My girlfriend Chris and I got up early again to head back to her house in Minnesota. Today happily there was a Caribou Coffee right next to the hotel so we could at least start with good coffee.
![](https://jumpstartmyheart.michaelhelmke.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Corn-Palace1.jpg)
![](https://jumpstartmyheart.michaelhelmke.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Corn-Palace-2.jpg)
Before leaving Mitchell, Chris wanted to drive by and see the major attraction in town: The World’s Only Corn Palace. When it’s open (not at 7am), there are mosaics inside made out of corn and also on the outside. I think the branding is weird. Why “world’s only”? Why not “world famous”? “World’s only” is on the sign outside so they are happy with that name but I thought it was odd. In many ways.
It was a couple hours before we found an ok spot for breakfast and then continued on home. It was about 4 1/2 hours total driving.
We stopped for some groceries on the way home and got the car washed, too. We had caught a lot of mud when we were driving through some melting snow slush a couple of days ago.
Overall it was a really fun drive back from Utah and seeing my daughter last week was wonderful.
I also see from the date on this post that it is a year since I had my surgery that inspired this writing project.
A year later I feel pretty good. I didn’t effectively keep the weight off that I wanted to and Chris and I are working on that now. (It’s important to keep eating enough food). But my heart feels good. I can walk distances without trouble. And I’m certainly happier with where I am in life than I had been before.
I’m happy to be here. I’m not done yet. And I tend to focus on doing what I personally want to do more than I used to.