Filed under: Nevada
News flash: Lake Tahoe is very, very pretty. The water is so blue, and the mountain ranges hold the lake like bowl. The mountains are brown and green, dark and snowcapped. I didn’t have an idea what Lake Tahoe would be like. We ate at South Lake Tahoe. It turns out there are lots of resorts that feel like they are in Northern Minnesota down the block from corporate casinos. Very weird. Again, the nature is striking but the vibe is weirdly dime store bougie. That being said, I bet there are pockets that I didn’t see that are downright fancy bougie.
Our afternoon of driving was interesting. The nature continued to be amazingly beautiful. At least that’s what Lily tells me. I was driving up and down the side of a mountain with people who clearly were more comfortable with near death driving than I am, so I never took my eye off the edge of the road. About 10 minutes after I handed off the wheel to Lily who police cars whizzed by – not easy on a 2-lane highway. We didn’t think much until a few minutes later, when we could see the smoke. We have the pictures and videos below. We weren’t afraid for ourselves – once we figured out how they were going to divert us. But scary to see how quickly the fire grew.
Well, due to an issue with the rental car (fuming to come later depending on resolution) and the fire, Lily and I were running late all day. Running late when you’re driving through a rural desert is being worried about finding food at the end of the day and driving in the dark old’ desert. Our lack of planning served us well when we ended up in Tonopah NV – during Jim Butler days. He was the founder of Tonopah. Apparently, he was in the area and had a donkey friend. One morning, the donkey was gone so he searched everywhere. He found him in this area and (as was told to me), like every angry old dude, he tried to throw a rock at the donkey. He bent down to pick up a rock. It was super heavy because it was silver. And so began the town. And we’re so lucky, we’re here for one night of Butler days. Karaoke all night long – one of Lily’s favorite things.
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This deserves so much more than one sentence but the theme of Butler days this year is – Try That in a Small Town.
Finally, Tonopah is home to a very creepy Clown Motel. It is built next to a now defunct cemetery that is final resting place to many victims of a local plague and several fires. It has been featured in movies and comic books. It was too scary for us to stay there.
After a quiet night on the border of Oregon and California, Lily and I headed to the lava beds national monument. The lava beds have caves that were created from lava 10-65,000 years ago. (Making me feel very young.) We visited the easiest cave called, Mushpot. It’s paved and well lit. We tried to go to Big Painted Cave but the climb down was too much for me and my fear of heights. (I don’t think Lily was too sad.) We did check out the Symbol Bridge. There are Native American pictographs on the walls. They are so clear; it’s amazing.
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After that we (I) drove a million miles to Reno. Well, maybe not that many. It was gorgeous but surprisingly there weren’t a lot of places to hop out and see more. Maybe because we were driving on the side of a mountain half the time.
Eventually we landed in Reno. It was a complete contrast from the small town bed and breakfast stay the night before. We saw some bluegrass at a mead pub a little bit off “the strip.” But then ended back at our casino for dinner. Neither of us are big gamblers. But after dinner, I gave us each $5 to gamble. That lasted for more than an hour for me and I cashed out with $10.25. Winner! Lily got her sketchbook and was surely more productive.
Day one of the road trip. Our plan is to get to Las Vegas by noon on Friday. Today our first stop was Eugene OR. We checked out the Skinner Butte Mountain. Beautiful views. Lots of local taking in the sights with friends enjoying recreational drugs. We also checked out a local secondhand arts shop. Some interesting art and Lily got some markers.
Then we made the quick drive to Springfield to see The Simpson’s murals. We arrived 20 minutes after the art center closed but the workers, standing on the wrong side of a locked door, invited us in to take a picture on the Simpson’s couch and gave us a flier with a map to the murals. Very nice of them! We found what we could and celebrated with some pizza. Also – a nod to the local Springfield newspaper and their listing of activist events and alerts. (I’ve added some non-Simpson art too.)
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Each road trip, especially a family road trip, involves a moment or two of serious discomfort. Lily and I nailed it Tuesday night. It was a long day of driving, up and down the hills and mountains of Oregon. (To be fair it was gorgeous – as the pictures below will attest.) We finally pulled up to our bed and breakfast in Dorris, California – just over the border from Oregon. It’s a very rural town. It’s fine but not really what we expected. The owner and her son are very nice. But there’s not much around.
