This update comes a little late. I'm sitting at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Mendota Heights, MN.

Day 4 of the trip was L-O-N-G. We were up by 6am to make the ferry. Then we crossed time zones and gained an hour. By the time Midnight rolled around, sleep sounded better than updating.

The ferry ride was cool enough. 4 hours puttering across Lake Michigan. The kids played in the 'Kids Port' play area for a while. The we grabbed a bite to eat and observed some bingo. We won a few free drinks with a round of Name That Tune (I am the master!) and finally explored the boat and took in some water views to end the ride. We waited for our car to be unloaded and began the long drive from Mantiwoc to our hotel here in Mendota Heights.

Forget everything I said about the drive on I-80 a couple of days ago. Hwy 29 across Wisconsin is the single worst drive in the USA. It's like premature hell. God reserves a spot in Heaven for people who drive the length of Hwy 29. Just downright horrible. Then it rained...hard. The kind of hard rain that makes people pull over along the side of the road.

The plan was to stop by Como Town before we went to the hotel but as we got closer and closer to Minnesota, the rain slowed but kept up. We were starting to consider alternate plans when the rain quit and the sky lightened a little. We decided to make the stop.

We arrived to an empty park. Literally. I hate being the only people in a park (and no, this isn't the first time) because the employees just kind of stare at you. On the plus side, with a wristband the kids ran wild with ride-ops catering to their every whim and letting rides run until they asked to stop.

Unfortunately their coaster wasn't running. Too wet they said. No biggie, it was just a standard Dragon Wagon/Orient Express ride by Wisdom.

A few other people wandered in as we made our way around the park but the kids did just about everything in no time at all.

A quick jaunt down the road and we made our way to the hotel. My wife took the kids to the pool and I took the chance to check in with a few people back home. We ordered pizza, everyone crashed.

We're in town for a couple more days doing Valleyfair tomorrow and checking out Camp Snoopy & The Mall Of America on Wednesday.