What we've been up to

The back yard.Liina exercising on the back porch.Rosie at Islands of Peace Park.Walking around downtown.The Heights Theater.Loring Park near Downtown Minneapolis.Old Lyman Lake Road.Highway B.Lisa's fuchsiaDinner at Greg and Lisa's house.

Brooklyn Center, MN is completely hosed up with construction this summer.

I drove through the crap today to get some pictures to illustrate how bad it is. To be honest, I found a way around it that only takes me 7 minutes longer each way (and I'm going to keep it a secret until that way starts getting as jammed up as the freeway).

So that's the freeway.  All exits and entrances on both sides of the Mississippi are blocked. I don't have any good advice for how to get around it for you. I used Google maps to find my way, but I live very close to the mess and I work on the other side of it.  What really sucks is that all the shopping in BC is on the west side of Hwy 100 from my neighborhood and they tore down the bridge between us and that too.

That doesn't quite get the full impact, but it definitely shows what I mean.  And I was trying to drive at the time, so...it's as good as it gets. No secret to that one; just follow the detour signs.

I'd like to see this Hound of Heaven exhibit

at Mary Hill Museum in Goldendale, WA.

Not very philistinish, but hey...

I'd really like to get this there.

Look! It's FDR and his Brain Trust!

And some of the members of Congress who supported the New Deal and the nine members of the Supreme Court who ruled unanimously against Filburn in 1942.  They're dancing on the Founding Documents.  They've already rubbed out all the ink.

I got this here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:167_devils_dancing.jpg

Yeah, it's demonizing.  Does anyone deserve it more?

Crestfallen Still

Not a description of my current state; it's a band.  Check it out.

Speaking of "I've done better"...

I ran Grandma's Marathon Saturday. 5:02:47 on the chip. I kicked butt for about a dozen miles, then I ran out of juice. The Powerade wasn't doing it for me - it just gave me heartburn. I needed some real food. At about mile 16, people started handing out oranges and bananas, but those did nothing for the heartburn. Maybe all I needed was a couple Tums. When you're feeling beat up, the last thing you need is one more pain on top of all your aches. Oh! Hey! I just found this! That may have been another miserable performance, but it's up there with the top five great experiences of my life. (...wedding day, girls being born, finishing my first marathon...you know the drill.) Actually, I have to say that this was a PR for Grandma's. (I ran it in 5:12::03 last year.) And I know I can whoop @$$ on it. I'm thinking I should eat an energy bar at about 6 miles and another one at about 12. Or probably something pretty high in protein, though not a protein bar per se. I'll have to see what's out there. Protein helps a lot with the heartburn.

 But I will be carrying a couple Tums too.

 Here's me, trying to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after the race (I was escorting the girls to the bathroom at the campground:













So, there's your race recap.

 I mentioned the campground. We decided to save a lot of money on this one, so we camped at Pattison Park, about 10 miles south of Superior, Wisconsin. (And seven miles west of where I grew up.)















I call this pic "I'm On Vacation":

(The older girl saw the sign - the rest of us were looking at something off to the right. I forget what.)







This here is what you go to Pattison for. We had a big thunderstorm that started right after the race and kept us in the pop-up trailer all afternoon. Then it cleared up about 6:00 PM and the park was absolutely magnificent!