Who Knew? Biking to Stillwater and Back

Here I am at the Stillwater Lift Bridge this morning. I biked here from Roseville with Robin Fondow. Believe it or not, this is the longest bike ride on which I have ever been. The trip was twenty miles out (the last three or four we were blown into Stillwater by a stout west wind).

It was good to be able to make it on a forty mile trip. I didn't know if I would be able to make it without getting sore wrists or a back ache. Happily I was fine on the trip, but I am a bit sore right now.

Great fun.

Pike Island hike

Here we are at Pike Island, which is at the junction of the Minnesota River (to the right of Jeff) and the Mississippi River (to his left).

We just missed being there when a huge barge was going by.

We went to Pike Island to hike around. Moonie chased a deer and we heard lots of birds, but we didn't really identify anything to spectacular. We probably needed to be up and at 'em a bit earlier.

Bagel from Hell

So here we are, off to Uptown to do some shopping for glasses. First stop, Brueggers for a quick bite to eat for lunch. Mistake number one.

While we waited in line one of the women behind the counter had to share tales from her personal life as she took orders. This got so oppressive that by the time the bagels were done, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of Dodge. Shutter.

Jeff and I both order the "Thai Peanut" bagel. You can't tell from the picture, but if you can find the "Thai Peanut" sauce, your a great detective. Strike two.

Here Jeff is trying on some frames. These were his favorites. The frames I liked were available for $875 with lenses. I couldn't believe the quote. I hope I was gracious as I handed them back to the man. Needless to say, we didn't buy and frames or lenses here.

From here it was off to the Golden Leaf for cigars and then a quick walk through at Sterns and Hawkins (bookstore - I hope I have the name correctly.)

Us Linksters

Some time during the morning Jeff happened to mention that he had never been golfing. We decided to rent a bucket of balls and have at it. These pictures are grossly prejudicial. In the picture to the right, Jeff has hit the ball (I don't know where) and dug up some turf. In the photo below, I think Jeff may have missed the ball.

What you don't see is that I was doing the same or worse (especially since I golf once or twice a year). I have never hit so many balls that barely went twenty yards. I also dug a trench to China, and on several occasions I swung and missed.

A good time.

Breakfast at Al's in Dinkytown

Near the University of Minnesota is a small diner named "Als for Breakfast" (I think). Jeff and I went there and this is the view from just inside the door.

You wait (and drool) for the people at the counter to finish and then the people waiting in line at the far in get first shot at the seats. By the time we got seated, I could have eaten a horse. Fortunately, the waffle and hash browns were much better than horse.


The morning we were there, this gentlemen (Doug?) was doing most of the cooking. We ended up sitting right in front of the grill (which made me even more hungry). I don't know how he remembers all the orders that are shouted out. Great food and fun.