Grand Rapids...It's in Minnesota!

I've traveled quite a bit in my last year in health care consulting. But I've just started a new role which will require significantly more travel.  In fact last week was my first full week of travel. I started out in North Carolina Monday night through Tuesday. We flew in and out of Raleigh but had to drive about an hour to Dunn for our meetings. We were supposed to fly out at 7:25 on Tuesday but made it in time for the 6:20. I cut it super close...which anyone who knows me knows this is something I hate...but it was totally worth it as the later flight was delayed. And it meant I got 13 hours in DC instead of just 12!
Wednesday morning I flew from Washington National to Duluth, MN through Minneapolis St. Paul.  I was not expecting MSP to be quite so huge! My 30 minute layover was just enough time to get to my flight. On the flip side I wasn't expecting the Duluth airport to be so small! It made getting to the car rental desk pretty easy though (all 20 steps it took). I was excited as first because I thought I was upgraded to a Ford Escape with satellite radio.  But right as I was about to right about to drive away I noticed there was a check engine light on. After trekking back into the airport I was chastised for being overly precautions, but given the 75+ mile ride I was about to depart for, I insisted on a new car. And quite the car I received! It was a bright bright blue Dodge Caliber...did I mention it was bright?  Also it had no GPS!

With some sketchy directions and a limited about of battery on my phone I set out for Grand Rapids. Fortunately the vast majority of the ride was on one road. Unfortunately that road was 1 lane, had a lot of trucks and a 60mph speed limit. There wasn't much too look at along the way in terms of civilization, but the scenery had its moments...sometimes.  I think my favorite was the giant sign that read "Wanted: Hides, Heads and Legs".

I arrived in Grand Rapids just in time for my meetings and didn't have much time to look around, let alone check into my hotel. Turns out that was a good thing! The less time I spent in that hotel the better. It was the Country Inn & Suites. It was very old, with punch card keys, overly perfumed air and hypervigilant front desk attendants who cared a little too much about who was coming and going.

We decided not to spend the next night there and to drive to Duluth instead as we were flying out from there Friday morning. I didn't get to see much of Grand Rapids but I particularly loved the water tower with the huge print that said: Grand Rapids It's In Minnesota.  After all the weird looks I received when I told people I was traveling to Grand Rapids, MN I can understand how the corrections or assumptions that you're wrong about the state could get old!

So after a long day of meetings, back to back from 7:30 to 5:30, we drove to Duluth. I stayed at the Sheraton right on Lake Superior. The area actually looked really cute with lots of shops and restaurants.  Unfortunately I was too tired and Duluth was too cold for me to explore much!

I flew out from Duluth the next morning. The airport is so small you don't go through security until right before your flight. There is an air force base right near the airport and 2 younger men were leaving to deploy off to somewhere. It was heartwarming to see how many people showed up to send them off!  The flights back were fairly uneventful, and after 6 flights, 3 hotels and 2 rental cars...uneventful was what I was hoping for!