It was 8:30. By the time we figured out the key to the room (still not really working – and NOT user error) everything in town was closed. We had pizza five hours earlier but nothing before or after. So, we drove to the closest bar about 15 miles away. It’s desert dark with roads like you find going to your friend’s Wisconsin cabin – windy and not well marked. We can’t see the evaluation. I’m driving and driving is something I hate.
Someone driving in front of us pulls over, so we pass them. Then they start following us – right to the bar. (Lily figures they pulled over worrying that we might be a cop and they were in no condition to drive.) There are maybe 10 people there. Bar closes at 10pm and a few folks have already been cut off. Pick-ups parked out front with bumper stickers that don’t match our ethos. I’m having a Diet Pepsi (naturally no Diet Coke) because I have to drive back on the treacherous road in the ditch dark. They have no food. Owner was friendly. One of the 86’ed guys is asking Lily all about her journal. She’s having a Coors Light. The kitchen is not open.
Thankfully, we could get two off sale Coors Lights. Unfortunately, the bag of chips was $3 so we only got one. We had $6 but it’s the principle. We drive back to the B&B. A rabbit runs in front of us. But I miss it. Lily is feeling bad because she has selected the location. I am only anxious about driving, which can present as angry.
We get back safely. Sit on the front stoop with our two beers and just laugh. We’re thinking maybe a casino room tomorrow in Reno!
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Filed under: Oregon
I’m condensing a few days in Portland to one post but starting with the highlight – Lily’s zine reading. Lily’s zine reading. Lily O’Donnell has been in a Portfolio Program at The Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC). It’s part creative writing course and part print-making program. She has been picking up skills with things like riso printers and working with an awesome cohort of other artists. I got to meet them all yesterday at a zine reading. The center is an interesting building. The students are bright, creative and motivated. It was fun to see how much they lift each other up and have a genuine respect for each other’s work.
I am really proud of her work and her reading. I had permission to video some of it.
The event was hosted at IPRC but the students did all of the work – and the turnout was impressive. People from as far away as St Paul. There were 75-100 people in the room.
We went out at night. The first night, I went to Lily’s Cinema 21 and watched Friendship. (It’s a weird art house movie that’s been selling out. Or maybe I just don’t get it.) It was fun to meet Lily’s coworkers. They are super friendly and know a ton about movies. And music.
We saw some music including an Enya Tribute night at the Swan Dive. We talked each other into thinking we were big fans because we know where her house is in Dublin, but we didn’t know many songs. I recognized one. We somehow managed to miss Sail Away. We briefly saw Sharon Van Etten too. We went to trivia night as part of a birthday celebration for Lily’s roommate Sav. But we were there too late for anyone to sing their songs. Lily has clearly picked up a lot of good friends in Portland from work, her zine program and just being out in the community. They all had such nice things to say about Lily. (Not surprised.)
Poor Lily got in a lot more walking than I think she would usually like to do. As I’m typing, we have already walked more than 10 miles today. The day I arrived (13 hours late), we walked around Lily’s neighborhood and had lunch a Sweedeedee’s – named for a Micheal Hurly song. Lily is/was apparently a big fan and even met him in the neighborhood not long ago. Also, we checked out the museum art and taxidermy. Day two, we walked around the gorgeous Laurelhurst Park; it’s gorgeous. It’s amazing just how tall the trees are. Very different from the Superior Forest in Northern Minnesota. We also walked around park near Belmont and Hawthorne streets. We had some yummy Thai food and did some shopping in book and secondhand stores.
Today we trekked from downtown to Washington Park and all around. We saw the rose gardens, the Japanese gardens (Lily got us in for cheap), the Holocaust Memorial and more. The whole area is beautiful. It’s on top of a hill so you can see mountains in the distance and the higher you get into the park, the more you can look down at the various parts of it. Again, the trees are incredible. They make even something like a Japanese Garden seem more magical. And the air and moisture they give off is healing. (Also makes my hair look good!) There was a waterfall and those of us who live near the Minnehaha Falls are always suckers for a waterfall. I was taking a video as Lily walked toward it and you can hear her excitement when we spied the giant koi fish in the water.
And intermixed with each day – and night – was some amazing street art – mostly graffiti, but some fun public art as well!
