Hi Gram!
It was another fun day to be proud of. We stayed with Emma and Gabriel last night. I slept on the couch, which was surprisingly comfortable! I woke with my alarm at 6am, got dressed, and went for a walk. I thought about walking down to the river, but I ended up staying in their building the whole time. I walked the hall down to the other end and back, then up and down the stairs by their apartment a few times. I ended my workout by getting into their gym, where I used the stair master, lifted some dumbbells, and did some floor exercises on a mat. Then I headed back to the apartment for a shower and pack up my things.

Emma made us all smoothies, then we headed out. Victor forgot his water bottle, so he ran back for that, then we got on the road! Well, after a quick stop for coffee for my friends, THEN we got on the road. The drive north was mostly uneventful, stopping every couple hours to keep the blood pumping and the veins from clotting up. We stopped in Clear Lake, IA for some Mediterranean lunch – the place wasn’t that great – and a walk down to the lake. It seemed like a cute little town, probably really busy and fun in the summer with all of the boating. We drove past the Surf Ballroom, where Buddy Holly played his last show before the fatal plane crash. A few more hours on the road, then we arrived (tired) at Carolyn’s place in St Paul.

It was great to see her and catch up on life’s little details after she showed us to our rooms. While they kept chatting, I snuck away for a brief nap. My robot does most of the driving and entertains us with trivia, but it’s still tiring to sit in the car and stare at the highway. Just as I woke up, Abbey texted to see if I wanted to join them for dinner. “Perfect timing!” I told her, so we put on our shoes and headed to Shish for our second Mediterranean meal of the day. This one was way better! Very flavorful and delicious. We shared a piece of orange cake for dessert, which I certainly didn’t need, then headed back to the house for an after-dinner walk. Carolyn lives in a nice neighborhood here; it was cool seeing the different architecture and landscaping. Back at the house, I excused myself as they kept chatting and went to bed.