all that's past is prologue...

Yellowstone has long been the National Park I most wanted to visit — and it did not disappoint! It might be my favorite National Park to date. (one day late, no real internet while glamping last night) (also, yes, both Beatrix and I had ghost experiences in our Billings hotel!) We started at the East entrance, since we were coming from Billings and the North entrance is closed due to flooding. This also meant we only had one day at Yellowstone rather than the 2 planned (alternate license plate entry), so we had to make the most of it. Which meant starting at the lake (there are some deer in the way way back): And also seeing bison (photo credit Patrick Rhone, he took this from a still from a bison walking along the road): We met 2 rangers; the first one basically told us that we were going to die unless we got bear spray, the other gave us helpful tips, we followed the second one. We also picked up souvenirs and provisions at the store. Then we headed on to the West Thumb Basin of the

This morning's late start brought to you by the high school or college age sports team that rolled into the Sleep Inn at midnight and then proceeded to bounce some kind of ball against the wall above our headboards until 3am, despite the front desk coming up several times. Thanks, coach! But, it did mean that we decided to make an extra National Park stop at Theodore Roosevelt State Park, because my friend Kristin (a few days ahead of us on a similar route) seemed to like it. And we did too — glad we added it in! There were prairie dogs! We finally got to Montana, my 48th state and the one I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, and it's lovely! We're staying at Billings, in one of the most haunted places in the state...and we even have the most haunted room! Checked out a nearby taproom for dinner in honor of Brutus. Tomorrow, Yellowstone! It will be a l-o-n-g day; due to flooding there are odd/even license plate restrictions and we'll only have one shot.

Our Summer Road Trip (TM) started today, though we didn't get going until the afternoon because we had to 1) recover from Dinner in White last night, 2) pack, and 3) clean the house because a classical music quartet is staying there while we are gone.  So we had lunch at Space Aliens, and rolled into Fargo about 5:30. We could not afford to stay at either the Hotel Donaldson or the Jasper (so we're at the "Sleep Inn"), but we did at least get to see them. We walked around town a little and window-shopped and people watched. It's a remarkably cute town, with some great deco influences, and public art. We had dinner at The Boiler Room (thanks to finding it via Crafttapped) which was delicious. And cookie dough afterwards. Nevertheless, it is not lost on me that, for the first time since I was a toddler, I am in a state where abortion is illegal.

So one of the reasons I adore my friend Elyse is that she is ALL IN.  She had agreed to hold an event this weekend for people to explore some historic caves on the St. Croix — which involved a huge glamping style tent, canoes, a motorboat, gourmet food, and more.  And then she realized she was going an insane amount of work for them to be there just one night, so invited us, and another set of friends, to come and stay the second night. Patrick was still at home with covid, and Chrissy's husband had to work, but our girls were up for it so off we went! Heath and Elyse and their boys picked us up at the Osceola boat landing on Saturday afternoon and we boated down to the campsite. Much of the St. Croix there is very shallow (as I know from years spent on the river at a friend's family compound near Marine), so we spent some of the time hopping out of the boat (remember, it's a small fishing boat probably not made for 4 adults, 2 teens, 2 kids and a big dog) and walking the b

Well call me out of touch. I always thought the 16th anniversary gift was wax or silver hollowware. Turns out the modern update is apparently covid, and while mine arrived early last month, Patrick's was right on time — he tested positive Tuesday afternoon (our anniversary was Wednesday). So he's been in isolation, and I've spent the week devoted to City of Saint Paul Cultural STAR Board. Please spend more money in Saint Paul so I have more sales tax funds to give to deserving arts organizations.  It really has been kind of a comedy of errors. I was going to get him some crystal glasses he had coveted at Aesthetic Home, and some chartreuse (the 16-year stone is peridot). But it turns out that chartreuse is out of stock all over (supply chain, who knew? I went to 4 different liquor stores), and the dog knocked the gift bag over and broke the glasses. I ended up getting him some kintsugi pottery from Iceland, and leaving it in a bag outside his isolation room. He was going t

I'm not usually very political on this blog (though in some ways I am *always* political because it's a state of being for me). But this one hits hard. Minnesota has had a historic tax credit for the rehab of income-producing historic properties. It ties to the federal tax credit. It's an incredibly effective tool that generates over $11 in revenue for each dollar spent. It encourages the renovation of historic buildings, which benefits us all (I'll do another rant win that later). And, because NOTHING got passed at the end of the legislature on either the tax bill or the spending bill, it will expire on June 30 unless it gets included in a special session.  That will halt projects statewide (including one very near and dear to my heart), at a time we can least afford it. It's a beautiful day tomorrow — join me at the Capitol at 10am to rally for it! If you can't do that, please reach out to your legislators and ask them to push for a special session and that y

I got cleared to go back to yoga today, over 3 months after I broke my wrist, two weeks after I broke my nose, and four weeks after I "recovered" from covid. Not gonna lie, it was one of the hardest things I've done physically in many years. When I adjusted so there was less pressure on my wrist, my deeply bruised knees hurt. When I got over that, I had problems breathing and started coughing. Which led to breathing through my nose and then my nose hurt.  My form was terrible and there were plenty of times I just had to stop and go into child's pose and rejoin the class in a moment. My downward log looked more like downward snail. I've been *off* for the rest of the day while Patrick got things done. It wasn't great. But the only way out is through. So you'll find me back on the mat next weekend. 

The Four Seasons Hotel opened this week in Minneapolis, and while I am sure I will never stay there, I'm super-excited about their new restaurant, Mara . Or, more to the point, I am especially excited about the bar, because our favorite bartender ever, Adam Witherspoon , is the bar manager. I won't bore you about how we follow Adam around like some kind of cocktail groupies. Let's just say that he's worth it, and we hadn't seen him since the pandemic started, and the hug he gave us when we walked in was a 2-years-of-pandemic kind of hug. We normally sit at the bar so we can chat with Adam and watch his magic, but that was full, so the charming hostess got us at a table where we could watch the action and Adam whisked right over with some prosecco. And it turned out the table was perfect for one of our other favorite activities — people watching — which was particularly great (and a little intimidating) that night. The bar menu is different than the restaurant menu,