Sunday - longest drive ever

Sunday I woke up early to fit in one last run.  (Good weather and good course means must run.)  I got my iPod working properly for this one so I can report I'm faster than I thought I was.  I actually felt slower than the day before so this was a surprise.  Nice.

Barb and I headed out to breakfast.  We'd been recommended a Scandinavian place (the one that's in the basement) but it was full so we wound up at the Thunder Bay Restaurant down the street.  It's a fascinating place.  Some of the reviews really pan the service but I thought it was just a different way of providing service.  The lady, Denise, got me my first cup of coffee and then pointed me to the pot if I wanted refills.  She took my order by my name and then the chef called me into the kitchen by name to get my food.  I think it's nice when the chef looks at you and says "enjoy your meal Liz", but I was in the mood to be entertained by these people. 

Both Barb and I liked this place for a couple other reasons.  They "charge" people a quarter if they don't finish their meals and then all that money goes to charity.  And we heard how the charities are picked.  Just paraphrasing here - Children's charities are really well funded but no one gives to people who are homeless and mentally ill so that's what I like to do.  Win for you.  We left extra money with the check for their charity jar.

After breakfast I was ready to hit the road.  The border crossing was fine.  That was the nicest American I've had at one of those.  (Welcome home!)  The drive was pretty easy until just before Two Harbors.  It's okay though because Betty's Pies is also just before Two Harbors.  I had chocolate raspberry cream pie.  All of my favorite things.

 

We had one more stop at the Scenic Overlook rest area in Duluth (I had to pee).  The river is changing back to not quite as red and it's harder to tell where the river becomes Lake Superior.  There's still a ton of damage and a lot of local roads closed.

The drive from Duluth to Twin Cities was fairly awful.  There was a ton of construction where the roads were down to one lane each direction.  That was fine on the way up but adding all the Sunday drivers who are slow and don't merge well was a frustrating experience.  The traffic was so slow and boring I agreed we could listen to a book on tape.  Barb was interested in Conversations with God which is permanently on my iPod so it queued it up for her. 

We got back into town around 7pm and Barb headed home.  It took me a while to be ready to talk to my parents because I was so burnt out from the drive.  I talked to them for a while and then headed to bed.

Next year the conference is in San Juan Puerto Rico.  Guess who's going!