The Land of the Tiny Sotas

Ever since we began heading north in earnest Becky has been referring to Minnesota by the above name, and it's caught on. One of the Twin Cities became the Tiny Apolis, a lake west of the Twin Cities became the Lake of the Tiny Haha, and a suburb was Tiny Tonka. You get the idea. Maybe it's most amusing after hours in the car.

Our first night in the Land of a Thousand Lakes was spent just over the border after a long drive north through Iowa. Our first experience with the windmills of the midwest was at night, and it took quite a while to figure out what the row of high, blinking red lights could possibly be. Airport? Too tall. Alien landing guides? Sure.... Oh, wind turbines! It was fun to wake up and see what the land looked like in the daylight. We had an easy drive up to Northfield, where we got a sandwich at Hogan Brothers (I love it for the sake of nostalgia, but those are particularly forgettable sandwiches), walked around the campus, dropped in on my biology advisor Matt Rand and had a lovely chat, then grabbed coffee at Blue Monday's. A quick walk around Farm House (being a sketchy alum taking pictures), we marveled at the huge garden they now have, took a quick walk in the Arb in a rain shower, then said hello to Kaaren Williamson before going to meet with frances and Stephanie. We had a wonderful time eating at Chapati, drinking beers and running into friends and acquaintances at the Contented Cow, and then playing late(ish) night Bananagrams with them. After a morning trip to Jesse James Days we said a sad farewell and headed up to the Cities. It was good to be back, and a little strange, and mostly a delightful chance to reconnect with a place that meant, and still means, a lot to me. Even more wonderful was the chance to share it with Becky!

After a stop at REI to pick up some long underwear (Yellowstone is cold this time of year!) we took the recommendation of Teague and Doug and set up shop at the Wilde Roast in Minneapolis. It's a great little coffee shop/cafe/bar that was the perfect place to host social office hours. We got to say hello to a wonderful handful of friends from Carleton, and even a Mt Holyoke friend as well. Thanks to everyone who came out! Lots of talk of nostalgic memories and a dose of planning for the future ("what are YOU going to do with your life?"). Becky joked that we hadn't heard of many people who wanted to teach at a liberal arts college until we met my friends, most of whom want to metaphorically (or literally) return to Carleton to teach. Ah, hopeless academics.

Our evening was spent with Esther and Patrick, friends of our family since Dad met Esther about 20 years ago. We had a delicious dinner at their favorite local Indian place, then walked down by the river, hearing stories about the city's history. We grabbed another drink and enjoyed the lovely company while appreciating being able to sit outside while not plagued by heat, bugs or cold (a rare luxury!). The next morning we had a great breakfast in the sun room before driving off.

That day's drive took us west through South Dakota to the Badlands. A study in contrasts, leaving the banks of the Mississipi to cross the flat land of Dakota and arrive at the Wall of the Badlands at sunset. More about that section of the journey in the next post.