2018: Staying Home for Awhile, June

Hennepin Avenue bridge from the water taxi

Saint Paul, Minnesota. July 4, 2018

On June 3, we returned to St. Paul after a 18-day trip to Arizona. While there, we spent time with family, visited some iconic Arizona landmarks (the Grand Canyon, Tombstone, Organ Pipe National Park), and explored southeast Arizona where we had spent little time on previous trips to the state. We were only touring in one state, stayed several nights with relatives, had a comfortable rental care; however, found ourselves commenting on how long this trip seemed.

We had anticipated a fall 2018 trip to Idaho but after several days after our return from Arizona, we decided to put our out-of-state travels on hiatus and “stay home for a while”. Staying in Minnesota in the summer and fall is not a hardship. The opportunities for outdoors activities are numerous, the cultural scene is robust and family and friends are close by. It also seemed like the time for us to get more engaged with political work and community volunteer efforts.

Nicollet Island from the water taxi

We did an hour excursion in a “water taxi” on the Mississippi River from Boom Island in Minneapolis. It was a beautiful time to enjoy the Minneapolis skyline. The boat’s skipper did a wonderful job of combining history with contemporary landmarks and environmental issues. Later in the month, we hit the water again on a naturalist-led canoe trip on Lake Snelling at the nearby Fort Snelling State Park. The day after our canoe trip, the rains came and came, closing the lake because of unsafe, high water conditions.

Morning paddle on Snelling Lake

Minneapolis and Saint Paul host outside, somewhere, music and theater every night of the week. The concerts are usually at city parks so picnicking, biking, walking are encouraged. We heard two jazz groups and a large (56 members) brass ensemble at several venues this month. Ed’s sister took us to a remarkable performance of seniors (the group Alive & Kickin) whose singing was delightful and whose individual life stories were very moving.

Brio Brass at Lake Harriet Bandshell

We celebrated Father’s Day and daughters’ birthday; welcomed visitors from Houston; were inspired by the Parkland, Florida students’ visit to the area, and attended our state rep’s summer picnic.

Whether we are traveling or staying home, we are very blessed.

Minnehaha Falls

Chris and Ed
July 4, 2018