Snow!

After a wonderful bed in Chicago (luxury was nice after 3 nights on the train), we arrived in Minnesota ... to be greeted by snowflakes! Our reception, however, was warm - it was so great to see MaryAnn waiting for us with coats, rugs, etc - not that we needed any of them, as it's much warmer than Cape Horn!
We're now busy exploring the delights of Stillwater and Minneapolis/St Paul - the History Center yesterday, the local library today, a concert tomorrow, the gardens the next day ... and catching up not only with MaryAnn, but with her family and friends whom we've met before in Australia and on our previous visit here - we seem as though we're back on real earth after the artificial (and wonderful!) life on the ship.
One of our joys on the train was the company of several different Amish people - one couple have invited us to visit them in Lancaster County, though this will have to wait for another trip to the States, another lad hopes we'll call in at his town in Montana when we get that far.
Currently we're trying to sort out our travel plans for next week - snow, ice and major floods in northwest Minnesota are causing problems, but something will work out. We'll let you know!