Outdoors

June 19

After 12 weeks of quarantine, we ventured out for outdoor dining at the golf club a couple weeks ago.  We maintained spacing for our first social event of the season – the usual suspects were there.  We have subsequently ventured out to other venues – the first criteria required is that they be outside.  We expect to do something inside by 2027 . . .  

[On the shores of beautiful Lake Irene, 13.2 miles north of Lake H2Obert . . . ]

[We joined fellow winos here on a lovely day.  It was a venture of first impression for Karin and Dave.  We all enjoyed wine flights, with some Redhead Creamery Havarti cheese (more on that later).  We hadn’t paid a visit to our friends’, Polly and Dave, winery for a quite a while but hopefully made up for it with a case of their finest . . . ]

[6 of each . . . ]

June 20

[The next day we joined Karen and Dave again, along with their daughter Jody from Chicago, at Carlos Creek Winery.  Our first visit of the season there as well.  They appeared to be doing well in keeping within the pandemic guidelines.  Only one masked person at a time at the bar to order wine – then take it to your outside tables for . . . ]

[Josie, in believed to be her 10th season performing here.  Soon to be 21, she’s heading into her senior year of college and has applied for medical school . . . ]

[In doctor school, she’ll learn how to suture and thus repair her jeans . . . ]

[We had a nice properly distanced visit with her folks and grandma as we left . . . ]

June 24

[As a prelude to our usual Wednesday fine dining at the golf club, we took a drive out to Theatre L’Homme Dieu to see how things are trending on campus.  Along the way, one passes Rotary Beach on Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]

[A beautiful evening with lots of boat traffic . . . ]

[The beach has a lovely bottom, not unlike Jennifer Lawrence (can I say that?) . . . ]

[The Super and I would dip here when we were living with Mom while our Lake Darling home was being built . . . ]

[We really don’t miss not having a boat?]

[We can run through the sprinkler at home . . . ]

[I’m not sure how many people know Theatre L’Homme Dieu has lake front property . . . ]

[Well, this is it – on Lake Le Homme Dieu, naturally.  The main campus is across the street, on the northside of County Road 120 . . . ]

[Because the theater season remains in flux and is totally dependent on COVID activities, we have not put the dock in this year.  When in, it can accommodate 6 boats for those who choose to come to the theater by water . . . ]

[The entry onto campus . . . ]

[We have removed trees from the south (front) and east (parking) sides of the theater with plans for an extended patio with tables in front and for handicap parking  on the side . . . ]

[The dreary concrete block east side is now looking spiffy painted black . . . ]

[Backtracking to the golf club, Interlachen is the most northern ‘Alex’ restaurant at the intersection of County Roads 42 and 120.  Restaurants with available space have set up covered outside dining areas . . . ]

[Now Rotary Beach is on the left side and Lake Carlos on the right.  This whole stretch of County Road 42 is a designated scenic highway . . . ]

[Next up is Lure Lakebar (previous site of Bug-A-Boo Bay) and next door to Zorbaz . . . ]

[And then the Alexandria Golf Club.  We have covered the patio . . . ]

[But our group prefers the deck . . . ]

[Fine dining . . . ]

[“Here we come . . . Walkin’ down the street . . . We get the funniest looks from . . .  Everyone we meet.  Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees!”]

June 25

[In our continuing efforts to patronize our favorite dining venues, tonight The Garden Bar on 6th.  Again, covered outdoor dining in the alley parking lot.  That’s Jack making sure everything’s OK . . . ]

[That’s the Super . . . ]

[The Super scouring the menu . . . ]

[She ordered the beef and mushroom cavatappi and I beef ramen.  Both tasty . . . ]

[And live entertainment on the red carpet . . . ]

[Terry and Bill’s (Tuesday Night Club) easy listening music with the best acoustics ever (per Terry) . . . ]

[We were joined by Deb and Paul as a prelude to our next scheduled event . . . ]

[Deb is the founder and director of our nonfiction book club . . . ]

[Then it was on to “Say Their Names,” sponsored by Change in Motion, at Big Ole Park.  Here Ruthie visits with some young members . . . ]

[Change in Motion is a new organization that focuses on educating and uplifting diverse cultures in our area . . . ]

[We joined with Deb and Paul (on the left here) after the Garden Bar . . . ]

[And here’s their purpose . . . ]

[Mattie Bogart, an AAHS graduate and upcoming college sophomore, started the program and was joined by AAHS classmate Nikki Botzet . . . ]

[And here’s Deb, showing herself to be ambidextrous . . . ]

[Pamela Turner, Bayton, TX, May 13, 2019; Michael Brown, Ferguson, MO, August 9, 2014]

[The Super with Paterson Brown, Richmond, VA, June 14, 2016 . . . ]

[And me with Phillip White, Vineland, NJ, March 31, 2015 . . . ]

June 26 – Road Trip

[This trip was originally scheduled for the previous week, but the weather then was not conducive to a convertible ride.  This day looked good so off we went on the beginning of a 94.5 mile loop around the greater West Central Minnesota neighborhood . . . ]

[Here and above going straight south on Highway 29 toward Glenwood.  Well known along this route as one gets close to Glenwood are the “booted” fence posts . . . ]

[A bit hard to get a good shot as you’re hurtling along at 60 mph . . . ]

[The Gateway to Glenwood: The intersections of Highways 29 & 55 and the railroad . . . ]

[And we’re here . . . ]

[The first view of Lake Minnewaska . . . ]

[Down the big hill (mountain in Minnesota) to the lake . . . ]

[To the 13th largest lake in the state . . . ]

[Why, thank you!]

