There was no Tuesday, only beans.
And with the passing of yesterday, I am done with experimenting with beans. I am still busy this week though. Too much didn't get done while I was puttering in the kitchen and I have to play catch-up. But I don't feel like doing it right now. I'd rather blog. You're welcome.
On to Saturday. As in last Saturday. As in Jim and I took a drive (when I really should have been cooking with beans. But Jim was much better company).
We wandered aimlessly through eastern Minnesota and into western Wisconsin, where we drove past an abandoned building that we found fascinating:
I made Jim turn around (well, actually he offered to turn around and I took him up on it) so I could take a few pictures of it because it was so interesting. What was with the rainbows? And why was this building out in the middle of a very little somewhere? It was a large building--one that reminded me of too many sci-fi movies with E-VIIIILLL corporations housed at buildings that are vaguely ominous and surrounded by very little.
The buildings in the movies usually aren't as meteorologically happy as this building, but the rainbows added to the mystery of it.
Upon closer look in the back of the building, we saw what we thought was an athletic field with a giant scoreboard that was mostly obscured by overgrown foliage, but we could make out "St. Croix Meadows." My hypothesis was that it was a failed dog track.
When we got home, I looked it up, and sh0' nuff, I was right. St. Croix Meadows closed in 2001, nearly ten years ago. The building itself looks pretty good for being ten years out of use, and I could tell that the lawn around the front of the building had been mowed recently. But the parking lot was in the process of being reclaimed by Mother Nature.
So on to other parts of Wisconsin, where we got lost in the Neighborhood from Limbo. It surely wasn't Hell; Hell would not have had houses that had been nicely kept up, and above ground pools and apple trees. But it was surely not Heaven, or even Earth either...
Because once in, we could not find our way out. We asked Aunt Roady, but she had been badly misinformed by her sources and the only way out that she showed us had apparently recently been blockaded and turned into a cul-de-sac.
I did take one picture of a tree while in the Neighborhood from Heck:
I love fall colors. Especially fall colors on a sunny day.
FINALLY we found the exit to the neighborhood (after praying to the god of Mapquest) and we decided that we had had enough of Wisconsin in the Neighborhood that Didn't Want to Let Go, so we scurried back to Minnesota. We were not deterred at all by this sign:
The hill wasn't that bad. It didn't bite. Not even one growl. No claws were bared, nor venomous fangs displayed. It was a very tame hill.
We were rewarded with a lovely picture of the St. Croix River. In the distance is Stillwater.
Stillwater, closer up.
Finally we stopped in Taylors Falls where we almost ate at this restaurant.
Apparently, "eclectic" means "expensive"
So we ate at Chisago House, which looked like a 70s basement, but with better food and bottomless glasses of rootbeer.
Here is Tangled Up in Blue (which is, by the way, a Bob Dylan song), at night. With a smoker out front.
Someday we will drive aimlessly again (only not into Wisconsin. That neighborhood really got to us. Seriously, I was creeped out. Jim and I began to think we were in the Eagles song "Hotel California")
On to Saturday. As in last Saturday. As in Jim and I took a drive (when I really should have been cooking with beans. But Jim was much better company).
We wandered aimlessly through eastern Minnesota and into western Wisconsin, where we drove past an abandoned building that we found fascinating:
I made Jim turn around (well, actually he offered to turn around and I took him up on it) so I could take a few pictures of it because it was so interesting. What was with the rainbows? And why was this building out in the middle of a very little somewhere? It was a large building--one that reminded me of too many sci-fi movies with E-VIIIILLL corporations housed at buildings that are vaguely ominous and surrounded by very little.
The buildings in the movies usually aren't as meteorologically happy as this building, but the rainbows added to the mystery of it.
Upon closer look in the back of the building, we saw what we thought was an athletic field with a giant scoreboard that was mostly obscured by overgrown foliage, but we could make out "St. Croix Meadows." My hypothesis was that it was a failed dog track.When we got home, I looked it up, and sh0' nuff, I was right. St. Croix Meadows closed in 2001, nearly ten years ago. The building itself looks pretty good for being ten years out of use, and I could tell that the lawn around the front of the building had been mowed recently. But the parking lot was in the process of being reclaimed by Mother Nature.
So on to other parts of Wisconsin, where we got lost in the Neighborhood from Limbo. It surely wasn't Hell; Hell would not have had houses that had been nicely kept up, and above ground pools and apple trees. But it was surely not Heaven, or even Earth either...
Because once in, we could not find our way out. We asked Aunt Roady, but she had been badly misinformed by her sources and the only way out that she showed us had apparently recently been blockaded and turned into a cul-de-sac.
I did take one picture of a tree while in the Neighborhood from Heck:
I love fall colors. Especially fall colors on a sunny day.FINALLY we found the exit to the neighborhood (after praying to the god of Mapquest) and we decided that we had had enough of Wisconsin in the Neighborhood that Didn't Want to Let Go, so we scurried back to Minnesota. We were not deterred at all by this sign:
The hill wasn't that bad. It didn't bite. Not even one growl. No claws were bared, nor venomous fangs displayed. It was a very tame hill.We were rewarded with a lovely picture of the St. Croix River. In the distance is Stillwater.
Stillwater, closer up.
Finally we stopped in Taylors Falls where we almost ate at this restaurant.
Apparently, "eclectic" means "expensive"So we ate at Chisago House, which looked like a 70s basement, but with better food and bottomless glasses of rootbeer.
Here is Tangled Up in Blue (which is, by the way, a Bob Dylan song), at night. With a smoker out front.
Someday we will drive aimlessly again (only not into Wisconsin. That neighborhood really got to us. Seriously, I was creeped out. Jim and I began to think we were in the Eagles song "Hotel California")
Comments
What a great trip - it looked so nice. I loved the tree - we don't get that here.
It's a shame that that entire building just sits there unused. Despite the raindbows it looks like it would be a very nice place to set up a business. Just think a company could encourage athleticism by having gladiator-type competitions for raises and bonuses out on the athletic field.
There's a neighborhood like that near us that seems to go on forever. And even though it's been there longer than Aunty Roadies have been around the maps still don't recognize the roads. It's just a blank, green (black if at night) space, so you are left to find the house you're looking for on your own or with help from the owner.