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I arrived home two weeks ago last Thursday from another great trip to Minnesota to visit my friends Tom and Judy and their family.

I find it very hard at times to get my head round the circumstances that culminated in those wonderful trips to Minnesota and how a chance meeting on the internet brought me into contact and integrated me into a family that has now become such an important and integral part of my life.

During one of my last telephone conversations with Tom and Judy’s son, Adam, before I would shortly leave for home, he asked what I thought the highlight of this present visit was. This is a hard question to answer because those visits contain so many highlights and this one, of course, had its own unique occasions that easily fit into the category of highlights.

There was the evening of Music in Plymouth that I attended with Tom and Judy, their daughter Kara and Kara’s daughter, Amelia – Tom and Judy’s one and only granddaughter. We were also joined by Steve and Kathy – friends of Tom and Judy and their daughter, Kate, and her boyfriend, Tom. What a marvellous event and what marvellous people to share it with. We had a picnic on the grounds of The Hilde Performance Centre where we enjoyed the free family musical event featuring the Minnesota Orchestra, fireworks and many other entertainments.

Tom and Steve relaxing at Music in Plymouth

Minnesota Orchestra

Amelia enjoying the evening at Music in Plymouth

Judy, Tom and Kate

The scene at Music in Plymouth

Kara at Music in Plymouth

Tom and me at Music in Plymouth

Part of the fireworks display

Lunch or breakfast with Judy’s dad, Al, at his favourite Perkins restaurant (and mine) is always a highlight and this time was no exception. Judy and I collected him at his home in Chaska on Friday June 11, two days after my arrival, and we proceeded to Perkins to enjoy his favourite meal of pancakes. Unfortunately on this occasion, due to some dental work he had done the previous day, we had to forego a very important part of the menu, which is the side order of bacon strips that he always enjoys with his pancakes. Still, the important thing is meeting Al and enjoying his company and, on this occasion, any shortfall with the meal certainly did not detract from that.

I wanted to meet Al early in the visit this time rather during the last days because I hoped that this arrangement would give me the opportunity to meet him again before the trip ended. That opportunity was soon to come at an event that will live with me for the rest of my life.

A trip to visit Sarah and the boys is always a highlight. This time we had many opportunities to enjoy those visits. It always affords an opportunity to wind back the years, forget that we are no longer as young as we used to be, and partake in the fun and games that Davey and Derek expect us to be ready for at a moment’s notice. Davey and Derek don't take age into account and who cares about the aches and pains that are destined to follow? We can nurse those when we are back in the sanctuary of Tom and Judy’s basement. We compare notes and ask each other – I wonder what kind of truck was that that went over us last?

I sometimes wonder who enjoys Sarah's play system most - the children or the adults

I always enjoy playing with the boys, it brings me back to a time when my own grandchildren were small and when I enjoyed many happy hours with them.

Stars in the making - Davey hits a home run during one of our baseball games...

Derek keeps his eye on the ball

An outing to the Minnesota zoo, Minneapolis on a beautiful sunny day, with Judy was a most enjoyable affair. None of the animals are caged here. They all enjoy the freedom of the wide open spaces which in the main are designed to simulate their own natural environments. While you can take a monorail to travel round the parks and view the animals, the walk round the 500 or so acres of the complex affords the best opportunity to see everything that is to be seen and get up close and personal with the many strange and exotic inhabitants.

Two prairie dogs stand guard while their companions (out of picture) frolic and play and enjoy the attentions of the visitors to their large enclosure

Musk Ox Grazing peacefully

Bison relaxing by a lake with Canadian geese in the foreground

Takin

The Takin a native of the Eastern Himalayas and National Animal of Bhutan

One of the most unusual species of animal at the zoo is the Takin. The sign at their enclosure say that they are made up of so many species of animal that it would appear as if they were designed by a committee. However, if my information is correct, it was created by the great 15th century saint Lama Drukpa Kunley (called "the divine madman") who, after eating a cow and a goat for his lunch, stuck the head of the cow onto the skeleton of the goat, snapped his fingers and commanded the great beast to rise up and graze on the mountainside. To this day the animals can be seen grazing on the mountainsides of Bhutan. I think though, that I would favour going along with the more widely-held explanation that this animal is assembled from a variety of different animal species and nobody really seems to know why.

Click here to take your own tour of the zoo.

To be continued/….