Aquatennial!

We woke up to a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit, coffee cake, fried potatoes, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice.  As we sat outside enjoying the weather and digesting our food, we decided we wanted to try and see the milk carton boat races and sand castle competition at the Aquatennial.  We packed a cooler and took off for the lakes.  When Marie and I heard "Milk-Carton Boat Races" we both thought they were boats made from a single milk carton that raced down a creek or something.  I figured watching the contest could give me a quick idea for a class project.  Instead the boats need to carry a human and be propelled by humans.  It was quite entertaining.  We only saw the last heat, but I was happy.  We then strolled through the sand castle building competition and saw some very creative entries.  My favorite was two swimmers cutting through waves.  

We then drove to a sculpture garden.  The art was mostly modern art, and was interesting to walk through quickly.  There was also an exhibit about housing and technology for third world countries.

  

We then played mini-golf on a course where each hole was designed by a different artist.  There were holes that had a pinball machine powered by a bicycle, plastic bottles swinging from ropes, and many other elaborate holes.  It was short but a lot of fun.  

We then went to find food, and found ourselves in the same place as the night before.  There was a live band called the Minnesota Barking Ducks.  They put out some great blues and set a good mood for dinner.  Afterwards we made our way back to Elizabeth and Bill's to relax and pack before boarding the train that night.  On our drive, our hosts pointed out local landmarks, as well as buildings that my uncle had worked on.  

We boarded the train for Havre, MT at 11pm and I fell asleep promptly after.