[The Pope County stoplight, the heart of town . . . ]

[We are now on Highway 104 continuing our straight south route.  The city beach on the lake ahead . . . ]

[The first planned stop on the trip, Barsness Park.  Amazingly (?), I had never been here before.  Just the other side of the road from the lake, it is surprisingly large and lovely with stuff such as this playground and two woman having coffee at a picnic table . . . ]

[Driving back out toward the lake . . . ]

[Lots of open space . . . ]

[Approaching the lake and Highway 104 again – we’ll hang a left at the stop sign . . . ]

[Shooting back towards town . . . ]

[Lake view on a gorgeous summer day . . . ]

[Along the route, a farm and its pond . . . ]

[Bucolic . . . ]

[Heading into the land of one inhabitant per square mile . . . ]

[Swift Falls, population unknown.  We did not go there, unless I missed it . . . ]

[A 175 acre lake (i.e., about half the size of Lake Cowdry) named for a pastor’s wife (you can’t get this information just anywhere) . . . ]

[The only road sign within a hundred mile radius with 4 road names on it.  No, I don’t know how old the Millpond is . . . ]

[But it led us in to destination number 2 . . . ]

[Terrace is another place of unknown population, but it is 42 acres large and is an historic site . . . ]

[We have a history here and this is it.  More later . . . ]

[The restaurant on the Chippewa River . . . ]

[We know Cimarron . . . ]

[The river . . . ]

[This is truly fly over country . . . ]

[Mostly a photo of the tree . . . ]

[Because it’s such a beautiful setting we probably were here for 20 minutes.  In that time we saw a woman walking a dog and one truck went by.  No other signs of life . . . ]

[The mill falls . . . ]

[And trending out the other side . . . ]

[The Super at the neighboring overlook . . . ]

[Looking back at where I was . . . ]

[Not current construction.  It had a list . . . ]

[As noted on Facebook:  On the road with Ma & Pa Kettle . . . ]

[Historic . . . ]

[And the restaurant across the street.  It does not appear to be open.  It was a destination dining place in the past, and over the years it has had multiple owners . . . ]

[Back in the day, we went to the restaurant at least twice with friends Viv and Bob during the Christmas season for a fine dining experience.  This was December 13, 2006 . . . ]

[We went for eats in the summer as well when the owner chefs were here (one wintered in New York, the other in Florida, back in the day) . . . ]

[Where we were . . . ]

[Interesting street sign arrangement in downtown Terrace . . . ]

[Within feet of each other, “parallel parking” followed by “no parking any time”?]

[And don’t camp either!]

[Moving on to our next stop, a church at the top of the hill . . . ]

[Where Elmer Brandanger is buried (his plaque is on the bridge) . . . ]

[Hey, big boy, lookin’ for a ride?]

[Next up, Sedan, which is at least large enough to have a population . . . ]

[Interesting song on the radio as we pulled into Sedan . . . ]

[Lest you missed it the first time . . . ]

[Downtown Sedan, and that’s about it . . . ]

[An educated guess would be the old school . . . ]

[When you come to the fork in the road, take it.  Padua, population unknown, has (or had) a noted restaurant; Brooten has a population of 746, a relative monster . . . ]

[We, on the other hand, were headed to the Redhead Creamery (with a Brooten address), the major destination of this adventure . . . ]

[Left, then right?]

[It was a 2 1/2 mile gravel road in to get there . . . ]

[While it is a beautiful example of rural Americana . . . ]

[I love this shot.  We met two cars and a big truck heading outbound.  The truck, in particular, created a brown out of a dust storm as it went by . . . ]

[But we finally came upon another sign . . . ]

[Getting close . . . ]

[Thanks!]

[Cows!  We must be there!]

[Indeed!]

[Why I wanted to come here.  The Super had been here a few years ago with the AAUW.  But a full page story in the U of M Alumni Magazine, Summer 2020, was impressive, backed by our trip (at the top of this post) to L’Etoile du Nord where they served Redhead Havarti cheese with the wine tasting, made it a must see destination . . . ]

[This is the store, and restaurant . . . ]

[We bellied up to the menu bar and ordered the baguette to split and two glasses of Burr Vinyards Frontenac (Burr is in Brandon, and owned by friend Florian Ledermann) . . . ]

[I’m starved!]

[Ahhhh, lunch has arrived!]

[Tasty!]

[Loved the baguette (darn, we forgot to ask if they sold them) . . . ]

[Inside for additional purchases.  That’s our server behind the counter.  She took the outside photos of us.  She’s a summer intern, from Lester Prairie, going to school at South Dakota State where she majors in cows . . . ]

[We bought Havarti (of course) and beer cheddar . . . ]

[The Redheads.  We didn’t meet any of them.  I wanted to ask what kind of impact the alumni magazine article has had on their business . . . ]

[Load ’em up . . . ]

[Back to the car . . . ]

[The Super speaks cow . . . ]

[She wouldn’t tell me what they said . . . ]

[We somehow missed “downtown” . . . ]

[The road home, through the mountains of Minnesota, where wind turbines ruled the skyline . . . ]

[Just some along the road shots . . . ]

[When you reach Osakis, you’re as good a home . . . ]

June 27

[The Salty Dogs moved onto the Marquette state at Carlos Creek where Josie worked the previous weekend . . . ]

[Annie, Greg, Annie, and Tom were in mid-season form despite not having performed in many months . . . ]

[Do you see those guys over there?]

[I think they’re talent scouts!]

[Mr. Selfie wraps up the weekend!]

June 9 (2007)

[The last photo in the blog appears in the Facebook post.  I thought this would be a good seasonal grabber, shot somewhere on a back road between Sauk Centre and Alex 13 years ago.]

What is the logic, or reasoning, for hating a fellow human being because of the color of their skin?  ~  Me

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