UMN - Day 1

The flight from Houston to Minneapolis was so empty; basically everyone had an entire row to themselves. Delta Airlines may just be my new favorite airline. Like usual, I knocked myself out right after finding my seat. I woke up 1.5 hours into the flight, and the flight attendants opened up the tray table and left a drink, cookies, and a bag of peanuts for me. Usually they just pass by all the sleepers.

Made my way to Days Hotel on University in Minnesota via Super Shuttle. Was able to check-in early! =D Want to see my room? It's a single (or at least it better be, seeing as there's only one bed..)

It's not a very good picture, but the best I could do w/my laptop camera. I mean if you look closely, you can spot me trying to dodge the frame. There's the one bed, a table, the chair taking up about 1/4 of the frame. Hmm, probably should've moved the chair.

Anyhow, doesn't look like there's anything on the schedule for today. Guess I'll just be seeing that stewpig little brother of mine.

It's 9:50 PM right now, & I just got back from a cold, exhausting day. Around 12:30, Brj showed up, & we walked over to some noodle restaurant. I can't quite recall the name, but I'm leaning towards something along the lines of Noodle Bowl or simply Noodle Restaurant. **EDIT: Just found out it's Noodles & Company.** Anyhow, it was jam packed in there. We had to go downstairs to find an open table. I ordered Japanese something Pan Noodles, which was basically udon noodles drenched in a slightly spicy terriyaki sauce with mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and sprouts. It wasn't bad, a little heavy on the sauce maybe. Brj got some Italian dish, which I thought was completely tasteless. It was like $4.25, but that's ok, I made him pay!!!

Following lunch, we made our way to the UMN bus stop, hopped on bus 16 to the metrorail station. When it was our stop to get off, Brj kept pushing on the door in the back that said "Push Yellow Part to Open Doors," but they wouldn't budge... so low and behold the bus moves on and we miss our stop. At the next stop, he tries the same thing again, and guess what? It still doesn't budge, so now I'm flustered b/c now we have to backtrack an extra block in the FREEZING COLD & I tell him to go out the front door. Sheesh. All's well though, b/c a few minutes later we're nice and warm on the metro rail, which is a lot like the one in Houston. Surprisingly, when we were on the rail, a metro police officer came on to check for valid fare. Whew. Good thing I bought a ticket. But, I'll admit, the MN metro police officers are MUCH nicer than the ones in Houston.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the Mall of America. The first thing we saw when we got in was the aquarium. I remember when we went through it a long, long time ago. Remember Snoopyland (or whatever it used to be called..)? They remodeled and renamed it Nickelodeon Universe. It still looks the same, a few new rides here and there, but everything's Nickelodeon themed now. There was this one attraction that was probably 10 stories high. You're strapped into a harness, which is stringed up to a lead above you. Basically, all you do is walk up and across ten stories on like rope ladders, etc. It's like a jungle gym way up in the air. We basically just walked around the mall & checked out the Disney Store, Lego store, Apple store, Gamespot, some candy store, and Best Buy. The Disney Store had this amazing Buzz Lightyear toy that was JUST like the one in the movie.. like the wings whoosh out the proper way and light up AND he comes in a cardboard spaceship!! When we were at Best Buy we found Beatles Rock Band hooked up to a giant TV screen and played a bit. Dinner was A&W chicken strips and root beer. We ate by the amusement park. OH, I almost forgot.. we spent about an hour in Barnes & Noble. I got to read volume 7 of Marvel's Runaways!!Nickelodeon Universe Amusement Park in the Mall of America

Around 5:00 I (or rather Brj) purchased another bus/metro ticket for me ($2.25 this time instead of $1.75 b/c of rush hour). Once we were back on campus he showed me Memorial Union. We got to pop in the bookstore right before it closed. Then he gave me a mini tour of the campus. Actually, he was trying to show me where Smith Hall was b/c I have to go there tomorrow, but couldn't find it. I got to see his extremely messy room and what I believe to be a newly virused computer.

At 7:00 we caught a free showing of The Blindside at the theater in MU, which was pretty nice. I made him walk me back to the hotel after the movie, but he only went 3/4ths of the way with me. You know why? HE DIDN'T CARE IF I GOT ABDUCTED/ROBBED!!! Theater in the MU

So here I am, back in the room. Tired. Documenting all this before I forget. Ended up typing a lot more than I planned.. will add pictures later to break up the text. Everything's more appealing w/pictures.