Hey, waitress, pour me another cup of coffee. Pop it down, jack me up, shoot me out, flyin’ down the highway…
— Drivin’ My Life Away
It’s been about six months since the last one, so let’s jump right in:
- Super fun to have a MINI again, which is a good thing because driving anywhere in the Twin Cities (at pretty much any time) seems to be taking about twice as long this summer.
- My state parks license plate has been a great purchase and I highly recommend them. My associated quest is up to seven parks so far and it was a big reason I decided to sign up for the Afton Trail Race.
- Our bird buddies are now eating all the seed daily (see “the before” pic above). Here is the best video so far of a mom feeding her baby.
- Our patio also has an active hummingbird feeder and will get a heated bird bath and suet holder soon. Along with our By the Yard furniture, it’s probably my favorite part of the (not so new anymore) house.
- Clown fries are at the top of my all-time favorite list now.
- That said, I am trying to get back to being more active (so I can eat more clown fries, natch).
- Waiting to see if my old Apple Watch Series 5 battery lasts until the new models come out. Not sure yet if I will want a Series 10 or move up to the Ultra line.
- About half way through listening to the Apple Music Top 100 Albums list. A fair amount of stuff I’ve never heard before. Working on a DK 100 list.
- Mainly been using my ancient Sony Studio headphones for this task, but my savings account to purchase the second edition of the AirPods Max has more than enough in it when they get released (hopefully) later this year.
- Anybody know the story behind Seated, a Sofar artist service?
- Looking forward to Las Vegas and New England visits later this year.
- Put me officially on record as wanting nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, NFTs, Web3 and most flavors of “AI” from now until the Silicon Valley bros burn up the planet.
- Nice to be back in the sports and entertainment industry – FOMO averted!
Looking forward to a (relatively) calm July…
Combined with my new Minnesota Historical Society membership (thanks again, MK/EJ), this was a fun double stop: watched the lighthouse movie in the visitor’s center for the first time, then hiked down to the beach
Don’t think I’ve stopped and hiked here since I was a little kid. Great falls and canyons very close to the highway and the shore-side picnic area is nice too (if a bit buggy)
Never hiked here before (it’s awesome) and have been saying it wrong for 50 years
Gonna hit a whole bunch this week – this is still one of my all-time favorites
It only took me six months to get started on this quest, but Afton is the closest state park to our house (and the bugs were manageable with a heavy dose of OFF! Deep Woods)
Drove Oliver home from the Twins game with all the windows down and the music blasting – it was glorious 🔥
This morning I planned to hit all the errands I didn’t get to do last week before heading to the office. Went 0-for-3: the Cottage Grove DMV wouldn’t sell me a state parks license plate, a ski shop the Descente website sent me to in Long Long didn’t actually have any jackets (neither did Hoigaard’s or Joe’s) and Rack Attack had no realistic options for Oliver.
Onward to other plans…
…in the city it’s a pity ’cause we just can’t hide. Tinted windows don’t mean nothin’, they know who’s inside…
— It’s Tricky
It’s pretty much required that I spend a least a part of all remaining birthdays in a casino – drove to Grand Casino Hinckley and visited my orchid friends (400x progressive!), got all the usuals at Tobies and filled up at Love’s for $2.49/gallon
I read someone on Mastodon talking about a goal of visiting all 88 Texas state parks in the next few years and thought that would be fun to do in Minnesota with Oliver (and the Minnesota State Parks custom license plate).
Minnesota has 66 state parks, plus nine state recreation areas, nine state waysides and 23 state trails. I’ve been to a bunch of these already, but I could revisit the eight on the North Shore alone every week and be happy.
Quest set:
Afton • Banning • Bear Head • Beaver Creek Valley • Big Stone Lake • Blue Mounds • Buffalo River • Camden • Carley • Cascade River • Charles A. Lindbergh • Crow Wing • Father Hennepin • Flandrau • Forestville/Mystery Cave • Fort Ridgely • Fort Snelling • Franz Jevne • Frontenac • George H. Crosby Manitou • Glacial Lakes • Glendalough • Gooseberry Falls • Grand Portage • Great River Bluffs • Hayes Lake • Hill-Annex Mine • Interstate • Itasca • Jay Cooke • John A. Latsch • Judge C.R. Magney • Kilen Woods • Lac qui Parle • Lake Bemidji • Lake Bronson • Lake Carlos • Lake Louise • Lake Maria • Lake Shetek • Lake Vermilion • Maplewood • McCarthy Beach • Mille Lacs Kathio • Minneopa • Monson Lake • Moose Lake • Myre-Big Island • Nerstrand-Big Woods • Old Mill • Rice Lake • St. Croix • Sakatah Lake • Savanna Portage • Scenic • Schoolcraft • Sibley • Soudan Underground Mine • Split Rock Creek • Split Rock Lighthouse • Temperance River • Tettegouche • Whitewater • Wild River • William O’Brien • Zippel Bay
As I wait for Oliver to make it across the Atlantic, I realized as I was driving home this week that next month with mark forty years since I got my learner’s permit to drive. A few observations:
- Mr. Toad isn’t the only one with a mania for motor cars
- Only two moving violations – one in Florida and one in Wisconsin
- My first used car was a Dodge Colt
- Other makes we’ve owned: Oldsmobile, Toyota, Honda (many times) & BMW/Mini
- My parents loved Volkswagens, but I’ve never purchased one
- The new Mini will likely be my last gas engine, manual transmission car
- It’s really a miracle that so many drivers get so many places daily without more accidents
Be safe and motor on…
With Oliver* now scheduled for production in England, I’ve been thinking about what I want for a license plate. Minnesota offers a ton of special plate options, along with the original personalized option. You can’t combine the two, though, which is probably what I would do if I could (i.e. – a loon design with a custom name). The costs vary a lot too – a standard personalized plate is $100, while the various “contribution” plate styles range from $10 to $60 annually (plus fees).
Growing up, I always thought personalized plates were pretty cool (and expensive). The state says there are almost 82,000 of these currently in use and I’ve seen quite a few clever ones over the years. I wish there was an online site where you could check to see if your desired name is available, but right now it’s just a paper form with spots for your top three choices. Don’t really want to gamble $100 unless I know I will get the one I want, so that option is out.
My mom always had the loon plates, which I also had on my first Mini in 2005. I was thinking about another loon, but then heard about the Minnesota State Parks & Trails option (pictured above). It’s $60 annually, but also grants you access to all of the state parks without an additional permit. I see that one a lot on the road (almost 25,000 issued) and it seems like a win-win. Here are a few other plate stats I find interesting:
- U of M Twin Cities ($25) – 2,839
- U of M Duluth ($25) – 412
- Critical Habitat: Loon ($30) – 60,462
- Critical Habitat: Pollinator ($30) – 9,088
- Minnesota Golf ($30) – 5,440
- Veteran: World War II ($15.50) – 170 ❤️
- Veteran: Pearl Harbor Survivor ($15.50) – 1 ❤️❤️
Oliver is scheduled to roll off the assembly line in Oxford on December 12, followed by a boat ride across the pond. Should be in Minnesota just in time for a big red bow on Christmas morning…
* proposed name for our 2024 Mini Cooper S Hardtop