Frugal Vacations on a shoestring & gas fumes

It’s suddenly summer in Minnesota. Last week it was in the 40’s. This week it’s blazing hot and humid. Dandelions instantly covered my lawn in a yellow-headed blaze of glory– the same lawn that was still crispy brown a few days ago. And people in spandex are out in force, walking, running, and biking as though their very lives depend on it.

Everyone is planning or has high hopes for a vacation. With gas prices reaching the astronomical pinnacle of Obama’s dream (that everyone shall be forced to take the bus), the distance may be much shorter this year. Unless you know a long-haul trucker who accepts passengers, you might be forced into doing the “day trip.”

The day trip is a mini-vacation packed into one afternoon at a destination within a couple hours driving distance. In Minnesota, that is all well and good if you own a boat or a cabin up north. But if you stayed away from purchasing these items because you didn’t want to go bankrupt, and you still can’t afford gas for the SUV you are forced to own in the harsh, icy northern regions of the United States or never park in your uphill driveway during the nine months of winter, you don’t have many choices.

There is the Mall of America in Bloomington. (Not even on my list of “if you haven’t got anything else to do but pull dandelions in the hot sun”) But maybe someone would enjoy going there.

There is the Spam Museum in Austin, which I have informed you of before in a post from last year. Now that is a day trip! Definitely a must see kind of place. The history of Spam should be included in our children’s school books. It shows what America is made of…grease.

Or you could visit the biggest ball of twine in Darwin. I especially found this mesmorizing. First of all, what kind of man would spend all his spare time collecting twine and winding it up into a big ball? I know men are slightly obsessed with balls, and they need a hobby when they grow older, especially when they retire. But usually they golf or make wooden toys or spend ten hours a day manicuring their lawn. I saw a man on TV once who collected bubblegum wrappers his whole life and made a mile long chain with them that took up an entire room of his house. It takes all kinds.

With a plan to shake taxpayers down for a few hundred more million, our state has decided to build an unnecessary new stadium for the losing Vikings Team. Which makes for another great day trip destination. Visit the site of the perfectly good Vikings Dome that still stands in downtown Minneapolis. Take some pictures, post them on facebook, and brag about the time you once watched a game inside where it was comfortable and you weren’t frozen to the seat of your chair. Because any day now, someone will take a wrecking ball to the dome and it will just be a memory. In another twenty years, the powers that be will be whining about needing a new “indoor” stadium, cause it’s too cold to play outside, and you will have photographic proof of their stupidity. Not that you need it. You can call them stupid without it.

One more day trip destination that should be on every Minnesotan’s list is a lake. It doesn’t matter which lake–just pick one. Supposedly we have over ten thousand of them, so there should be plenty of beach space and water to go around.

Hindsight: okay, the weather is once again crappy, rainy, and cold. Disregard summer for today. But you can still plan:)

Do you have any suggestions for a cheap, day trip getaway? Leave a comment and share your ideas.