Oct 21st-23rd

So I left off my story in Green Bay on Thursday night. I decided to spend another night in my car that night and in the morning I went back to Lambeau Field to get some closer pictures. I took pictures of the Earl Lambeau and Vince Lombardi statues out front and asked someone to take my picture on the Lambeau Leap statue wall. It was packed inside the pro shop so I took the escalator upstairs to take a walk around the Packers Hall of Fame. As you can imagine, there were so many interesting facts and information about the team and the stadium. Each inductee into the Hall of Fame had a golden ball with their name and face on them. Some of the more iconic figures had mock lockers in the next room. At the end of these rooms were all the championships the Packers had won, including the championships before the merger and the four Lombardi Trophies. On the second floor of the Hall of Fame, there was a room set up like Vince Lombardi's office along with his film projector. After exiting the Hall of Fame, I went back down to the pro shop from a different escalator and saw the three-story high Lombardi trophy. It was incredible.
I left Green Bay and headed towards Minneapolis because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get familiar with the city before the USWNT game that Sunday. I was planning on staying the first night in a campground that I had researched but when I got there, the office was closed. So I found the closest walmart and camped in my car for the night. I was feeling quite down about my trip at this point because it was my third night in a row sleeping in my car and I hadn't been able to shower for a few days. I felt gross and discouraged and wondered if I was going to be able to make this trip around the country work. The next morning however, I found a gas station with a travel center that had private showers for travelers. After a much needed shower, I was reinvigorated and headed to downtown Minneapolis.
I went to the Minneapolis Central Library first in order to print my ticket for the game. After asking the kind librarian for some suggestions to eat, I started wandering around downtown. Although she didn't exactly give me any ideas for local restaurants, she pointed me in the direction of a main road where I had a pick of bars and restaurants. I ended up getting lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery. After lunch, I did some more walking around, taking pictures of sculptures, architecture, and paintings. When I returned to my car, I decided to go see the Mall of America since I had a few hours to kill before it would even be dark.
As I left the parking garage, I noticed that I had only paid $4 for quite a few hours. I decided that instead of looking for a motel room I would once more camp out in my car in this parking garage. It was perfect because I wouldn't pay much for the night and it was only 3 blocks away from U.S. Bank Stadium which was where the game was being held the next day.
So I went to the Mall of America and luckily found parking rather easily. I was expecting the mall to be big and to be packed but it was even larger and busier than I had imagined. It took me two hours just to walk around the outer layers of the three floors before venturing into the center of the Mall which is basically an amusement park for children. I came across a museum for the great Prince which unfortunately did not allow photography. I also counted 5 different Lids stores, and two sets of Victoria's Secrets and Pink stores. There were too many Caribou Coffee shops for me to remember. There was only one place to get a haircut though which I decided I needed. I went to Jamba Juice for a smoothie while I waited and walked around the small 4th floor which was a few restaurants. My barber was a very nice guy. We talked about my trip and some of the places I had seen and was planning to see. After the haircut, I left the Mall and found a McDonald's to use their wifi and charge my phone before returning to the parking garage. I parked on the very top so I could see the stadium and wouldn't have the lights from inside the garage keeping me awake.
I woke up around 9 the next morning very excited to see the game. It was going to be the first time I wore the present my friends had gotten me. I put on my Where's Waldo costume and headed to the game around 11:45. It was a short walk to the stadium but I wanted to make sure I had no trouble getting in through security and finding my seat, which happened to be on the exact opposite side of the stadium. So I walked around until I found my section and sat down in my seat. I took some pictures of the stadium, field, and the teams warming up.
It was a poor start for the US who conceded early in the 7th minute to go down 1-0. To me, it looked like we were playing a 3-5-2 that would turn into a 3-4-3 with Carli Lloyd pushing forward. Switzerland did what most teams do against the USWNT and packed it in trying to counter on the break. In the 25th minute, Carli Lloyd hit a screamer from 25 yards out for an absolute beauty of a goal to equalize.  At halftime, the game remained 1-1. This game was a friendly so each team was allowed 6 subs instead of the usual 3. So at halftime, Christen Press and Samantha Mewis came on for the US.  In the 51st minute, Press had her shot rebound off a defender to Lloyd who placed it home to give the US a 2-1 advantage. Two minutes later, Press added her own goal off a beautiful one time chip shot over the goalie to make it 3-1. Crystal Dunn scored in the 63rd minute to make it 4-1. In the 81st minute, Kealia Ohai was subbed on and it was announced that she was making her first appearance for the team. The crowd gave her a loud cheer to welcome her and a minute later she returned the warm reception with her first goal off a Christen Press assist. The crowd went absolutely nuts for her as she ran around hugging everyone she could find. The game ended 5-1 good guys.
I left Minneapolis right after the game trying to make as much ground to my next destination, Badlands National Park. I made it as far as Jordan, MN before getting hungry so I pulled off and found Clancy's bar. Imagine a truck stop biker bar in a movie. That was Clancy's bar. The people were very nice and the food was great too. I got back on the road and made it to Luverne, MN to a Quality Inn Motel. It was Sunday night, so Bill gave me another call to check in for the podcast. Even though the show has gone down since I left, it's still pretty good so follow them on twitter @NationPod and find them on iTunes or SoundCloud at Nation of Conversation.
I'll leave it there for now since the next few days has quite a lot to talk about as well. If you want to follow me on twitter, you can find me @nyknicks167. And as always thanks for reading!