Tag: Minnesota

New York, New York

I’m in New York – not that part of New York though. NYC is great, and it’s beautiful in its own way, but ol’ Ms Haps isn’t really city gal anymore, so I’m spending a lot of my time in northern NY. To start, I had some time to kill before I moved to the Buffalo area, so I decided to spend some time in Rochester – more specifically Irondequoit. I found this great AirBnB garage apartment for late July through early September. It was really nice to be in a residential neighborhood again and not in an apartment complex.

I decided not to unpack everything from the car. I had purposefully packed the fall/winter clothes in separate bins from the summer/spring and left those in the back of the car. I tried not to unpack too much either since we were there for about five weeks.

Arthur settled in pretty quickly, but he didn’t have a lot of windows to look out.

He had a good time playing with the fishing pole / feather and looking out the window when he wasn’t hiding under the covers for his daily naps.

One of my first adventures in Rochester was visiting the Susan B Anthony historical home. When I stayed in Syracuse last August, I had visited Seneca Falls and the Women’s Rights National Park, and I guess I missed that Susan B Anthony lived for many decades in Rochester.

The tour was good, and it was interesting to learn more about the Women’s movement, about her arrest, and her questionable stances on some issues, particularly on race and abortion. You can Google it, but in a nutshell, her efforts for white women overshadowed other important debates at the time.

In August, I attended a book club at Laughing Gull Chocolates. They choose books with a food-based theme, and in August, the book was Be Ready When Luck Happens by Ina Garten. I was able to get through about half of the book before the meeting, and it was a lively discussion with a lot of women from different walks of life in the Rochester area. It was good to get out and meet the people and have a chat about a book written by one of my favorite Food Network chefs – the Barefoot Contessa. While she did have some luck in her life, she also had a lot of opportunities. In the end, it was one of those situations where she saw it as “luck”, and the rest of us saw it as privilege with some struggles.

I also was able to plan a last minute trip to Minnesota in August as well. It’s such a great time to visit, and I was able to see my parents, spend time with friends, and go to the Great MN Get Together – the MN State Fair.

(L to R) Traffic in rural MN. One of the five beautiful lakes in my hometown. Hot tomatoes. Not pictured: the blackberry ice cream from the Dairy Freeze.

When I’m home, I always visit my grandparents at their cemeteries. I was so fortunate to have three grandparents for a lot of my life in my hometown. My dad’s mom passed away only 4 years ago at 99, and my mom’s parents were with us until 2010. Visiting them reminds me of their love and our time together and how much they poured into me, my brother, and my cousins. One of the many reasons I love returning to MN.

It’s been over a decade since I’ve been back in MN for the state fair. These are the most iconic parts of the fair for me – the map of all there is to see, the 4-H building that I was fortunate enough to compete in, and the water tower on Snelling that announces the fair all year long.

Everyone has their favorite foods at the fair, and these are mine. (L to R) A root beer float from the 1919 Root Beer stand – a MN favorite. Sweet Martha’s Cookies from the OG stand near the 4-H building (yes, I bought a bucket). The roast corn on the cob, dipped in butter and salted and peppered. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do something dumb; I left my wallet at that stand this year. But it also wouldn’t be MN, if someone didn’t turn it in. The gal who grabbed it for me also gave me a hug – so Minnesota. 🍫🍫

(L to R) MN apples! Arts & Crafts! Tractors! When I was growing up, we had a 60, so it was great to see that model on display.

There was an evergreen competition in the Horticulture building, and this is my other favorite landmark on the fairgrounds. I got there around 7AM when the gates opened, and I was done by 11:30. It was the perfect morning.

More from NY next time – Corning, injuries, and back to a familiar routine.

One Last MN Appreciation Post

“There’s no place like home.” It’s so true. The place that raises you will always have a special place in your heart. People ask me why don’t you just live there? You know it. Your family is there, your friends are there, what’s not to like? It is hard to explain, but after living on the East Coast for over a decade, there are parts to MN that don’t fit with who I am anymore.

That said, I do love to visit, and I had a good time when I was back in March / April of this year. After celebrating Dad’s birthday with gifts I had collected for him while I was on the road, I had a chance to drive my new car. We all know that I have so much love for Estella, but she’s not small, so navigating tight spaces and her general mobility are just not the same as having a car. I ended up buying a used Nissan Rogue with about 18,000 miles, and it has been a joy to drive, to fit in a parking space, to parallel park, and to not pay for diesel.

I ended up having to go on a work trip to San Antonio about week after I got to MN, so back to Texas I went.

Arthur was not a fan, but the good news was that I was reunited with my suitcase! After many trips just with a backpack and tote, this was so liberating. It was Minnesota in March, so of course there was a trip through the de-icing zone at MSP. I was even lucky enough to score an upgrade, which is the only time I’ll sit by the window – hence the obligatory sea of clouds pic.

My mom spent some quality time with Arthur when I was away, but he was happy to see me when I returned. I made a couple of trips to my storage unit to shed some things from the RV and to pick up a couple of small things to make our next phase a bit easier.

