It’s been a year and three months since I moved from California to Minnesota.

I consider myself a Minnesotan now, even though my girlfriend doesn’t. To her, I will always be a Californian — the guy who thinks 50 degrees is cold and who doesn’t know what the term “uffda” means.

I think I do pretty well though.

The snow really doesn’t bother me, I know my way around county roads, and I’ve quickly become a Vikings and Gophers fan.

I will admit, however, there are some things I still need to learn and finding my way around the Twin Cities is one of them.

That place is like a maze trying to find the cheese.

I’ve been to Minneapolis a few times to see the Twins, went to a Wild game this past winter and make the trip about several times a month.

The biggest problem I find with the Twins Cities is the parking. The construction and the detours are a close second, but that’s a topic for another column.

Parking in the outskirts of Minneapolis and St. Paul is easy.

Mall of America, no problem. The airport, no problem.

Finding the best spaces at those locations can be difficult, but finding something isn’t usually an issue.

That’s not really the case in downtown Minneapolis, however, which is filled with parking meters and parking garages.

Even when you do find a place to park, you then have to deal with the prices, which to me seem made up on a day to day basis.

Take, for instance, the time I went to a Twins game and drove up from Austin.

I met my sister and brother-in-law there and arrived rather early. I arrived before 5 p.m. at one parking garage and received an hourly rate that seemed fair to me. My sister arrived an hour later, parked in the same lot and was charged a flat rate because it was closer to game time.

Her rate of $8 or so was two dollars more than mine.

It was no big deal, but interesting that the rate changed in the span of an hour.

In the past year, I have made numerous trips to the Twin Cities and for the most part have felt the parking fees have been fair considering the sporting events or the simple fact I was parking downtown.

Last week, however, I changed my mind.

I was on my way to dinner Thursday afternoon and was in a hurry.

I went into the closest parking garage I could find, which only had a walk up pay station.

I was parked in that lot for no more than an hour and when I went to leave I put my ticket in the slot to pay.

The charge was $17.

Apparently, it cost $2 for zero to 40 minutes, $17 for 45 minutes to an hour, $20 for more than an hour to 23 hours and $24 for 24 hours.

I should have paid $3 more and walked back out and spent another 22 hours downtown just to get my money’s worth.

As I was leaving, I saw a sign in front of another parking garage that said $6 fixed rate.

It was then that I realized one thing.

I may consider myself a Minnesotan, but I still have some things to learn.