Minnesota and Arizona 2023:
Day 1 - La Crosse

	Wednesday, June 7, 2023: The first leg of our trip to Mesa, Arizona, involved going to St. Paul, Minnesota, for Debbie's college reunion, so we headed north toward Chicago. Interstate 65 is a Maersk-rich target area, and it did not disappoint.
	A few hours after leaving home, we were crossing into Illinois, ...
	... and just before 10 AM we were at our first stop: the LEGO Store at Orland Square.
	Check out this Pac-Man model. The ghosts are on a geared track that is operated by a crank on the side of the cabinet. Cool!
	When the store opened at 10:00 AM, Debbie headed straight to the Pick & Build wall where she filled a small cup. She added a store stamp to her LEGO passport and we were on our way to our next stop, ...
	... the McDonald's Global Menu restaurant. We love coming here to get items that are only offered here and in their home countries. On the left is a Chicken McArabia from the United Arab Emirates, which is a chicken breast served on pita bread. On the right is a 1955 Burger from Germany. It was inspired by the original burger offered by the first McDonald's restaurant which opened in Illinois in 1955. Both were very delicious. Hidden in the back are very tasty onion rings from the New Zealand menu.
	We next headed to Binny's Beverage Depot to pick up some specialty items that we had pre-ordered for this weekend.
	One of Debbie's classmates, Kevin, throws several parties during the reunion weekend, and we picked up a bottle of his favorite tequila, Diablito, to give to him as a host gift. He had shared some of his Diablito with us last year, and it was the best tequila we'd ever had. Oh, and it wouldn't be a trip to a Chicago liquor store without getting something in the Malört family. We can't wait to spring the four-pack of Malört Spritz on some unsuspecting party guests in the near future.
	As we drove away from Chicago, we ate the cookies and cream donut that we had gotten as a treat at the Global Menu McDonald's.
	We headed further north toward Milwaukee.
	Just over the Wisconsin border, we passed the Haribo manufacturing plant in Pleasant Prairie, WI. This is Haribo's first-ever manufacturing facility in North America, and it just opened last year.
	But we weren't in Milwaukee for gummy bears, we were here for more LEGO. We stopped at the LEGO Store at the Mayfair Mall.
	Rather than getting more pieces from the Pick & Build wall, Debbie decided to get some minifig pieces from the Build-A-Minifig station. Look at the unicorn minifig heads!
	Next we headed over to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
	The building is round, which is striking.
	Check out the aluminum skirt around the edge of the dome, and don't forget to look at the windows. As is typical for a Wright building, the windows are unique and beautiful.
	As we were leaving the Wauwatosa area, we happened to drive by the Penzey Spices building. We are huge fans!
	Just before 5 PM, we arrived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, which was our destination for this day. Even before we checked into our hotel, we headed to Woodman's Market for supplies for the reunion weekend. Debbie noticed these vodka bottles with their colorful Wisconsin-shaped labels, but decided against buying them just yet. No need to drag them across the country on this trip when we could pick them up when we are back here next month.
	We did buy two twelve packs of local Wisconsin beer: Spotted Cow from New Glarus, of course, and a sampler pack from 3 Sheeps Brewing, which we'd never heard of.
	Our grocery shopping completed, we checked into our hotel room, dropped off our stuff, and immediately headed back out again to have dinner with Debbie's aunt Carol.
	We decided to eat at the nearby Applebees, which was a good choice. None of us had been to an Applebees in a while, and the food was very good.
	Carol always brings some goodies along when we see her, and this time it was a bricks button along with a handful of Indiana and Bicentennial quarters.
	After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and played one of Carol's new favorite card games: Five Crowns. We played one full game, and then we said our goodbyes to Carol. We settled in for the evening and rested after the long day's drive. Day 2 >