As a child, I was blessed to spend a week or two each summer with my grandparents, at their home in Madison, on the prairies of western Minnesota.  My Grandpa Babe owned a printing business and was the publisher of the town’s weekly newspaper, The Western Guard.  While my brother was content to hang around my grandparent’s house with his nose buried in a book, I was more eager to go to “work” with Grandpa.  I loved hanging around his print shop.  The staff were so generous to keep…

For teenagers, and truly anyone young at heart, no trip to MOA would be deemed a success without first enjoying a few thrill rides.  And because I am too proud not be the “fun uncle,” I soon found myself getting strapped into a seat for “Sponge Bob’s Rock Bottom Plunge.”  This compact rollercoaster begins by sending riders flat on their backs, crawling steadily up towards the interior heights of the glass-roofed ceiling.  Once at the summit, the car you’re riding in shifts 180° and you find yourself momentarily suspended, starring straight back down to the floor, three stories below.