Leaving for Las Vegas

I’m treating my mom to a Las Vegas vacation for her 70th birthday. She’s always wanted to go and loves gambling, so we should have a grand time. We leave on a 7:00 a.m. flight tomorrow (Sunday) and get home at 12:30 a.m. early Wednesday morning. The flight times aren’t great, but this way, we get three full days.

I’m going to try to post mini-entries using Jott in order to keep my daily blog goal for December. We’ll see how that goes …

The 45th Paralell – Oregon and Minnesota

While driving on I-5 from Eugene to Portland last week, I glimpsed a road sign near Salem that announces when one has crossed the 45th parallel or half-way between the equator and the north pole. Knowing that the Twin Cities is also along this line, I wanted to find out where it crossed in my metro area.

I found a great site with photos of signs, monuments and other markers in North Ameria and Europe/Asia. The site shows two known markers in Minnesota. Of course, I had to drive around and see them for myself. My 5-year-old dogs, Daisy (Bichon) and Benson (poodle/terrier mix), came along for the ride.

Minneapolis

The Minneapolis boulder marker is near the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Theodore Wirth Parkway. It sits in a little triangle of grass underneath a young tree. The parkway generates a lot of pedestrian traffic, but I bet not many have actually gone over to the rock to see what it’s promoting. Benson couldn’t help marking his presence. Sorry!

Roseville

The Roseville marker is placed on a flat rock and is located on the east side of Cleveland, 1 and a 1/2 blocks north of Roselawn. It’s next to the sidewalk up on a slope surrounded by suburban ramblers. Unless you were walking right there, you’d never notice it. I like the description on the Minneapolis plaque better (shows lat and long), but I’m intrigued by the Roseville Heritage Trail sign (#46). A quick check of their website shows a total of 53 stops on the trail. Who knew?! I’ll have to add this to my “Explore Local” list and check them all out someday.

Staying in someone else’s house

Amy is off at work today, so I’m at her house alone. Besides keeping her greyhound, Neeka, company, I’m supposed to be wrapping up a client project that I’ve been struggling with. However, I’m distracted by being in someone else’s house. I’m not snooping (HONEST – well maybe a little in the kitchen).

I love the sense of place that claims me when I sit quietly in a different environment. I get a much more intimate feeling about how the person lives his or her life. I imagine how I would change the setting if it were mine. I think different thoughts than I do in my own familiar environment.

In an attempt to break the brain molasses I’m having with my freelance job, I rearranged Amy’s living room furniture. Gasp! Hey, she just moved in and (sort of) asked for my help. I really love trying to figure out the best way to configure a space with the elements at hand (or how it could be done with the purchase of just a few things). Everytime I go into someone’s house, I become a secret interior designer. I can’t help it. I’ve consumed too many decorating magazines, I guess.

Travel to Oregon – day 1

I left St. Paul this morning to visit my friend Amy in Eugene, Oregon (2 hours south of Portland off I-5). Since she was working and I had the afternoon to kill, I decided to go to the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see Howard Hughes’ H-4 (HK-1) Flying Boat, aka the Spruce Goose.

The Flying Boat is the largest wooden airplane with the longest wingspan ever constructed. It was flown just once, on November 2, 1947. Funny enough, the plane is mostly made of birch and not spruce. According to the museum brochure, birch was chosen because it is light, strong and resistant to splitting, dry rot and deterioration.

The museum had a great observation platform set up in the forward third of the aircraft so that you could see into the hulking interior. (Once I download the photos off my camera, I’ll update this post with images.) If I had $50 to spare, I could have gotten a tour of the flight deck. Since I have the movie, The Aviator, in my Netflix list, I decided to save my money and will explore more of the plane’s interior off the tv screen.

The Flying Boat’s nearly 320-foot wingspan and  220-foot fuselage length more than dwarfs the other 60+ aircraft on display at the museum. I fly a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and could land within the Flying Boat’s shadow. I only spent about an hour and a half exploring the museum. With more time, I would have enjoyed going on the guided tour and seeing an IMAX show.