Day 42 St Paul/Minneapolis - The Twin Cities

Wednesday 30th June. We had a nice lazy morning and were excited about our day today as we had managed to purchase some standing room only tickets for a baseball game that Irv was attending between the Twin Cities and the Detroit Tigers! We took a scenic drive around St Paul on the way to the brand new stadium over in downtown Minneapolis.

As we parked and walked up to the stadium there were many twins fans and the buzz was building. Interestingly there were Detroit fans mixed amongst the twins fans and there was absolutely no agro, not even a worry of it. We went to the merchandise store with the intention of purchasing a postcard and got carried away and walked out with a baseball cap, when in Rome and all that!
With our tickets we were able to stand anywhere we liked and so we found a prime position overlooking the first base where we stood for the first 4 innings then repositioned ourselves more in the direct sun for the final 5 innings overlooking 3rd base. Previously we had a crash course of baseball rules from Irv in the car and understood just about enough to really enjoy the game.

We were lucky to see a home run and some great defensive play which led to the Twins winning overall. We were not lucky enough to catch a foul ball however, the whole experience was awesome! On the way home we took the scenic route to a few of the 11,000 lakes in Minnesota. In particular we visited lake Calhoun where Irv used to live and is one of the highlights of the state. It was amazing to see how many thousands of people were able to be watching the game live and utilising the open spaces of the parks around the lakes on a Wednesday afternoon?!
Back home Irv gave us a tour of his basement where we came across his wall of vests that are memorabilia from his cross country ski races that he has competed in for 30 years. We also came across a tiny room where he makes ammunition followed by a long narrow room which is where his shooting range is! He pulled out a pistol and a rifle and we both had a few goes at firing the guns and hitting the targets 10m away. It turns out Irv has won many medals in the sport in the past and is quite a dark horse! I have to mention that Irv came closest to the centre followed by me then Kris came in a close third!
We ate a lamb bbq for dinner with Irv in the garden and chatted until Gwen his wife was able to join us for desert about 9pm as we retired to the kitchen. Gwen has been away on business and unfortunately we only had a short while to meet with her. Back on the road tomorrow and we will be sorry to leave such kind hosts and such a comfy home.