The Drive Home

Lauren left this note for the housekeeping crew at the Fairfield Inn.

We didn't hit the pool at the Fairfield Inn before checking out – as originally planned – mostly because they did not have a hot tub. But we did enjoy a really nice breakfast and Lauren made sure I kept moving so we got out of town at a decent time (about 9 a.m.).

On the way out the door, Lauren and I stopped off at the vending machine, which featured some unusual items. Very unusual items. Like a cheeseburger!

The going was pretty slow on the interstate in the first hour, with blowing snow and lots of ice. But once we got a bit farther south, we were able to get back up to the speed limit. We also did an "Uncle Bill" and ran the van down to near empty before fueling up in Council Bluffs.

There were also sausage, egg and cheese muffins in the vending machine!

The price of gas was about 10 cents cheaper in Minneapolis.

It was pretty sketchy driving the first hour of the trip.

We stopped at Boondocks – just like on the first trip to the Shriner's Hospital.

Lauren enjoyed a nice piece of lemon pie.

The Final Visit

Score! Lauren's friend, Dedra, made sure she went home with the best prize from the closet.

It was with mixed feelings that we learned today's visit to the Shriner's Hospital will be Lauren's last as a patient.

On one hand, it is amazing to see the progress she has made over the years thanks to the help of many professionals there. Not to mention the friends and wonderful memories gained on the drives (and one flight) to and from Minneapolis. From Dr. Guidera to Dedra to one of our original drivers from the Tangier Shrine Temple, "Oley."

Lauren and Dedra, back in 2007.

Dr. Luedtke checked Lauren over, telling her that she has pretty much stopped growing and that her scoliosis has cleared up. She reminded her to continue to do stretching exercises and to create a good foundation for a healthy lifestyle as her bones continue to develop.

The visit was probably the shortest of all time and we marveled at the fact that the lobby was completely empty the entire time we were there. We made sure to stop in and see Dedra and Tim and Lauren found one more prize in the prize chest on the way out the door.

If all goes to plan, we hope to make another trip up to Minneapolis this summer to look at the campus at the University of Minnesota. Lauren just might feel right at home there, too.

(See more from Lauren's past hospital visits here, here, here and here.)

Lauren (wearing her Shriner's Hospital shirt, as usual), posed with Dedra and Tim.

Lauren even brought shorts along for her "walking exam," which she didn't have to do.

There was the usual checking for flexibility. We have lots of pictures of this over the years.

Dr. Luedtke gave Lauren some good advice before sending her off for the last time.

We saw Dr. Guidera! Well, at least his photo in the lobby.

There would be no playing on the playground on this day.

One more look at the prizes on the way out the door...

We exited the parking garage into the midst of a blizzard.

Mall of America Visit

It was only lightly snowing when we arrived at the Mall of America.

We awoke to snow flurries and news that a blizzard warning was in effect for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Not exactly news you want to hear when you will be doing a bit of driving on unfamiliar roads. But Lauren and I knew we only had a few commitments on our schedule, so we made plans to allow for plenty of drive time.

First up was a visit to the Mall of America. Lauren had asked about it and I knew it would be fun to spend a few hours there. We arrived to find it nearly empty and not many more people were there when we left (as the snow continued to fly).

We visited the Disney store, a couple T-shirt shops, a hockey team apparel store, both Oakley stores (who knew the mall had two of them?), the lululemon athletic shop and we ate at Burger King in the food court. The highlight – at least for both of us – had to be the Oakley store. "Chelsea," the associate, didn't realize she was helping me put together my custom prescription glasses order without a chance for a sale. That's because the BMC Racing Team will work with Oakley – a team sponsor – to produce the glasses for me at no cost. What I needed was an idea of which frames looked best for me and what was able to be customized.

Formerly "Camp Snoopy," the amusement area at Mall of America is now a Nickelodeon property.

I thought this was a cute photo – until Lauren told me she posed here last time.

Lauren and I agreed Julia would have loved this store.

