Last Thursday Donna and I treated ourselves to a "haircut" at Spalon Montage. Our niece Jill has a large family, and one of her nieces works at this very nice upscale salon in Woodbury, MN, where we were fortunate to score an appointment, thanks to Jill. We have been on the road so long that we both were well on the way to the proverbial dog license, and really needed some professional help! Lana was kind enough to take special care with each of us: shampoo's, massage's and a very professional and knowledgable hair cut and style. Both Donna and I are very happy now! Thank you Jill and Lana!
Thursday afternoon we spent with Donna's brother and his wife, talking and catching up on family stuff. An early return to Nessie and a quick dinner of yummy leftovers from the great dinners we've been enjoying set us up for an excursion on Friday.
Friday we left Stillwater and headed north. I would like to relate the highway numbers, but I just can't seem to get them straight. 35W goes north, 35E seems to go west, 494 turns into 694 and merges with 94. 94 west goes into St Paul, but we seem to always end up on Snelling Ave, so go figure! We ended up at Shoreline RV looking at Airstream Trailers in Anoka, MN. Bill and Linda are contemplating the purchase of an rv so they can escape the cold Minnesota winters. Their family is very supportive and has offered to take care of the house and yard and such, so off we went to see what the Airstream world had to offer. Let me tell you, those trailers are nice! Donna and I almost decided to trade Nessie in on one, but after discussing the options with Nessie, we were convinced not to rock the boat! Bill and Linda, however, found the perfect Airstream for their needs. It's a beautiful 27' long model with all the panache of the Airstream line. Perfect metalwork, superb detailing, and over-the-top engineering make Airstream's a great unit. Even though the price was north of 80k, as an old trailer guy, I can see the value. Years after purchase, Airstreams are reselling for most of their original price!
On the way home, we decided to take a bit of a detour into Minneapolis, since we had not seen the city on this trip. We didn't spend much time there, but did see the site of the I35 bridge collapse some years ago.
And we passed by the site of the new Vikings Football stadium. Several cranes are set up and progress is being made on the structure. One of the cranes is said to be the largest in the world, requiring some 75 large trucks to bring it to the job site for assembly.
As we approached Stillwater we stopped for dinner at the Good Earth restaurant where all the dishes are made from organic, natural ingredients. A dead cell phone battery prevented me from getting any photos, but take my word that the House burger was superb.
Yesterday, Saturday the 23rd, was a bit of a screwy day. A repairman came to fix our microwave/convection oven in the morning, and ended up staying until noon because of the complexity of the repair. The complaint was simple: a loud noise when operating in the convection mode. Mr. RepairGuy had previously diagnosed a defective fan, and had ordered a new one, but to get to the fan, fan motor and shield, he needed to completely take the top and all the innards off of the microwave. Of course, this involved removing the microwave from the overhead cabinet, which in turn meant a search for the non-standard rv mounting system. Nonetheless, the job was completed, the noise disappeared, and we all gave a sigh of relief!
Later in the afternoon, we went to the St Croix River Boom Site. This is the area of the St Croix River, between Minnesota and Wisconsin where large log "booms" gathered as they floated downstream from the huge forests in the north, tagged and identified, and then separated for delivery to lumber mills. Occasionally the booms would become entangled and had to be separated with dynamite! Can you imagine the lumberjacks hopping from log to log out on the river with sticks of dynamite stuffed in their jeans?
We ended up in Wisconsin near the town of Hudson, and the Italian restaurant known as Mama Maria's where we enjoyed a wonderful Italian feast of spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, and shrimp linguini after appetizers of crab cakes and stuffed mushrooms. The meals were served with a choice of salad or soup, and Bill and I choose the soup, which was a Jalapeño Cheeseburger dish. Oh boy! Our server, a lovely lady named Lisa, was most attentive and made the entire experience one to remember. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't eat like that ever again!
So, today, Sunday, we arrived at the Lake Elmo Inn for Sunday Brunch! Known far and wide for their buffet, and chosen as one of the top ten restaurants in the Twin Cities, we proceeded to break yesterdays promise several times over!
The entire adult family joined together for a great time of stories and laughs. With apologies to Linda on the left and Jill on the right, here we are (except for Donna, who was taking the pic).
We waddled out and returned to Nessie for a quick change of clothes. The humidity was a bit high today, with thunderstorms rolling through and a scattering of rain, so a change into short pants was a requirement! We repaired to Bill and Linda's home for a continuation of the conversation and snacks.
Here's Bill and Linda just after Bill told Linda that they ought to sell their house and buy a trailer!
Tomorrow it's off to the Minnesota State Fair, so stay tuned for photos of that! Bill has a plan to see the half of the fair that we missed last year. Considering that we spent the entire day there last year, I'm sure that we will do the same this year!
I like your kind of trips, eating your way across the country, conversing and having good times with friends and family, visiting state fairs and eating more as you travel...Sign us up!
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