Minnehaha Falls

It was a hot and sticky day yesterday, so I decided we should go hike and bike at Minnehaha Falls.  So we packed up the young uns and headed out for a full filled day of adventure and possible heat stroke.

There are many places tucked inside of the city and I believe Minneapolis has more "green spaces" than any other big city I've visited.  It's always a shocking contrast to have towering concrete buildings and then lush green parks with water features.

this is before we started...notice the smiling faces in the beginning

They rent bikes here and I've always wanted to try out one of those "surry styles" that accommodate four people.  It looked like such a leisurely way to cruise through the park....it is NOT!  At least not in the rig we were using.  My right foot pedal was bent down and in so I could barely use it.  I had to switch places with the eleven year old because, sigh...her legs are longer. 

this is more what if felt like to me!

Then later on after going through areas I'm not sure we were even supposed to be on, the right foot pedal in the back fell off...twice.  I spent much of the ride walking behind the bike and pushing, especially going uphill.  This was much more work than I had bargained for!
I also demanded a refund for the crappy bike we were stuck with, so it was a free ride at least.

After the bike ride from Hell the kids and I walked down the steps to view the waterfall from below.  I knew there were a lot of steps and really didn't need to know there were 98 of them...thanks Emily. 

There were a lot of kids ignoring the Danger Keep Out signs and walking down by the falls.  I probably have the Meanest Bubbe Award now for not allowing this.  I did let them get into the water where there were no signs,however.  I am not completely without a heart....not to mention I wanted to dip my feet into the cool water also.

After we climbed back up the 98 steps (much harder than going down) I wandered over to a lovely butterfly garden to admire the setting created with ornamental grasses and kale.  The girls sat down by this old man we found in the park.

It would have been a restful setting if one didn't need to be on the watch for small creatures stirring in the grass trying to sneak up and scare you. 

They just love to spring out suddenly and get our hearts revved up.

There were more trails to walk and possibly more to see, but we had hit the highlights and it was time to honor their request of "can we go home and relax and watch some TV?"  It was hot. 

We were tired.  We didn't argue, that plan sounded good to us also.

But we managed to create some new memories and possibly burned off a few calories.

Long Live the Queen of Bikes