Off to Minneapolis

The things folks think of...

When my daughter took herself camping to Colorado, she brought her brother back a T shirt that said Kum&Go. She claimed to have bought it at a local gas station. I thought she was kidding. Ben, of course, loved it. When I sent him this picture, I'm sad to report, he's asked for another. At least he has the good sense not to wear it to work.

We had another long day on the road to Minneapolis. I had not realized until yesterday that we'd be heading through there--Ruthie is the chief navigator and trip planner. My best friend from high school and her husband live in Minneapolis and on the off chance they might be home, I left a message asking if we could drop by on the way to our St. Cloud camp reservation.

Bev, Ruthie, Avelino

Luck was with us and Beverly and Avelino invited us to supper with them on the river front downtown. The visit was way too short. We had a brief chat on their breezy patio then headed downtown to an area where we saw more lovely old buildings repurposed for modern residents. Our dinner was served outside under umbrellas just off the sidewalk. The food was excellent but I enjoyed watching the city pass by almost as much as I enjoyed the food. And I especially enjoyed catching up with Bev. We

Where we had supper

correspond some but I have not seen her in person since Ben was born. I'm not sure I've seen Avelino since shortly after they were married. It's that wonder of friendship that we all just seemed to pick the strands up and continue. I hope to be back next year for a real visit and to explore the lovely places we could only glimpse this evening.

It was a local miller who figured out how to get brown flecks out of the local hard wheat he ground to get a light, white, finely ground flour. Eventually grindstones were laid to rest in favor of

Pillsbury

roller mills and the huge flour and cereal companies we now know--Gold Medal, Pillsbury, General Mills--all took off. Their massive storage bins and tall offices are still downtown. A rapids in the river was dammed for electricity to power the mills and the city has created walkways and parks to view it all.

We had to leave before we could explore much of any of it. Our fantasy was that we would arrive in St. Cloud in time to set up before dark. The fatigue of these first hard days was catching up with us and we were both ready for bed. Well, first there was a major slow down on the highway, and then we went to the wrong campground. Fortunately the operator was working late and directed us another 20 minutes up the road to where we

Gold Medal

Old dam, new Minneapolis

were supposed to be. With Ruthie's finely honed set up skills for assistance we affected what may have been the fastest set up yet and literally threw ourselves into bed. It's a long, hard drive to Bismark. We've got three nights booked there to be tourists and rest. We are due.