Recap of first day on our road trip across America

First off, I am going to post my favorite picture from each day on these posts - this was my absolute favorite photo from the day.  This massive faux buck was found in Black River Falls, Wisconsin just a few stones from a 15-foot Orange Moose - go figure!  I thought it would be fun to act like I was in a rodeo.  This actually was our last stop before we headed to our final hotel destination for the evening. 

Our day began at the Country Inns & Suites Mall of America, then took us to the Mall of America where we needed to locate the original home plate from the Met Stadium which is what was there before MOA.  I have to admit being from Minnesota - I should have known this, but I didn't.  I have walked over that home plate umpteen times and well, now I know! 

Our next stop took us to the new Target Field, which is where the Minnesota Twins play now and not having been there we decided to take some time and look around.  There is so much wonderful architecture that I wondered how much of it gets lost because people are on their way to the game.  There is literally a wall sculpture built on the side of the parking ramp overlooking the stadium that is made up of small pieces of metal linked together, but free flowing and when the wind blows it looks like water moving - absolutely stunning.  The sweet peas and beautiful woodwork - very impressive.

We then headed out to Wisconsin and stopped at Cadys Cheese Shop - which is so close to the Mpls/St.Paul metro.  Cady's is wonderful, I will definitely be going there regularly as it is local and family owned - very important to know where your food comes from these days.  I sampled roasted garlic jack cheese, which was delicious and ended up purchasing pepperoni pizza jack cheese - YUM.

Move forward to Eau Claire, which is a beautiful place to go and the ball park Hank Aaron got his start.  There actually was a game going on when we were there, it felt almost like going back in time to when Hank was playing.  The people were lovely and it was quaint.

Our instructions led us to go see the large, orange moose which is located in Black River Falls.  The story is that friends of the original owner of the property painted the moose orange as a joke - but he kept it orange as a joke back to them.  It is still orange today, and is quite a sight to see.  I could not resist having some fun with the buck sculpture - I mean, who thinks of making these things?  We ate a the lovely Orange Moose Bar & Grill, and had $2 Cosmopolitans - gotta love that with a view overlooking the lake. 

We jumped back in our Ford Flex and headed south for our final leg of today's trip to Middleton, Wisconsin to enjoy a relaxing evening at the Country Inns & Suites here in Middleton by Capital Brewery - the Rustic Ale is delicious.  I also have a beautiful gift basket filled with delectable Wisconsin cheeses that I am looking forward to savoring and telling you about.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's mystery adventure as we continue on our 1K Road Trip Across America #CIS1K - http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry