« One Cold Jump | Main | Done With Marketplace! »
June 27, 2004
Road Trip Trio
Wow, I really had a blast this weekend! Once Mike, Kevin and I finally got going on Friday, we eventually made our way to Andew's apartment in Mankato after a couple stops. One of those stops along the way was at Martin Luther Manor in Bloomington so that I could make sure I got a chance to see my Grandma Siesennop at least once more before I left for Australia. Man, it's hard saying goodbye to someone, especially a grandparent, when you know that it might very well be the last time you ever see them . . .
We got down to Kato a bit before 9, and had a grand ol' time playing some Tiger Woods Golf 2004, and NBA Live 2004 on the PS2. We even rented "Matchstick Men" but got distracted by that other fun stuff and didn't get around to it, oh well. I had some tacos from Taco Bell that didn't sit too well with me that night, but I was all better by morning at least. :-)
Once we all eventually got up on Saturday, Kevin and I headed over to Scheels, as I had to go get some shoes, and Kevin wanted to check out what they had too. I wound up getting a nice (though kinda expensive) pair of mostly-white Asics running shoes, and also a pair of brown waterproof Columbia trail/hiking shoes (they happened to be on sale too!). I like the Columbia's a lot more than the Nike's I got at Sports Unlimited in Rice Lake on Thursday, so I'll be taking those back probably tomorrow. They're cheaper too, and better shoes overall. :-) After that we both headed up to Gustavus to visit some of my friends for a little bit that are staying there this summer in Wahlstrom, including Seth, Laura, John and Brendan (Dave had to go home though, so he wasn't there).
Mike had stayed behind with Andrew to wait for Amanda to get done with work. They swung by Gustavus, and then it was time to go to the Twins-Brewers game at the Metrodome! Mike, Andrew and Amanda rode up in Andrew's car, Kevin and I in mine (Kevin slept most of the way, just like he usually does in a car ride of any length whatsoever, regardless of the time of day, hehe). I was a bit taken by surprise when Andrew all of a sudden pulled off to take a different direction to the Cities when we got to Shakopee, so we got separated. There was much frustrated hand waving and gesturing on their part to try to get me to follow them, but they made their surprise choice of route too late, oh well. So Kevin and I were trying to come up with ways to try and find them in the mass of people outside the Metrodome, but Kevin's cell phone had a dead battery, so we couldn't reach them and just had to wait outside the Dome. Fortunately they spotted us after a few minutes though, but as a result of us getting separated we couldn't get five tickets together. 
It worked out fine though, Kevin and I wound up with better seats than they did anyway. ;-) As for the game itself, it was pretty entertaining, even though the Twins lost to the Brewers 7-2. It was a combination of crappy pitching by the Twins and excellent hitting by the Brewers. They were just scorching every single ball, it was amazing. But both teams came up with some exciting defensive plays though, which was fun. And because lots of other people started leaving early, Kevin and I were able to make our way down to some seats in the fourth row right by the Twins dugout for the last inning or two! I'll try to get some photos from the game up here in the next day or two. [Note: I now have a photo album from the Twins game up on my Photos page.]
Mike, Kevin and I were all a bit hungry after the game since we hadn't eaten beforehand, so we were just cruising along 35W on the way home when Kevin suggested that we go to a sports bar/grill to eat. We saw a sign for one that looked promising called Jake's (in Mounds View), and pulled in. That was such good food!! None of us had ever been there before, but we were all very impressed. Nice waitresses too, we just might have to go back there again sometime. ;-) The three of us had to have been sitting there for at least an hour and a half, just talking and having a great time. It was the perfect finishing touch for our fun little road trip (even better than witnessing a big bar fight on the streets of Chisago City while I was filling gas, hehe). I'm glad I got to spend my last full weekend in the States hanging out with them, I wouldn't have had it any other way. :-)
Even though I didn't get home till 12:45, I still had to be at the radio station 5:30-11am this morning, for my last on-air shift before my trip. After that I came home and took a nice two and a half hour nap, and the rest of the day I've pretty much just been sitting around doing practically nothing (definitely not packing!). Only two more days of work at Marketplace, woohoo! Only six more days until Australia!
Posted by Jared at June 27, 2004 11:57 PM