Trips to Minnesota
We got back from a quick trip to Minneapolis today. As time has passed the drive has gotten easier and landmarks are starting to impress themselves in my mind.
Along the way shortly after crossing the South Dakota/Minnesota border we pass Palisades Park, where I got my camera on a day I won't forget. At this point we are heading east into Minnesota and don't turn north for the cities until we get to Worthington, Minnesota. What I remember most about Worthington is the gas station on the exit that turns you northeast on highway 60. The bathroom wall is a political sounding board that's almost conversational. The immigration issue seems to be the most recent with a memorable quote: "Jesus died for Mexicans too."
Soon after turning north we hit Brewster, Minnesota which has enormous grain elevators and no visible town after which the next landmark is Windom, which I remember for the name of an sci-fi author I liked as a child, John Wyndham.
The next landmark for me is Madelia, Minnesota, "Pride of the Prairie" - it may be shortly before that but a farmer in those parts has something on the order of 40 light and heavy trucks arranged on his (I'll say "or her" here to sound gender saavy but with the thought that it's pretensiousness comes from the fact that there really isn't a question that it's a he) land near the highway.
From Madelia I start counting down miles to Mankato - a city I'll remember for the following reasons: I got a flat tire there on my first South Dakota/Minnesota trip and it was the first and hopefully only time I rode in the back of a police car as the officer took me to a gas station to call for help (no spare). Mankato is where you really start going north as opposed to northeast as highway 60 becomes 169. The physical geography changes from prairie farmland to more woodsy hills. On the east side the Minnesota river flows - at first I thought it was the Mississippi River, and even though it's slightly disappointing that I can't write that into this trip I still get a picture of Huck and Jim floating on a raft towards Minneapolis and St Paul.
The last place I've bonded with on the journey north is St Peter, home of Gustavis Adolphus college, and arguably one of the more "pretty" towns I've seen in these parts. The school is on a hill, with the chapel's steeple marking the high point. The town also has a "central park" with a gazeebo that orients your eyes towards the hill and the college. This is the last waypoint for me - after that you can tell you're really close as you hit the suburban sprawl of the cities and franchises start to litter the sides of the highway.
11:45:58 PM 
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