We spent the morning walking along the Mississippi trails and viewing the city from the river bank. There are a number of historical markers, buildings and structures along the river associated with two cultural histories - native american and early european settlers. The following extract is from http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=413 As the centerpiece of the revitalization of Minneapolis' historic West Side Milling District, Mill...

Today we hired a pontoon and spent some hours lazily cruising and sightseeing on Lake Minnetonka. It's a big lake (around 7,000 hectares) but seems even bigger because it is a series of bays and inlets giving it a shoreline of over 160 km.There is a lot of capital tied up in real estate around the shore front. There are mansions everywhere - you wouldn't measure them in square metres but more like using light years instead of kilometers. Some would be over 200 me...

Today we followed the Minnehaha parkway around Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriott to the Minnehaha Falls Park. Walked down past the Minnehaha falls (see photo) and along the Minnehaha creek to where it meets the Mississippi (see photo). Drove to the Mall of America to give Maureen a shopping experience. Then it was a trip to the Purgarory Creek Prairie Park where a natural prairie has been reestablished in Minneapolis. Tea at a nice Italian restaurant in Minnetonka....

Have arrived in Minneapolis and staying at the Dillehay Marriott. Thanks Sue & Larry for entertaining us over the next few days. We have survived the first long day staying over at Denver. I thought the flight from NZ was 10 hours and the trip went on and on - 12 hours. We had delays at LA with United Airlines flight to Denver but eventually arrived over an hour late. From home departure to hotel arrival Denver was around 30 hours - but still Sunday. Left ...