Today there were several outings. And we drove the entire length of I-35E.
See, when Interstate 35 (I-35) reaches the Twin Cities it splits into I-35W and I-35E. East goes through St Paul and west through Minneapolis.
My girlfriend Chris and my first stop was a Sons of Norway picnic south of the Twin Cities which led is down I-35E to where it merged back into I-35 and then to a park next to a lake in a nice housing development.
There was a torrential downpour when we got there so we waited in the car for a bit and then walked over to the covered picnic area. Minnesota has lots of covered picnic areas.
We had a nice time catching up with the handful of people who were there. I learned that one of the members, as a full time job, makes money converting model train locomotives from the old simple control systems from pre-2000 to the modern digital control systems. I thought that was an interesting niche. He’s apparently one of only 3-4 people who do this. People ship their locomotives to him (model trains, mind you), and he updates them and ships them back.
After we drove a bit further into rural country to the Glewwe’s Castle Brewery which was having an open house. There isn’t a castle and officially they brew hand made soft drinks. They are well known for their root beer which is superb.
They were having an open house with music and tastings. They also make wine and beers which they don’t have a license to sell. But they do take donations. Chris liked a couple so we gave them a donation and also bought a couple bottles of root beer and ginger ale. The music was good and they have regular open houses so we will come back.
Last on the agenda was an evening at the races. We drove back (via I-35E) to Chris’ house and picked up her roommate and drove north across town (via I-35E) . This took us through downtown St Paul, then north of the ring road around the Twin Cities and then north to where I-35E becomes I-35 again. And a little farther and then Running Aces race track.
We visited with friends we were meeting there. Chris bet on the horses and I ran the bets to the window. She came out a little behind in the money but that is expected. None of us take that part seriously.
The weather outside was nice. As I mentioned a couple days ago this weekend was supposed to be beastly hot. Instead it was mild and breezy.
Driving back South we saw near constant lightening in the distance to the South and West. When we got back home, the local weather was tracking a big storm approaching from the West. There was thunder and almost constant flashes of lightening and heavy rain for a bit.
Weather is fun.