When My
Lovely Bride was off having lunch the other day with Echo Bodine, I was left to
my own devices without wheels (powered, at least) at the campground. I decided
to get wild and crazy. No, I did not call Tammy’s Mobile Lap Dance Service. I
decided to have My Favorite Lunch, chili dogs… not just any chili dogs, but
what I call “chickli dogs”, grilled chicken hot dogs with Hormel chili (sans beans), cheddar cheese, onions, mayo
and mustard, open-face on toast. It is a meal fit for a king. Okay, maybe a
barbarian king, but royalty nevertheless. I skipped the beer (although I was
tempted), but frankly, Diet Coke was a poor substitute for an Alaskan Amber. In
any case, it went down very well, and when Suzanne came home and asked me what
I had eaten for lunch, I artfully changed the subject. (She still doesn’t
know…) 
One of our
very special events here in Minnesota was having dinner with Chris, Pat and
Bill, all of whom Suzanne had given readings. They invited us to Bacio’s, a
fabulous Italian restaurant in Minneapolis. Bill’s sons Churchill, Brooks and
Harrison also joined us, and it was a fun-filled evening. They are three of the
brightest, most personable and charming young men we’ve ever met. 
Suzanne
was presented with a beautiful Baccarat blown glass yellow butterfly and a
very generous check for the scholarship fund in memory of our daughter Susan. Thank you,
Chris, Pat and Bill! 
Our Car
Quiz Award Winners are Chris Lavender and Dale Hilliard; they will each receive
two packages of Twinkies for correctly identifying the Lotus Elise (photo 1).
The Psychic Car Quiz Award (yes, Twinkies as well) goes to Bob Blythe… although
he incorrectly identified the car in the photo as a Porsche Carrera. What made
this stunning was that there was a
black Porsche Carrera parked directly behind The Lotus, as the next
photos prove… how did you do that,
Bob? 
Today’s
quiz is on flowers… be the first to correctly identify this one I saw in Wayzata and you get an
ice cream prize… 
As we were driving to Lake Harriet
the other afternoon, a nice love song by Christina Aguilera came on our Honda
CRV’s XM radio. Suzanne was engrossed reading email as I began singing along
with Christina… after a minute, without raising her eyes from her iPad, she
asked, “What is that howling noise?”
(Okay, that’s the last time I sing to you, Baby! And you may be shocked when I get invited to audition on America’s Got Talent…)
On that same drive, we passed a sign
for one of the most interesting sounding eateries/drinkeries I’ve ever seen,
The Good Day Café/Bad Day Bar in Golden Valley. No matter how your day is
going, there will be something for you there… We didn’t have time to stop that day,
but will put it on our list of places to try next year.
On Sunday, Suzanne presented her Meaning in the Messages in the morning and her Making the Connection talk in the afternoon at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Center. Both presentations were enthusiastically received, and several friends from other events made their way to Lake Harriet for these presentations.
We departed the Twin Cities area this
morning, headed for our next series of events in St. Louis, Missouri. The trip
did not start off smoothly (literally) because I-35 south of MSP is very rough…
like, it’s the worst section of Interstate highway we’ve travelled since
driving I-86 in western NY state a couple of years ago. Fortunately for our
coach’s suspension, we entered Iowa before there was any damage. (Hey, Pam,
could you ask the folks at MNDoT to fix this road before we return next
summer?)
Yes, we will probably be returning
next summer to visit Pam, Terri of the Frozen North, Bill, Pat, Jim and other
Minnesnowtan friends we’ve made here. Terri asked me yesterday, “Ty, didn’t you
find a few things about Minnesota that you liked?” In fact, I love Minnesota! I
could even live here (part-time, of course)… the people are delightful, local
foods are delicious (okay, exempt lutefisk
and a few hotdishes), the lakes beautiful, the bike trails extensive and well
maintained… and the weather… well, let’s say that we awoke this morning to a
brisk 48 degrees. That’s a typical winter low back in Florida. But hey, I like
the change of seasons. Here in Minnesota, you get them a couple of times a
week! Seriously, we are looking forward to returning next summer, as long as
the Minnesota Tourist Bureau takes down the “Wanted Dead or Alive” posters with
my smiling face on them…
Looks wonderful. The food and company...
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