Of Kilts, Shoulder Pads, St. Cloud, and Further North

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August 16th, 2018

Go ahead and decipher that headline for a minute. You’ll figure it out after I explain it all in the next few paragraphs, but I can firmly state in total truthfulness that I am NOT wearing a kilt (nobody needs to see that, or even imagine it) and shoulder pads are such an 80s fashion item, but I am indeed, oh yes I really am, in St. Cloud, Minnesota finishing up this blog. Hence, its late arrival today.

So last week was Barbara’s last one at Itron, and she couldn’t help but be a little nostalgic and sad saying goodbye to so many people she’s gotten to know so well over the last six years. And seriously, didn’t I just write the blog announcing that we were moving to Spokane about six MONTHS ago? Can’t believe it’s been six years.

But, she’s also really excited about her new job with H.B. Fuller and she’s already immersing herself into the industry and what sets the company apart. She’s a total sponge when it comes to things like this. She knew nothing about utility meters when she joined Itron but she was an expert about that industry and their products within weeks. She’s already explaining H.B. Fuller’s stuff to me and she’s only been there four days. They make chemical adhesives, and you probably interact with their products on a weekly basis without knowing it. Open a box of cereal for the first time and have to pop the top flap loose from the lower one? They make stuff like that. Open a cardboard shipping box that’s been glued shut? Yeah, stuff like that too. But they also make a lot of really high-tech adhesives for industrial use and other big applications. I get to learn about it by osmosis.

Barbara really only had a couple of days off between the jobs, so we made the most of it late last week. I made my new favorite baked citrus salmon dinner, and that always leaves us enough leftovers to make salmon cakes the next day. That’s a fun project we can do together, cutting and dicing the various ingredients that go into the mix along with the salmon. The citrus salmon (the first fresh wild-caught King Salmon to hit our grocery store) was awesome and the cakes the next day were perfect. We make a good team.

On Friday, we decided to go on a road trip down the Mississippi, through Red Wing (where Red Wing shoes and work boots do indeed come from, along with Red Wing pottery) on down to a little burgh called Lake City. Why Lake City when it’s on a river? Because there’s a naturally occurring “wide spot” in the Mississippi there that is so wide and calm it’s actually called Lake Pepin. Up by Brainerd (on my way there tomorrow) the Mississippi is so shallow and narrow you can’t believe it’s the same massive river that chugs past St. Louis and Memphis on its way to New Orleans. At Lake Pepin, you can’t believe the calm serene lake, dotted with sail boats, is also part of the same river.

Just as we were leaving, we got a text from our friends Terry and Lynn Blake, asking if we wanted to go to the Irish Festival with them that evening, on Harriet Island across that very same Mississippi from St. Paul. Of course we did! So we cut our Lake City trip a bit short and raced back to Woodbury to meet up with them. And here’s funny fact No. 1,235: Harriet Island is no longer an island. It’s now connected to the south shore across from downtown St. Paul. In 1950, they filled in the channel that made it an island so it is now an island only in name.

On the side stage, the Screaming Orphans did very little screaming. Or even singing. But the view was great! (Click on any photo to enlarge)

It was our first time to the Irish Festival, and with our two friends being Blakes and my wife being a Doyle there was much Irish blood in our quartet. They wanted to see a favorite band of theirs, the Screaming Orphans, but on the night we went they were only playing a side stage right along the river, and in the 20 minutes we sat on the stairs they spent roughly 18 of those minutes telling stories rather than playing.

The Blakes filled us in on how the festival started out very small, years ago, but has grown in size and popularity every year. It now covers the entire island that’s no longer an island, with tons of food and beverage stands, retail Irish stuff galore, rugby and soccer matches, and music everywhere. It was a lot of fun for us to attend and we’re thrilled we did with such great friends.

The festival is free to attend but you have to buy the meal and beverage tickets. 10 tickets for $10 sounds reasonable, but most beers and wines are $7 or $8, so each pack of 10 tickets doesn’t last long. The food was really good, as well, but we “restocked” on tickets a couple of times and then perused the vast Irish market for fun merchandise.

Barb spotted some really cool Adirondack style chairs for our newly rebuilt patio, and she introduced me to the guy who custom makes them. She took me over there to see them, and I’m guessing at least two of them will end up in our possession. He makes them with the standard Adirondack back but he also makes them with a back that is the outline of the state of Minnesota, and he can then inlay various logos or laser engrave anything you want. There may be a Twins and a Wild chair in our future.

Big fun amidst all the Irish. I’m mostly Scottish by heritage, but I play well with others…

We then went back to the main stage for the headline act, and although I don’t recall the name of the band they were authentic and really very good. And Irish music is often pretty funny as well as catchy, so that was all fun. And we used up every food/drink ticket we had. Well played by us.

And no, as stated above for the record, I neither wore a kilt nor did I purchase one. You’re welcome.

Barb was mostly focused on her first days at work on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday she had a day-long meeting in downtown Minneapolis with her CFO. That was jumping in the deep end for her third day on the job, but she’s so good at that it’s startling.

We were both originally going to go the the Minnesota Vikings training camp on Wednesday with our dear friend Mary Beth, at the team’s brand-spanking-new and just completed headquarters and practice complex on the south side of the Twin Cities. It’s in Eagan, actually, and it’s right alongside the I-494 loop not far from the airport. We’ve been watching it being built over the last year, although from the freeway you really can only see the massive main indoor practice facility.

