More Minnesota Pictures

Last week I spent the better part of the week in Minnesota again. It didn't rain and it didn't snow, really the weather was OK for MN in November. Here's a few shots I took over the course of four days.
I had a site walk first thing Monday morning, and although it was quite sunny that morning the wind definitely had a bite to it. This is a picture I took of a pine-lined road to the east of the tower site as part of the visual assessment I often do. The trees blocked the wind and there was a very nice pine scent in the air.
At the next site I encountered a few wooded wetlands, which are always a concern as we need to avoid any impacts to these areas. I'm not familiar with this specific plant, but it was growing all over the place.
As fall progresses toward winter the days get shorter and the effective time for a site walk gets compressed. My last site on Monday was a race against the sun, as I rushed to take photos while I still had light. Normally I'm one to appreciate a sunset, but not so much when I'm still in the woods staking out a site.
It was a sunny but frosty morning on Tuesday, where I got to jump a barbed wire fence and avoid the cow flop while photographing this site.
I then had a long drive north to the next site, and on the way I passed a tower I'd designed last year that was constructed earlier this year.
The second to last site that day was on a big wooded parcel way out in the sticks. The owners had put in a few trails and had this sweet deer, I mean "beer" stand out there. Following this site I made my way back toward Duluth. We had one last site to try to fit in, but we lost our race against the sun and it was pitch black by the time we arrived. We still staked out the rough location for the surveyors, but I didn't even attempt to take any photos. Though I'd planned on heading home that night, it was way too late to make the full seven hour drive, so I split the difference and stayed in Rice Lake, finishing the drive Wednesday morning. I was pretty wiped out and suffering from a strange affliction with my jaw, but all in all it wasn't a bad trip. This week I'm heading up for a short one or two-day jaunt to northern WI and possibly Rochester.

2009 Is Nearly Gone, So I Might As Well Update This Thing

As I mentioned earlier this year, I've been crazy busy with all of the work and whatnot. I've been up to Minnesota and northern WI more times this year than probably any other. After posting the previous photos, I realized that I haven't done a damn thing here for the better part of the summer and fall. Here's what I've been up to:

1. Work - things slowed down a bit in the last month to an extent, but throughout the summer I was going gangbusters trying to keep up. Most of my projects have since wrapped up, but it seems like the respite I've been expecting never seems to come. I'll admit to being a little burnt out on the whole deal, and I'm certainly prone to distraction much more than before. Still, I'd not have it any other way.

2. House - I've got to get me one of these. Seriously, I've been putting this off for the last couple years. Prices just aren't going to get any lower, same with rates, so I've been trying to kick myself in the ass and get looking. So far, I've spent maybe an hour checking listings. I'm an idiot.

3. Shows - I've seen quite a few good ones the past few months, and missed a lot more that I'd have loved to see. Highlights include the whole Forward Music Festival, Lucero last week in Milwaukee, the Weakerthans (a new favorite band), Two Cow Garage with the Suburban Home Records tour, and of course the Hold Steady in July.

4. Great Taste of the Midwest - this coincided with my birthday this year. It was awesome despite the rain.

5. Games - I managed to see the Cubs four times this year, twice at Wrigley and twice at Miller Park. I went 2-2 on the year, undefeated in Wisconsin but winless in the Friendly Confines. I also went to Miller Park on a bus trip for a Brewers-Dodgers game and caught a Mallards game for work. I've only been to one football game this fall, the Fresno State game in September. The Badgers won, barely, and it was very warm that day. Hockey season has started up, and I've got my Friday night season tickets again. We switched seats to avoid this asshole behind us, and so far are 0-1-0 on the season with a disappointing loss to CC two weeks ago. E Eugene, Redbeard and I are also planning on catching an Ice Muskies game or two, as apparently our old ticketmate from last year is going to be the mascot!

6. Vacation (kind of) - I took a day off to play golf with my dad two weeks ago. I didn't actually end up using any vacation time since I worked on the weekend getting caught up, but we had a great time. Otherwise I haven't taken off other than the aforementioned baseball games in Chicago. I'm planning on heading down to the Windy City to visit some friends next month, and I'm thinking of taking a week off to go down to Mississippi and New Orleans in December.

Autumn in Minnesota

Last week I had a long trip through northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. For the most part the weather was gray and rainy, with temperatures hovering in the 30's and 40's. It wasn't exactly pleasant. There were a few instances with halfway decent weather - here's a photo of the colorful woods near Longville, MN:

I also saw this:


For over five years now I've been walking sites in the North Woods, and I've never seen a bear. Granted, these two are caged and "pets" of the landowner.

On Wednesday afternoon the temperature dropped even further, and the rain gave way to snow. It actually may have been preferable to the rain as I didn't get quite as wet, but it was miserable nonetheless. This is how it looked after about an hour and a half:

From here I drove on to the Twin Ports, with the heater on full bore. I had four more sites the following morning, then a five hour drive back to Madison followed by a Lucero show in Milwaukee. I'm still tired from last week, and I think I'll be headed back up later this week. Here's to hoping for no snow.

Suburban Home Records Is The Best

It goes without saying the Suburban Home Records is my favorite record label. Just about every release they have I've either purchased and loved or have seriously considered buying. Just the fact that a band signs to SH is usually good enough for me to give them a chance. And right now, in relation to their 14th Anniversary, Suburban Home is giving away a free download of any album. Check it out here, and do yourself a favor and listen to all of the great stuff they put out.

Cribshitter

I missed a good show last night, by all accounts. I ended up working late trying to catch up from a site trip earlier this week. Too bad for me, but I have small consolation in watching the Cribshitter Behind the Music:

Sunrise in Grand Marais

I found myself in Minnesota again this week, this time back up Highway 61 all the way to Grand Marais. Here's a picture from my hotel room, looking out over Lake Superior just after sunrise (about 5:45 AM).
Afterwards I drove up to the tower. It was frickin' freezing that morning, and it actually snowed a little! Here's the illustrious Civic perched high above Lake Superior on a cold and blustery morning.

The evening before, while driving up from Duluth, I stuck my camera out the sunroof to capture this picture of an oreboat out on the lake, with the setting sun reflecting off the coal cars on the railroad.

Another week in MN

I had myself a time in MN last week - ten sites and dinner with Missy in St. Paul. Above is the first site I hit up on Thursday, which ended up being the nicest of the three days weather-wise. It was a long trip - I was so exhausted on Friday that I actually managed to sleep for twelve hours! Yesterday I woke up early to head down to IL for Ham Day. It was delicious, and I got to listen to Pat & Ron on WGN for most of the drive back. The only strange aspect of it all was that my mother was asleep, so when Suppan & the Brewers walked in four straight runs in the fourth I had to celebrate quietly, with golf claps and silent fistpumps.

Here's a pretty awesome picture that I took at a tower outside of Mora, MN. I actually broke my camera at the first site on Tuesday night, accidentally dropping my tape measure on it and cracking the LCD screen. Luckily I have a viewfiender to I was able to at least somewhat line up my photos. This one turned out better than expected.

Pancake Time in Belleville

Two weekends ago I journeyed back to the ol' hometown for a delicious breakfast of pancakes. It was the annual Belleville Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast, an event I used to work every year from Webelos up to Eagle. I came down with Missy, who was back from the Twin Cities for the weekend. Here's a couple of pictures of us in front of the BHS Class of 1998 tree, which Missy and I helped plant ten years ago (with help from E Eugene and Ryan Fahey).