hannah
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
Montana wine
hannah
Hwy 212 into Yellowstone
hannah
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Bits and pieces
In an effort to a) update more frequently and b) include some of the random anecdotes I’ve been meaning to post and since we now in a motel with 1) internet and 2) electricity here’s a random post of some thoughts and sketches from the road.
When I visited the Badlands with my family as a 14-ish year old I remember being especially struck by their stark beauty. In my memory they were incredibly colorful and engaging and felt paradoxically both familiar and exotic. We arrived a few days ago at sunset after a long drive from Minnesota and watched the sky turn pink behind the crazy spires and mesas of the Wall. The stars that night were beautiful, and we had some wine and lay on a blanket, trying to identify constellations. I found my forest-loving self a bit adrift the next day as we walked a trail through hot, scorched country, but as Becky reminded me it would be poor form for a soon-to-be resident of Seattle to complain about the excess sunshine! Driving through and out of the park we stopped at some hills that were bright yellow and oranges – remnants of jungles! – and saw buffalo in the grasslands and it rounded out a beautiful visit.
We spent an amazing night in the Black Hills in a campground that was a great find: on a lake in an evergreen grove, a really beautiful setting. We burned the guitar that Becky replaced and it was a spectacular send-off for a well-loved instrument. Pictures and maybe a narrative from Becky once we get the photos from the camera.
Rushmore is strange. A wonderful example of public art and a commemoration of great leaders, sure, but a bizarre crowd-control scene of blue-rinse hairstyles and cameras. Worth going to, glad I saw it. Check that one off the list.
On the way from Rushmore we stopped in a tiny little town hoping to find a place to cook lunch. We parked in a patch of grass behind the bar, which was also the restaurant, beside the post office and school, and next to the train tracks. That was the town. All of it. We saw a loooong coal train pass, listened to a dog bark at us, ate our lunch, and then wondered if we could stop inside the bar for a quick rest stop. As soon as we saw the crowd we realized it might be more trouble than it was worth; I have never seen so many cowboy hats (the stiff kind that are half works of art) and jeans and, well, Western Attitude than I did outside that bar. Not put-on Western Attitude, but genuine folks being residents of a rural Wyoming town. We decided to find another place to stop; not that we wouldn’t have loved the experience, but I’m not sure they would have known what to do with us.
We’re currently sitting a wood-paneled room in a motel that looks like a set for a 70s TV movie. Pink walls outside and a blue roof, blinking arrow sign, the whole nine yards. In our defense, we were looking for a place that had heating (not and was under $100 near Yellowstone, and this had good ratings online. It’s not a bad deal; we had reasonable pizza in a nearby store for dinner, we’ve got a kitchenette in which we cooked for the next few days and we’ll have a lovely drive up into the mountains tomorrow.
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.
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.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Queer and Corney
We left James's house yesterday morning after watching Noah catch the bus. It ends up my childhood St. Louis suburban home is in James's backyard. Not even a mile and two turns and we found ourselves staring at Green Pines Elementary School, 16657 Westglen Farms Rd and a skip and a jump away from Hollister Crossing. Pics are included mostly for Mom and Dee. It doesn't really pull at me that strongly but its always interesting to see a place you almost remember.
The Arch, a.k.a. The Gateway to the West was pretty cool. Totally worth going up in. There were two Muslim gentlemen going up the same time as us. As we notice that we are becoming increasingly more self aware of our gayness we wondered if these two gentlemen in their traditional dress felt the same as we did if not more acutely. Welcome and unlikely comrades in the land of republicans and anti-mosque, anti-gay talk shows, billboards and bumper stickers.
The heartland is... well... growing corn and beef which we knew. Its a loud reminder of the diversity in our country to go from East Coast city to suburbs to the rural Midwest one horse towns.
It ends up that in the country you can paint a bicycle on the bumpy shoulder and call it a bike lane. Don't get us wrong, it would have been a beautiful ride. Its just the trucks going 65 on the tiny two lane road that would scare the crap out of us. Also in case you're headed this way, there is an awesome food co-op in Iowa City. And just for the record, the Minnesota stars are gorgeous. The milky way is super clear. I hope to make a tradition of climbing onto a picnic table to lie on my back and be amazed by the twinkling, giggle and/or contemplate the universe after a long day of driving.
Today = Carleton College
Tomorrow = Minneapolis
Sunday = To the Badlands
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