Closing the book

July 2, 2017

The tour finished yesterday afternoon when we reached Saint Paul and packed our bikes away. Today was all about family and departure. Shawn and his girls are staying in a posh downtown motel with a big buffet breakfast, so we ate on our own (at the Buttered Tin, a great breakfast spot in Lowertown that we also visited at the start of our tour) and then walked over to the motel to watch them polish off the last of their meals.

After that, we all went to the Como Zoo for a day of gawking followed up with some amusement ride thrills. I have very mixed feelings about zoos, but it is still thrilling to see these animals up close. The giraffes were especially interesting, because dad was in the mood for some hanky panky so there was a lot of action to watch. The rides were interesting too of course, although my stomach would have been quite happy if I'd only taken one trip to the tilt-a-whirl. Pretty hard to resist the pleas of those granddaughters.

Afterwards, we returned to our B&B for a last visit with our host and a trip to the airport. I mentioned this at the start of the tour, but it's worth saying again - if you're looking for lodging here, you should definitely consider Anthony's on Wabasha. He makes a great ambassador for the Air B&B program - we came away feeling like we'd made a new friend.

Back on the Wabasha Street Bridge. New month, different flags.

Two primates watching a few others, in the Primate House.

A harlequin duck tries to blend in with the commoners, without success.

The emperor tamarin monkey. What a great moustache this guy has - the species was allegedly named for its resemblance to Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Look at those smiles! As happy as I remember seeing these two.

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