ADSA - Minneapolis, MN

What a trip! I was completely exhausted when I returned. There was so much to do it was hard to explore both the city of Minneapolis and go to the conference. Here's a quick list of what we did:

Sunday - My experience in Minnesota started out a little ironic. Sal, Rajdeep and I traveled 2100 miles and show up at our hotel and the officers of the Cal Poly Dairy Science club are hanging out in front, so we are greeted with some familiar faces. We got a quick bite to eat at The Local. The places was exactly what we needed to relax after our flights. Also, Sal and I did manage to go see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 at the last showing on Sunday night and I really enjoyed it, definitely looking forward to the next one.

Monday - The DPTC group saw Rajdeep's oral presentation in the afternoon (she did an excellent job!) and then went out for drinks and dinner (opps forgot the name of where it was) with our advisors and their friends to celebrate her birthday.

Tuesday - Sal and I had to wake up REALLY early to put up the posters by 7:30am and then answer questions for two hours. I was not awake enough to be making much sense, but I did manage to not confuse anyone with my answers. The three of us then took the train (which is really cheap and easy to use) over to the Mall of America. I was able to have my damaged pedicure fixed (stupid pointy shoes) and do a little shopping. I honestly wasn't that impressed with the mall. It had duplicates of the same stores and not much variety. We had an amazing dinner at the Bombay Bistro, but unfortunately the service was so slow that it made us late to the awards ceremony where Dr. T was being honored. Fortunately we were able to meet up at the Brit's Pub for celebration drinks and to watch some lawn bowling. I do think this is my favorite bar!

Wednesday - Had a typical afternoon of lunch (McCormick & Schmick's - good food but very poor service) and shopping, so nothing too exciting. We did make our 30 minute connection in Phoenix to bring us home to SLO at the reasonable hour of 8:45pm!

Overall the city was very nice, but I thought it really didn't have much for people to do or see. The weather wasn't bad, a little warm and humid and we did experience some random afternoon rain, but it wasn't as bad as what I was expecting. I did learn that my hair can not handle even the smallest amount of humidity and I am not comfortable in a suit!