2014-09-19 New iPhones - Finally!

We needed new cell phones. Well, to be truthful, Karen really needed a new phone. Her iPhone 4 was SO SLOW. We were actually in the mall in Seattle back in July to get them when I happened to mention that Apple would release their NEW phones in September. At that point it seemed silly to be buying a new phone. So, we left.

Fast forward to the day of the release of the new iPhones by Apple, today September 19th, and we are standing in a line at an AT&T store in the Mall of America waiting to have our turn at getting new phones.

Believe me, it was better than waiting in the Apple Store line.

The wait was 90 minutes. The process of buying the phone was 80 minutes. Really. But we're retired and had the time and the thought of having to wait 2 more months for them to get new phones was not a pleasant one.

AT&T was offering $200 in merchandise for each OLD phone you turn in. Karen's iPhone 4 was only worth $50 online so we gave them the phone and got a Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker and a couple of phone screen protectors. Great deal for us. Goodbye old phone.

After lunch in the mall we came back to the RV park. It was time to do laundry. Easy at home...just walk down the stairs. Since we haven't decided yet whether to put a washer/dryer unit in the 5th wheel we have to drag our dirty clothes to the laundromat.

Fortunately, this park has washers and dryers onsite. We got 3 loads done and then it's time for dinner.

After dinner we play with our phones for the evening, getting them configured the way we like and with the apps we need.

They are fast. We are happy.

2014-09-18 Touring St. Paul - Landmark Center

We like the architecture of old buildings - especially ones that have been restored and are being reused.

The Landmark Center in St. Paul was originally a Federal Building that contained court rooms, custom house, and post office. In 1967 the government moved out and moved their offices to another building. This building was scheduled for demolition.

Due to a grass roots effort the building was saved, private money was donated, and  in 1978 the building was reopened after its restoration.

We got a nice, free personalized tour starting on the ground floor where the Post Office used to be. They have a great setup here where you could do a self guided tour with video screens and audio panels. It allows you to get a reel feel for how the rooms were used.

Upstairs we toured the 4 court rooms. They were all beautifully decorated but in different styles. One interesting fact about all of them is that they all had a fireplace. The fireplace was fake, covering over the furnace register.

The famous trials that took place in these court rooms occurred in 1936 and included Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, Ma Barker's son, Doc, and John Dillinger's girlfriend, Evelyn Frechette.

We ate lunch with the locals across the street in the square before heading to one of the largest malls in America.

It has an amusement park, an aquarium, and just about any restaurant you would want to eat at, all on 4 floors.

We REALLY needed new iPhones since Karen's was so very slow now, so we stopped into the Apple and AT&T stores and talked to them about tomorrow's release of the new iPhone 6. The Apple queue line was going to be horrendous and our service was with AT&T so we decided the AT&T line would be the shortest and would give us the best chance of getting the phones. We decided to give ot a try in the morning.