Border Hopping, Shopping and More

Had our first snowfall overnight Friday into Saturday that actually stayed on the roads. That wasn't too fun when we hit the road at 8 a.m. yesterday. For the first hour as we headed west, most traffic was maybe going 50 mph tops. It was sorta crappy on Highway 73 heading toward Neillsville. After Neillsville and Highway 10, it was pretty much smooth sailing to Minnesota.

We had a mission. Pick up son No. 1 to take him Christmas shopping. Then go to the women's hoops game at U of Minnesota.

Picked up Casey at his "new" place in St. Paul. He shares a duplex with 3 other guys and they're all Vikings fans. Yup. It's decorated pretty nice, if I do say so myself! Went to Mall of America to find him a few things we could "surprise" him with for Christmas.

The mall was decked out for both Veterans Day and Christmas. Very pretty.

We didn't really have a plan of action, but Casey found a few things here and there. Over-priced things, mind you, since it is the Mall of America after all, and nothing is really on SALE there, is it? His best find...

Two Vikings cheerleaders at the Vikings Locker Room store. He must have been a very good boy this year, Santa!

After that, lunch at Hooters was almost a letdown, I'm sure. But we all seemed to enjoy the good food. That's why people go there, I'm told.

With shopping complete, we dropped him off and headed over to Williams Arena, aka The Barn, for basketball. The Gophers hosted Lehigh University for their home opener. And that's why we were there. Carter's classmate Gena plays for Lehigh so a bunch of folks from Rapids – her family and a few former Royals teammates and friends – were there to cheer her on.

The Gophers being as good as they are, pounded Lehigh 107-73. Still, it was so fun to see Gena play again. We had very good seats and I was able to use my camera, too! A few actions shots for ya (even if you don't know her, ha)...

 

Look at how her defender her has her by the shorts! I hope that was a foul but I don't think it was. The camera doesn't lie!

After the game, we all got to say hi to Gena. She had some 2 dozen or more people there cheering for her so we got out of the way.

Went over to Hudson and stayed with my sister Rayna so we didn't have to drive all the way back to Rapids. Went out for breakfast with Rayna and Paul this morning and hit the road. Got home about 1 p.m. We watched some football, hoping to catch occasional Vikings highlights. Then I did freelance work all afternoon.

Now I'm beat! Packed a lot into this weekend but it was great to see both family and friends and, obviously after hopping the border, fellow Vikings fans.

Winning.