customs.

On the trip down it was the same thing in Toronto, although they made everyone stand in the same line, even if you used the electronic kiosk, you had to wait with those who didn't have their boarding passes in order to get your baggage tag. When I walked into the customs area it was empty, I literally walked straight through. If it wasn't for some girl ahead of me with her lip gel, security would have been quick. I'm glad I don't do a lot of travelling to the US for business.

St. Paul is the birthplace of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz. They have a couple of Snoopy statues around the airport.

Another one near the kids area.

This was an advertisement for some company, not sure who it was.

Didn't get out as much as I wanted to, by the time the lectures finished and I checked my e-mail and instruments, it was dinner time. May have to buy a smaller camera that will fit in my pocket.