There are dozens of Lego choices on offer at the Lego store.

This seemed like an appropriate T-shirt to purchase.

Lauren enjoyed an Oreo shake at the food court.

Made It To Minneapolis

Lauren got settled in nicely - and brought along her Nemo and blanket.

We made it to the Best Western Plus Capitol Ridge (formerly the "Kelly Inn") hotel in St. Paul and got checked in.

If you want to get a laugh out of Lauren, be sure and ask her about "320" (we were staying in room 321). Talk about not having your life together...

Lauren pondered having the "Hobo Breakfast."

Anyway, the room was very nice (and warm compared to a big chill in the hallway). We checked out the pool, only to find out it was "closed for maintenance." When we sent a photo of the closing to Emily, she wrote back, "#poopinthepool" - which hadn't come to mind but was probably the case!

We also got downtown to eat - which was a bit of a challenge considering it was -4 degrees with about a -25 windchill. We found a nice little diner that featured only a handful of customers. Lauren remarked that our server was also probably doing the cooking since she was also our cashier and was busing tables. Lauren enjoyed a nice Belgian waffle and I had a BBQ chicken sandwich while we watched the first part of the Cannondale Pro Cycling Team launch from New York. If you missed it, you really didn't miss much. The first half-hour was almost exclusively "talking heads." #badtv

These in-room cards are a pretty cool idea.

Driving To Minneapolis

We fought a strong headwind as we headed north toward Minneapolis.

Lauren and I set off today for Minneapolis and her appointment at the Shriner's Hospital. We were going to drive up early Thursday morning, the day of her appointment, but two things changed those plans: Omaha Public Schools called off classes for Wednesday and the Shriner's footed the bill for a night at a hotel.

So we headed out of Omaha about 11:30 a.m. and enjoyed good driving conditions. There was a lot of snow in the Des Moines/Ames area and then again some in Minnesota. But overall, it was a pretty uneventful trip. I joked that a "trained monkey" could make the drive, turning right at the I-80/I-29 junction and then a left at I-35.

We are staying at the former "Kelly Inn" by the Xcel Energy Center. Photos of that to come...

Minnesota has a very nice 3-D sign to welcome its visitors.

Between reading and checking her phone, Lauren was enjoying the ride.

Check out the rainbow (at right) that Lauren spotted.

There was definitely more snow in Iowa than in Omaha.

We saw quite a bit of this as we traveled through Iowa and into Minnesota.

Shriner's Hospital Trip: Up And Back In A Day

Lauren and I started our day at 4:45 a.m. at Eppley Airfield.

Eight boarding passes for our four flights: Omaha to Chicago's O'Hare to Minneapolis and back.

Lauren patiently awaited her breakfast at a nice little place we found tucked in the back of one of the food courts at O'Hare.

A plain omelet, lots of hash browns, toast and hot chocolate were on the menu for Lauren and her other travel partner.

When you're as skinny as Lauren, there's quite a bit of seat belt left to go around.

Lauren even got a little reading in on the flights. We had a different type of aircraft for each one. (She liked the flight from Chicago to Minneapolis on an Airbus 320 the best.)

We joked that "Gate Gourmet" is where we are going to eat the next time we dine out.

There was a flurry of action in the lobby behind Lauren. A local high school football team was doing a workshop activity with patients.

Lauren's longtime friend, Dedra, caught up to us several times. It's always good to see her.

Dr. Lael Luedtke is Lauren's new physician,  replacing Dr. Ken Guidera, who had treated her since our first visit back in the early 2000s.

Lyndsey, the X-ray technician, had the same Nike shoes as Lauren.

So many flights out of Chicago ... but only two going back to Omaha.

Here is the cake Lauren designed herself.

Can you tell some of her sisters were pretty jealous of Lauren's birthday cake?

Lauren wasn't the only one smiling about not having an ice cream cake this year. The Cake Gallery creation broke our habit of usually going with something from Dairy Queen.

Can you tell the birthday cake was a huge hit?