Filed under: St Paul
The People’s March ended an hour ago. I’m just getting the feeling back in my toes, but my heart is full. The march was hosted by Women’s March Minnesota. We started talking about an event immediately after the election in 2024. We started planning a march in earnest about 10 days later. So that’s two months to play a huge event, with no budget on what could be the coldest day of the year.
Thankfully people stepped up. Really awesome people showed up and brought their skills and enthusiasm. We needed it. The trials and tribulations of planning an event like this deserve an instructive post all its own and hopefully we will do one but for now I’ll just say – freedom of speech takes a lot of time, talent and money – especially if you want to be heard.
It was a cold day, but people still showed up – we’re estimating 4-5,000. In spirit of full disclosure, I suggested we do the event inside once I heard the temperature was forecast to be 5 degrees (-11 windchill). Luckily, I lost that vote. Not that it wasn’t cold, the forecast was 100 percent right – but it was worth it. We marched from St Paul College to the St Paul Capitol, led by native dancers from Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue and Kalpulli Mictlan Tonatiuh. I livestreamed most of the event, so I got a front row seat. The vision of the dancers heading down John Ireland Blvd was priceless.
When we reached Capitol, I was honored and terrified to give a quick welcome. The speeches were inspiring. It was a terrific lineup. My only sadness was that my phone just froze up after 90 minutes in the cold. We had a charging break in the Capitol for 15 minutes and were able to continue. Much as I needed the warmup, I was sad to miss things. (Also big thanks to Mary Magnuson for her help!)
Here are the speakers:
- Emcee Miss Shannan
- Abortion Access Front Chief Creative Officer Lizz Winstead
- Gender Justice Speaker Megan Peterson
- Youth and Transgender Rights Activist, Jayce Wepplo
- Carolina Ortiz from COPAL/ Immigrant Defense Network and Sarah Silva from North STAR Alliance
- Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Speaker Senator Mary Kunesh
- ACLU Speaker Alicia Granse
- Intergenerational Partnerships & Uplifting Youth Speaker Quincy Powe
- Environmental Justice Speaker Gina Peltier
- Infertility and Healthcare Cuts Miraya Gran
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We ended the day livestreaming a chat with the partners inside. It was a fantastic way to get to learn about what people are doing and hear about how we could help. I won’t detail every conversation – you can watch them in the third video on the playlist below, or you can check out an even more complete list of actions and events where you can follow up on the Women’s March MN website. I encourage you to check it out. I am going to try to make it to a bunch of the special days at the legislature to livestream for Women’s March. You should pick an action too – maybe I’ll see you soon at the Capitol.
Filed under: St Paul
Nothing makes me happier than having everyone home for Christmas. Are we crowded? Yes! Will there be fights? Not as many as I expected – yet. Would I change a thing? Nope.
We started Christmas Eve with an Indian meal in the neighborhood. Lots of takeaway happening but we were one of two or three tables on site. We all got what we wanted. We all dressed up. And the restaurant (India House) looks very holiday every day so felt festive-ish. We had planned to see Nosferatu; in fact, Lily had purchased tickets and then at least two of us realized we’d have nightmares if we saw it. So, Lily worked her cinema magic and traded our tickets for 3D Wicked.
I don’t see many movies. I barely remember seeing Wicked on Broadway, but we all enjoyed the show. We talked about it that night and the next day. (Also, when the girls were little, we saw a lot of Wizard of Oz on stage. So nostalgic for all of us!)
Christmas morning – kids still wake me up. (And some early bird sisters waking up the night owl sisters.) Kate had set the stage with decoration and cleaning. Everyone got gifts they really wanted. Gifts they didn’t know they wanted and gifts that made them laugh.
Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for baked pasta from Grandma and banana chocolate chip bread pudding from Uncle Billy. We played the game (like charades but talking instead of acting) and my team skunked the other. We had great conversation, which is just proof that kids are better every year!
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Filed under: Detroit Lakes
Yesterday I was featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s culture feature Art Hounds. I was talking about the Trolls of Detroit Lakes. It was honestly a thrill. I was excited and more nervous than someone with a weekly radio should be. The folks involved (Emily and Denzel) are super nice. I spoke to Emily for 10-15 minutes and they edited the feature down to 1-2 minutes.
I wanted to archive the fun here. You can listen from the Art Hounds page.
This week I had a mini-break with my friend Monica. We went up to her family cabin in Battle Lake (Otter Tail County) in Northern Minnesota. The cabin is right on the lake, which makes for peaceful scenery and awesome views of thunderstorms when they happen.
