St. Paul and on to Indiana

Back to the vacation...

In the second half of July, we made our way to the US. Travel was a bit precarious with massive crowds, cancelled flights, etc. But somehow we were able to make all of our unwieldy connections and get to where we needed to be, more or less when we needed to be there.

 

airport chaos in London

St. Paul

Our first stop is often St. Paul, Minnesota, to see our friend Kathy. This has been built into our itineraries for many years, facilitated by the fact that our flights generally go through MSP airport regardless. Kathy has known our daughters since they were born and has become like an aunt to them. It’s such a wonderful, peaceful place to land after the chaos of international travel – particularly these days.

Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes

As I often say, the Twin Cities is a very livable area. It’s green. People are active and there are loads of well-kept trails for biking, jogging or walking. Lots of things to do. If it had mountains, I would rank it even higher on my livable cities list.

This year, as we anticipated, would be hotter than normal. But after record temperatures in the UK, we were already used to it. Our girls are not strangers to hot weather so they adapt pretty quickly. And we spent quite a bit of time indoors.

downtown St. Paul and the farmers' market

One challenge we faced in our planning was traveling to see family in southern Indiana. When we were looking at flights several months ago, options were few and cost was far higher than normal. We considered our options and, in the end, we decided to drive. Ten-hour drives in the US are relatively easy compared to what they are in Africa. Nonetheless, it’s tiring, particularly with kids.

 

 

Indiana

Given the demands injected into our schedule, we had much less time in Indiana than we normally do. Though there was some down time, each of our stops on this trip sort of felt as though we were on the go all the time. The upside was that we were able to fit so much in. The downside was that we had little time to relax. I suppose if you glance at a few photos, it gives the impression that it was more relaxing than it was. It wasn’t unpleasant by any means. Just busy.

a drink along the Ohio River

I dream of the day that I spend my vacations with less driving and flying. I would like to do more reading, writing, hiking, etc. I think it will be some time away but I anticipate that it’s coming in the next few years. I have a friend that goes on vacation to the US from Kenya and he sets up his family at their home in the US and that’s it. If people want to see them, they come to him. We’re not at that point but it has certainly reduced the amount of time that they spend traveling.

The time in Indiana was enjoyable but wasn’t loaded with big events. We spent Kinaya’s birthday at a water park. We had a lot of quality time with family. Time with the gang was the main thing.

After about ten days in Indiana, we loaded up the car and headed back to Minnesota. As I said, it’s not a bad drive but it’s a lot of the same thing – except for skirting alongside Indianapolis and Chicago urban areas.

After one night in back in St. Paul, we were off to Idaho for a packed week and a half.