Those plans to watch practice and a scrimmage against the Jacksonville Jaguars were hatched before Barb even met with H.B. Fuller, so in the end she had to work and couldn’t go. Mary Beth’s husband Joe is a big football fan and a very fun guy, but he didn’t have much interest in going because they are one of many “mixed marriages” in our part of the country. Joe is from Green Bay. We have other friends who are married and who also have to keep it friendly when one is wearing green and gold and the other is wearing purple.

The Vikings new facility is beyond amazing and a huge step up for them.

So, with Barbara and Joe not going, Mary Beth and I went and we wore our purple. Her friend Kim came along as well, so for me it was like tagging along on a “girls day out” but for our activity we went to the Vikings practice and scrimmage. I might be the only guy I know who can state for a fact that he’s done that very thing.

For decades, the Vikings have had training camp down at Mankato, and Minnesota State U. Mankato (the school formerly known as Mankato State.) It was couple of weeks of nostalgia and team bonding, to all be down in that college town riding their bikes around to practice and staying in dorms. Then once preseason began they’d move to their practice facility called Winter Park, in Eden Prairie in the southwest suburbs.

By today’s standards, Winter Park is basically archaic. Limited fields, an indoor facility that also had to double as meeting rooms. Cramped locker rooms. And, in the indoor facility the roof was too low for kickers and punters to even practice. They had to go outside to get their kicking in.

They don’t have that problem at the new place. It’s a sprawling facility with four full practice fields, a small VIP grandstand for the practice side of things, and an actual 6,000-seat small stadium where high school and college games can also be played. All the surfaces are exactly like what they play on at US Bank Stadium, too. Everything is state of the art.

Fun stuff to watch!

We were there a few hours and at first it was just the Vikings and the Jags doing typical preseason drills on different fields, but after an hour of that both teams split into two groups and faced off for a very controlled scrimmage. The coaching staffs had it orchestrated how they’d work on various phases of the game, so we saw both teams kick off a few times, and then kick field goals and extra points. After that, they lined up to actually run some plays. The linemen were allowed to hit, but there was no tackling involved. It was kind of like a big crunch at the snap followed by touch football, but it gave both teams a chance to do that very thing against someone else instead of against their teammates.

We were in the end zone of the field that featured most of the starters. It wasn’t long before Mary Beth said “There’s a lot more hitting over on that other field. Those guys are rookies all trying to make the team so it’s a lot more high pressure over there.” I could see that, but I could also hear it. All in all, we had a great time and it was a “first” for all three of us to see practice and a scrimmage, and since the new facility is just weeks old, it was our first time being there.

So there’s your shoulder pad reference.

And now I’m in St. Cloud. There are multiple reasons for this.

A) Hotel rates in Brainerd are very “aggressive” as we say, during the race weekend.

B) St. Cloud is just far enough away from Brainerd to not really be impacted by the race rates.

C) It’s fairly large college town, so there are plenty of hotels. I’m in a Homewood Suites.

In the morning, I’ll check out and make the 67 mile drive up to the track. And my room rate will roughly quadruple when I check in, although it’s a conscious decision on my part to stay at the wonderful Madden’s Resort instead of a motel out on the main road. It’s a special place and to me it’s worth it to combine racing work with a feel of a quick resort vacation.

When the race is over on Sunday, I’ll depart directly from the track but I won’t go south. Here’s some fun details about my new project…

I’m researching and outlining my fiction book right now, and one of the key characters in the book is going to be from Roseau, Minnesota. It’s a small town of about 2,600 way up north, just short of Canada. It’s also a hockey mecca unlike almost any other. With barely enough kids to field a full hockey team at Roseau High, they’ve won seven Minnesota state championships, and are nearly always one of the best teams in the state. Roseau hockey is legendary. They’ve sent many players on to the NHL, and too many to count on to college and minor league levels.

With one of my planned characters being a hockey player from Roseau, I knew I needed a chance to immerse myself in the community, to get to meet the civic leaders, the teachers, the coaches, the families, and as many residents as I can. I figured a few days after the Brainerd race would be my first great chance to do that, since I’m already going to be about a third of the way there.

Without much of a clue as to how to set it all up, I just called the school and talked to the receptionist. I gave her the short version of who I am, what I’m planning, and what I was after and she connected me with Larry Guggisberg, the Superintendent of Schools for all of Roseau.

Larry has been amazing and beyond helpful. In my possession, I have a memo from Larry detailing the hour-by-hour meetings, lunches, tours, and conversations he has set up for me to have on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It’s comprehensive and incredible. I’m not going to spill the beans on just who I’m going to be meeting and chatting with, so you’ll have to wait until next week for that. For two and a half days, I’m going to be all about Roseau. Then I’ll make the long hike back down to Woodbury on Wednesday afternoon and evening. This is going to be one great experience.

So, three days of racing in Brainerd. A trip north to Roseau after the race (I’m only going as far as Bemidji on Sunday night). Then it’s Roseau until Wednesday afternoon.

This new book is still in the early planning stages, but it couldn’t happen without the largesse of Larry and the Roseau community. As the outlines and characters develop, I know these next few days are going to be really key to the process of fleshing it all out and making it real. I have to create a person from thin air, and get to know his hometown and his personality. Without that, I won’t be able to write in his voice. Fiction! This is going to be fun.

That’s all for this week. Wish us luck at the race and wish me well up in the high northern climes of the great state of Minnesota.

Bob Wilber, at your service and ready to soak it all in.

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