Our last blog posting ended in Grand Teton National Park. Since then we have driven across five states and almost 2,000 miles! This photo shows our car in front of the Pinnacle Buttes in Wyoming.
We didn't stay in Jackson Hole Wyoming, but we did drive through. Located near an elk preserve, we noticed several massive antler displays. (Elk shed their alters once a year.)
We spent a night in Hot Springs South Dakota. The town has about 70 historic buildings that are made of sandstone.
There are over a hundred hot springs here, but the temperature of the water is only 85 degrees, so we didn't get to soak.
The Badlands National Park in South Dakota had striking geology that was formed 75-30 million years ago.
The upper striations in the rock were largely caused by ash that blew over the area from nearby volcanic eruptions.
Pete climbed up on a butte to get a closer look.
We went to a ranger talk on fossils, and learned about interesting animals that lived millions of years ago. Pete is holding fossil teeth from an oreodont.
We saw some prairie dog towns. They always have one watching for predators.
What's a road trip without BBQ? Of course we were happy eating a meal at Famous Dave's.
After too many days of driving we arrived in Minneapolis. We enjoyed the Walker Art Center sculpture park. This is Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claus Oldenburg. It's a fountain where the water sprays from the top of the stem.
This Ellsworth Kelly piece, Double Curve, was striking. It's in front of a Richard Serra piece.
The Walker had an artist-designed miniature golf curse set up for the summer, so we played nine holes.
Kristina learned by watching the golfers ahead of us and made every hole either at or below par.
Pete was not so fortunate and finished five strokes behind Kristina.
The Walker was showing Christian Marclay's The Clock, a 24 hour movie that includes thousands of movie clips about time and is synchronized to the actual time. It was surprisingly engaging and we ended up watching for 90 minutes.
The Airbnb place we rented was only a few blocks from the Walker Art Center, so we went by frequently during our walks through the neighborhood. It's located on a hill that overlooks downtown Minneapolis.
Part of the sculpture garden includes a conservatory. These succulants were catching the late afternoon sunlight in just such a way that their edges seemed to glow.
The lawn outside the center frequently hosts events throughout the summer. One evening we came upon the 3rd Annual Internet Video Cat Festival. It was quite a draw.
Minneapolis is not without delicious food. We found a great restaurant just minutes from our place called Butcher and the Boar. As its name belies, it featured a meat-heavy menu. We sampled their house-made charcuterie, including ham, head cheese, ox sausage and an amazing smoked turkey liver pate, plus a variety of pickles.
The restaurant had an interesting bike-themed mural along one of its exterior walls.
Pete was born in Saint Paul and lived here with his family until he was one year old. Pete's Mom remembered the address, so it was fun to go by and see the old place.
We rented a tandem bike and rode around four lakes on wonderful bike paths.
The ride gave us a sense why Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.
We chose to go through Michigan's Upper Peninsula and drove northeast along Lake Michigan.
As Pete drove Kristina read Longfellow's epic poem Song of Hiawatha
The Mackinac Bridge, which connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, reminded us a bit of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
In Grand Rapids we went to a wonderful yoga weekend workshop taught by one of our favorite yoga teachers, Sianna Sherman.
Sianna suggested we try Grove restaurant for dinner, and it was great! Pete ordered their kimchi stew.
We ordered their beet salad, with pureed, pickled and cooked beets.
And the ocean trout served with carrot romesco and veggies was cooked perfectly.
After dinner we went to the "church of beer". Actually it was the Vivant Brewery that was located in a former church.
The area around the yoga studio is called Eastown and we found it charming. They paint their utility boxes with these graffiti-like murals.
We had lunch at Chez Olga's in this crazy looking building.
The Haitian food was tasty. We started with spicy pork, plantain fritters and coleslaw.
Pete is smiling because the seafood gumbo was spicy and good!
Next we head to Toronto.
We didn't stay in Jackson Hole Wyoming, but we did drive through. Located near an elk preserve, we noticed several massive antler displays. (Elk shed their alters once a year.)
We spent a night in Hot Springs South Dakota. The town has about 70 historic buildings that are made of sandstone.
There are over a hundred hot springs here, but the temperature of the water is only 85 degrees, so we didn't get to soak.
The Badlands National Park in South Dakota had striking geology that was formed 75-30 million years ago.
The upper striations in the rock were largely caused by ash that blew over the area from nearby volcanic eruptions.
Pete climbed up on a butte to get a closer look.
We went to a ranger talk on fossils, and learned about interesting animals that lived millions of years ago. Pete is holding fossil teeth from an oreodont.
We saw some prairie dog towns. They always have one watching for predators.
What's a road trip without BBQ? Of course we were happy eating a meal at Famous Dave's.
After too many days of driving we arrived in Minneapolis. We enjoyed the Walker Art Center sculpture park. This is Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claus Oldenburg. It's a fountain where the water sprays from the top of the stem.
This Ellsworth Kelly piece, Double Curve, was striking. It's in front of a Richard Serra piece.
The Walker had an artist-designed miniature golf curse set up for the summer, so we played nine holes.
Kristina learned by watching the golfers ahead of us and made every hole either at or below par.
Pete was not so fortunate and finished five strokes behind Kristina.
The Walker was showing Christian Marclay's The Clock, a 24 hour movie that includes thousands of movie clips about time and is synchronized to the actual time. It was surprisingly engaging and we ended up watching for 90 minutes.
The Airbnb place we rented was only a few blocks from the Walker Art Center, so we went by frequently during our walks through the neighborhood. It's located on a hill that overlooks downtown Minneapolis.
Part of the sculpture garden includes a conservatory. These succulants were catching the late afternoon sunlight in just such a way that their edges seemed to glow.
The lawn outside the center frequently hosts events throughout the summer. One evening we came upon the 3rd Annual Internet Video Cat Festival. It was quite a draw.
Minneapolis is not without delicious food. We found a great restaurant just minutes from our place called Butcher and the Boar. As its name belies, it featured a meat-heavy menu. We sampled their house-made charcuterie, including ham, head cheese, ox sausage and an amazing smoked turkey liver pate, plus a variety of pickles.
The restaurant had an interesting bike-themed mural along one of its exterior walls.
Pete was born in Saint Paul and lived here with his family until he was one year old. Pete's Mom remembered the address, so it was fun to go by and see the old place.
We rented a tandem bike and rode around four lakes on wonderful bike paths.
The ride gave us a sense why Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.
We chose to go through Michigan's Upper Peninsula and drove northeast along Lake Michigan.
As Pete drove Kristina read Longfellow's epic poem Song of Hiawatha
By the shore of Gitchee Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water, . . .
The Mackinac Bridge, which connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, reminded us a bit of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
In Grand Rapids we went to a wonderful yoga weekend workshop taught by one of our favorite yoga teachers, Sianna Sherman.
Sianna suggested we try Grove restaurant for dinner, and it was great! Pete ordered their kimchi stew.
We ordered their beet salad, with pureed, pickled and cooked beets.
And the ocean trout served with carrot romesco and veggies was cooked perfectly.
After dinner we went to the "church of beer". Actually it was the Vivant Brewery that was located in a former church.
The area around the yoga studio is called Eastown and we found it charming. They paint their utility boxes with these graffiti-like murals.
We had lunch at Chez Olga's in this crazy looking building.
The Haitian food was tasty. We started with spicy pork, plantain fritters and coleslaw.
Pete is smiling because the seafood gumbo was spicy and good!
Next we head to Toronto.