My friend’s eldest son had a leading part in his college’s play, and I was lucky enough to get to see him and spend some time with her. I ate donuts with another friend and her parents as well. I also had a lovely brunch with my aunts and uncles and parents, which has become such a rare treat now that I’m all grown up. It was so wonderful to spend time with them all together in one place, laughing, telling stories, and catching up.

But it wasn’t all fun and games when I was back in MN. I ended up getting really sick. It wasn’t COVID, but I slept on the floor of my parents’ half bathroom for three nights because I couldn’t chance being far from a toilet and running water. Thankfully, no one else in the house got sick, but there was plenty of time to consider all my life choices, and at one point, I thought I would never see sunlight again.

Glamour shots from my time in quarantine and my reunion with Arthur. Needless to say, this bout of the plague (or whatever it was) limited how much I could do when I was there.

Early in the morning of April 19, Arthur and I said goodbye to my family and Estella, and we hit the road for part two of finding our Unicorn City.

More MN Time

Well, I’ve been waylaid on my journey by my own stupidity or wishful thinking, so I thought I should probably take advantage of the time and catch up on ye olde blog.

A glorious sunrise on the farm in early May.

Alway a Good Time on the Farm

Growing up on a farm leads to a wealth of knowledge that just never really seems to come up at a corporate job or when traveling in an RV around the U.S., so it’s always nice to go home and exercise the old brain box with talk of planting season, gardens, flowers, endless hours of mowing the lawn, and all the bits and bobbles it takes to keep a century farm running.

My parents have two rescue cats and a rescue puppy. As you can clearly see, the puppy is under monitoring at all times.

While I was back in early May, we went to a pancake supper fundraiser. I’m honestly not sure how it happens that I end up in my hometown when there’s a pancake supper, but I attended the one in November 2023 as well. (Also, it’s breakfast, dinner, and supper in the Midwest – or at least where I grew up – not breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You may be asking, “What happened to lunch?” Nobody knows.)

After the supper, my parents, aunt, and I went to hear Patty Wetterling speak at the Best Western at the north end of town. If you don’t know much about Mrs. Wetterling, here’s a video of an interview done by the MN Historical Society. Her son, Jacob, was abducted in his small MN town on October 22, 1989 (35 years ago), at only 11 years old. At that time, I was also 11, and this story shocked and frightened everyone across the state. Because of Mrs. Wetterling’s advocacy, much legislation and even more awareness has been raised to protect children. American Public Media (APM) did a recent podcast, covering the events and the investigation. If you’re interested in “true crime”, I recommend this one for the confounding nature of the investigation, and the keen journalism that went into reporting it.

Mrs. Wetterling and her co-author, Joy Baker, were compelling speakers and shared much of their journey authoring Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope. The ballroom of the hotel filled quickly, and there was barely a dry eye in the house when they finished.

When I was in southern MN, I also had a chance to reconnect with a dear friend from high school. We met at the Hi-Lo Supper Club in Lakefield, MN, to catch up. Later that week, the northern lights were showing off above the barn

I absolutely did laundry while I was there, had a facial, enjoyed a birthday dinner with family, made homemade cinnamon rolls for Mother’s Day, had an awkward conversation with my parents about where I want to be buried, and dined out at the Amboy Cottage Cafe with my parents and brother. We also made time to see Machinery Hill perform at the Red Rock Center for the Arts, a former church now arts venue. Since a couple of the members are from my hometown, they even played the school song while everyone sang along.

In mid-May, I continued my journey through MN and stayed at Town & Country Campground & RV Park in Savage, MN. I had a great spot under a tree, and Arthur and I spent many glorious evenings enjoying the pre-summer weather. Some days warmed up to the 70s, and we even used the AC a couple of times to mitigate the heat.

While we were in MN, I needed check some items off my list. My hair needed attention, so I went to the LolaMax Salon in Minneapolis and had a great experience with Tanya. Then I did one of those things I used to do when I lived there and just went over to a friend’s house and spent some time with her and her family. Being on the road helps you gain a lot of appreciation for the ability to just stop by and visit with someone.

I also needed to go to the dentist. 🍫🍫🍫 When I lived in Minneapolis, I had the best dental experience of my life, and – frankly – I’ve never found another dentist that compares. Lakeville Family Dental Centre is still amazing. I was able to make an appointment, get a referral to an oral surgeon, and get my pesky broken crown and root removed in a matter of days. My oral surgeon at Advanced Oral Surgery was amazing as well, and I felt no pain. I am grateful for an amazing friend from college who works from home and could cart me around that day and make sure I ate the soft foods I was supposed to.

Could I have walked? Maybe…but it was more fun to be carted around.

While I spent much of my time in MN with friends, family, and one fantastic former student, when I wasn’t working, I did make time on an exceptionally rainy evening to get a massage at Luxology. This had to be one of the best massages I’ve ever had. I highly recommend Ashley at this spa!!

I think MN will always feel like home to me. There are so many memories there, but I don’t think it’s where I will end up after this journey. I am so thankful for my decades in that state, and the growing I did there, but my unicorn city is still out there. So, on we go….