Mall of America

Wow, have I had an adventure!?! On Tuesday I drove 3 1/2 hours to Minneapolis to go to the famed Mall of America. I have heard about it for years, but never had the opportunity to go. For those of you that don't know The Mall of America is a shopping mall in Bloomington, MN. Right outside of Minneapolis. It is 4 stories, boasts over 520 stores, has 4 department stores, a movie theater, a theme park, an aquarium, put-putt golf, and a ton of restaurants. It is amazing.
When I first walked in to this shrine to shopping, I must have looked like a moron, because I had my mouth hanging open, and my eyes popping. I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life. I went to guest services grabbed a map and took off. The first day I was there I only made it through one floor. It amazed me. This place has every store you could possibly ever want to go to. It even had stores that I have never seen inside a mall like Marshall's and Best Buy. My favorite store they had was a Nordstrom Rack. It's a Nordstrom outlet. It had everything from designer jeans to great shoes, and the were all discounted. Ohhh, I was in heaven. After I completely wore myself out I decided it was time to ride the roller coaster. I am not a person who really likes roller coasters, but I felt like it was a rare opportunity to ride a roller coaster inside. It was very fun, but what an odd feeling being indoors. Next it was time to go to the hotel and get some rest, to come back the next day and conquer the next 3 levels.
I went back on Wednesday, and did my best to conquer the rest of the mall. It is so big, that it is very easy to get turned around. You often feel like you have made a whole loop, and the realize you only have made it around half of the mall. It also is complicated because many of the stores have 2 or more stores in the mall because of it's size. So you turn a corner and see Victoria's Secret, and you get deja vu because you feel like you just passed it. It took me awhile to figure out it wasn't deja vu but I had already passed it. Well, as the afternoon wore on I was exhausted. I decided to was time to sit down and have some lunch, and hit the road back to Jefferson.
When I got in the car I really relaxed. My legs and feet hurt so badly. I was happy to be in the car sitting down for a good 3 hours. I got on the interstate, set the cruise control, and got on the phone. It is kind of nice being in the car when you are so far from home. It is a nice time to catch up with all my friends. I realized after I had been in the car for a little while that I only had a quarter of a tank of gas and would have to stop to get gas. Well then I got on the phone and forgot about it for awhile. I realized I had to stop soon when my little gauge told me I had 40 miles left in my tank. So I started looking for an exit with a gas station. No such luck. When my little gauge said I had 20 miles left, my car sputtered to a stop. OHHH NO! Well, I didn't freak out because I have AAA. I got out my card and called. When I called AAA the proceded to inform me that I didn't have service. Apparently the bill hadn't been paid. Ooops! At that point I turned into a basket case and cried to the lady on the phone about being in the middle of nowhere on the side of the rode. So, I had to pay to have it reinstated. They transfered me about a thousand times, before the finally had someone on the way to bring me gas. I came to find out that in the middle of nowhere in Iowa, there can be as far as 50 miles between exits with gas stations! They also do not have those lovely little signs we have in Alabama, that tell you if it is going to be a long stretch between stations. (You know they say: 17 miles to the next gas exit) Well I finally got my gas. They brought me 5 gallons, when the AAA service usually only brings you 2. I thought they were just being nice. Then they tell me that I had to stop at the next gas exit because it was 17 miles away. Well after a nice hour of sitting and sweating in the middle of nowhere staring at cornfields I was on my way again. I finally made it back to Jefferson. I was exhausted. What an adventure!