One of our main goals of the trip was to visit the Trolls of Detroit Lakes. (I wrote about it in my Mostly MN blog too.) International recycling artist Thomas Dambo and crews have built a scavenger hunt or giant trolls, portals and a hidden Golden Rabbit. Dambo has trolls all over the world; but in DL they built their biggest troll ever with 36-foot-high Long Leif!
We also went uber local to see the Nyberg Sculpture Garden in Vining, MN maybe 40 minutes from Detroit Lakes. (Also in the Mostly MN blog.) The artist, Ken Nyberg, was born and raised in the area. His art is made from scrap metal, old lawn mower blade and other recycled materials. One of his first big steps (pun intended) was The Big Foot, which is installed off a highway in town. There’s also a work in honor of his astronaut daughter Karen Nyberg!
The cabin in just a mile walk from the town, which is large enough to have a few restaurants and an ice cream shop called Granny’s Pantry. There is a large statue of a Native American giving homage to the wars between tribes (Anishanabe and Dakota) on the walk to town. And a lovely garden. We also stopped in various locations along the way. For example, we saw the largest turkey in Perham. And we saw a little nature at Glendalough Park (deer) and Inspiration Peak (panorama video).
Filed under: Chicago
Uncharacteristically, I bought tickets to The Magnetic Fields show in Chicago last July. I never do that – so much to go wrong and in the end I did miss one important work meeting back in St Paul but I don’t feel too bad about. The show was worth it. Katie and I went to night one of a two-night series where they played their double album, 69 Love Songs. The collection has a song for every conceivable breakup and a couple with happy endings. Next time we’re going to both nights!
Dad (aka grandpa) drove down too – for the eating and the driving and he met up with friends. We arrived early Wednesday afternoon. Katie and I took the train to downtown Chicago and walked around until we went for an amazing dinner at Pilsen Yards. (Hot ti: pina colada ceviche.) Then we walked up to Thalia Hall. There was already a line – but we’re pros so we caught a beer in the bar downstairs. We didn’t get front row seats but, we didn’t wait in lines either. The sound in Thalia is awesome anywhere and honestly the sightlines are better upstairs. The show was so much fun and I think I cried twice from laughing so hard.
Thursday we mostly chilled. Not enough time to truck downtown with all the road construction. Every time we went out for a walk it started to rain. But we did make it to consignment shops in Evanston, where I got a dress that’s too fancy, except I can wear it when I host an actual rock show on an actual venue stage. (Mama Hellcats at the Hook & Ladder on May 16!)
Thursday night, we ate at our favorite French restaurant, D&J’s Bistro in Lake Zurich. Dinner includes pate, carpaccio, scallops, lobster, mussels, dark chocolate ganache and family: dad, Katie, Dan, Betsy and me. My niece Betsy just successfully completed a tons of tests in her year-5 of her 6 year quest to become a physical therapist. So, it was a celebration. After that dad and I headed to Janesville for the night and now we’re passing the Ho Chunk Casino on the way back to the Cities.
Filed under: Oregon
On my last day, we finally got to Powell Books, apparently the world’s largest independent bookstore. I’ve worked in many libraries, and I have to say, none were as large as Powell Books. It’s busy and well organized. It seems like they have a good calendar of events, which always helps. My favorite memory was overhearing a young girl say to her mom, “I found a book on Disney World. (pause) It has everything. (pause) I really like Disney World. (pause) I mean really … I’d like to go there … someday.”
Spent the last day then reflecting on the trip. We had a great time. Lily compared Portland to “New Orlean’s tired uncle, who usually just has two beers now.” It is a place where people seem to live easy. People drive slowly, start conversations and seem nice. I spent a lot of time near and in downtown so I saw a lot of people living in tents. That’s always hard but only because it’s hard to see someone on a rough day. The weather is very Irish, which I had been told before. Lots of misty-rain, which just makes my hair look better.
There feels like a DIY undercurrent in the community. As Lily noted, it’s like third generation fisher families move into town but they still know how to fix a boat or scale a fish. The city is plunked in the middle of amazing nature. I’d say that about St Paul too – but Portland beauty is maybe more obvious, if you like that sort of thing.
Final word – Lily is doing well and always fun to spend a week with a kid. (And just a few pictures from the trip…)
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