Pretend you just read something really inspiring about going north.
On second thought, you can read this other bit of poetry from one Robert Service:
And so, dear friends, in gentler valleys roaming,
Perhaps, when on my printed page you look,
Your fancies by the firelight may go homing
To that lone land that haply you forsook.
And if perchance you hear the silence calling,
The frozen music of star-yearning heights,
Or, dreaming, see the seines of silver trawling
Across the sky's abyss on vasty nights,
You may recall that sweep of savage splendor,
That land that measures each man at his worth,
And feel in memory, half fierce, half tender,
The brotherhood of men that know the North.
(From L'Envoi in Ballads Of Cheechako)
As you may have guessed, I have begun my journey north. I left Casper on the morning of the 19, and traveled to Mission, SD, which is located on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
On the way, I had the distinct pleasure of driving through Badlands National Park. Oh my, seeing such sights as those are proof that God is in fact an artist. Anyway, after ogling a bit, I pulled into the tiny town of Mission. My friend Kali just finished her Teach for America stint there. We had a lovely time walking about the prairie and dreaming about the future.
We also got some sweet tats.
Glitter Tattoos are probably the coolest thing since the invention of Art. Just saying.
Anyhoo, if I had to pick a word to describe day one of the journey I would choose pleasant.
Day two dawned bright and clear, and I was off to Minneapolis.
Before I go into too much detail, let me give you some info about that city. It is massive. And so full of highways that I am amazed that there is room for them all. Oh and the streets do not seem to connect. Unlike most normal, logical towns, Minneapolis (And St. Paul as well I would assume) only uses a grid system for the streets only sometimes, whenever the fancy strikes it. I think I counted at least three separate 8th streets, none of which are anywhere near each other. Now I have lived in plenty of places with interesting quirks about their street layout. My mom always said that they designed the streets of my hometown by letting a drunk loose with a ball of string. In Russia, the streets in every town had the same names. Things like that, I can understand. But streets that are laid out in a spiral like in Minneapolis completely defeated me. Finally, after much angst and swearing on my part, I met up with my friend Shannon. We had a lovely dinner of eggplant pizza, hummus, and a much needed drink. It ended up being a lot of fun. Still, a word to describe day two would have to be confusing.
Day three was also fine. I drove up to Finland, MN where the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center is located, and where I will be living come fall. I wanted to drop off my belongings, so I won't have to worry about them while I am doing cool counselor-ing stuff at the Language Villages. I promise to go into more detail about how awesome that place is at a later date. Trust me, I won't be able to stop. I am super excited. Day three's descriptive word; Backroads. I wandered my way all over northern Minnesota. And on the way I found this:
That is right. WYOMING Minnesota! Crazy, non?
I spent the night is a beautiful campground called "Fall Lake" near Ely, Minnesota.
And now, I am in Winnipeg! With my man candy! Yay! I have not yet gone exploring, but that is the next order of business.
Wish me luck! Talk to you soon!
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