“Baby Girl” has had a low platelet count all her life, and her primary care physician decided about two years ago to try to figure out why. She’s given tons of blood samples since then and was diagnosed by a local hematologist as having Von Willebrand’s disease.
This summer, we were referred to Mayo Clinic in hopes of pinpointing the specific type of Von Willebrand’s she might have.
The doctor at Mayo Clinic was very thorough and determined that Baby Girl does not, in fact, have Von Willebrand’s disease; her O+ blood type is associated with chronic low platelet counts.
Praise the Lord!
Since Minnesota is a long way from Mississippi and since we didn’t know from the outset how long Mayo Clinic would need us to stay in the area, we decided to make the trip a vacation of sorts.
I’ve never been that far north. We broke the trip up into two segments, staying in Wentzville, MO, the first night (near my daughter’s college of choice, Urshan University), and then onward to Rochester, MN, the next day.
Along the way, we took a break in Iowa City at Wilson Orchard & Farm, a family-run operation with a fun gift shop that served hot apple fritters and fresh pizza. It was a glorious, windy day, and the stop was the perfect respite from our rented minivan.
After a quick stop in town at the Prairie Light Bookshop, we were back on the road, admiring the tidy farms, many of which sported barn quilts. The sleek, modern windmills seemed a little other-worldly next to red barns (picture at the top of this post).
In Rochester, we stayed close enough to Mayo to walk. We discovered bunnies everywhere!
After our morning appointment, we ate at fabulous Lumi, a nearby Mediterranean restaurant. Then we decided to scope out the local zoo–Zollman Zoo. The zoo is free and is more of a safe haven for animals that have been injured.
Between blood draws, we took a day trip to Minneapolis while listening to an old broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. My dad’s people are from Minnesota, so I always get a kick out of the skits that feature a Minnesotan dad—they remind me so much of my own!
In Minneapolis, we discovered Minnehaha Falls right smack in the middle of town with a lovely Central Park atmosphere.
We meandered to some locks on the river, but the bridge was far more interesting of a picture!
Then we headed to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It was lovely in the shade with wind chimes tingling from every tree.
Hubby and I ventured across the busy interstate on a fun bridge, and then took a turn around the garden.
The last place on our bucket list to visit was the Mall of America. Truly, the only two stores out of a gazillion that interested us were the M&M store and the Lego store. Everything else was eh.
We were released from Mayo the next day after a final blood draw. We aimed our vehicle for Hannibal, MO, a place I remember fondly from my middle school years when I visited friends.
Thankfully, we made back home for the Fourth of July. “The cousins” came in town, and we enjoyed some pool time and sweet family fellowship.
There’s no place like home, y’all.
