I watched the sunrise this morning. This has been a goal for many years: to be able to watch the color change from the dark of night to the day. It gets me every time. This is definitely an upside to retirement. Before I would be on the bus traveling to work, still watching the light but also anticipating what needed to happen that day. The work defined my life. Now it is, what? People ask me all the time, how am I enjoying "retirement". Sometimes it is simply wonderful to have the time and freedom to watch the sun rise. Not worrying about work also lets my brain find new things to worry about. Just like when you clear a shelf at home new things find their way to it. So the adventure continues. Now it is all about the inner challenges. Mindfulness exercises and learning to let go of stupid stuff. My husband says it takes 6 months to make this transition.

The verdict is that we love camping, wish we could have done more and we're thinking about an early spring trip. At home, real life kicks in and I need to figure out what else is out there. I have to remind myself that it is ok if this takes a l while. The big thing is who am I when I am not working. My first priority is to get my body back. I am doing the gym every other day and at least 30 minutes aerobics daily. That should do something, but man oh man it is hard to take off weight. I am working on learning digital photography, but again, it is so hard to figure it out. Many "stupid" moments. Add to this that I think my hearing is going. Oldness is an adventure all by itself. You gotta push!

We made it home last week. The final mileage count was 6549 miles! I want to do it all over but I think Michael is ready for a break from driving.

Minneapolis is a great place to visit. It is progressive and has a good feel to it. I would love to come back, especially during winter to see how they handle it. Getting to the interstate expressway was the easiest we have experienced. We walked around downtown Madison today and remembered how much we love this city. Tomorrow we drive home. This has been a wonderful trip.

We spent our second day in Minneapolis learning to use their public transportation and going to art museums. The light rail system and buses are very new. Using them was comfortable and easy. The streets have dedicated bike lanes with left turn lanes. Very impressive. E went to the Weisman Museum and the Walker Art Center. Beautifully designed buildings. The Weisman was designed by Gehry. Interesting collections. The Walker is avant garde and includes a lot of video. After camping and staying in a lot of Super 8's we are splurging and staying at the luxurious Grand Hotel. Very nice.

I wish our pictures could convey the beauty of the Badlands. Also the wonderful smells. Today we headed east across North Dakota to Fargo. The temperature when we started was 27 degrees and the wind was blowing. It blew at 35 to 50 miles per hour. At one point it started snowing! Crazy. We are headed home after a trip of a lifetime. We have seen so much, it is hard to keep it straight. We have had great conversations that will be replayed as we go home. And best of all we have had a blast with each other.

Terrible beauty, Theodore Roosevelt NP