Saturday in the 'Burbs

Rachel drove to Rochester last week for an appointment at Mayo Clinic where she'll be doing volunteer work this school year. She called me to ask why there were so many police out on highway 52. I hadn't a clue I told her. A few hours later I got to work and noticed there was a temporary flight restriction in place over the Rochester area because President Obama and his bus tour were traveling through. She would learn soon enough what was happening when she got into the city. I shared a couple of quick texts with her as she tried to maneuver herself to where she could maybe see him. And she did—well, she saw his bus anyway.

That wasn't the first time she got close to a president. In 2004 we took her to see President Bush speak at Target Center in Minneapolis; a time when I was still owned by the Republican party. Within a couple of years of that experience, I would have my eyes opened wide. My metamorphosis away from conservatism is detailed in my blog for those curious to see how a person can possibly change parties. Here's a pivotal post in that process but to get to the real reason type "faa" into the search box of my blog.

Tammy isn't much for jazz music but she knows I enjoy it some; mostly when I'm working down in the shop on a stained glass project. She suggested that we head into Burnsville Saturday afternoon to take in the sights and sounds of the Burnsville Art and All That Jazz Festival. Great idea! What I didn't realize until talking to Mom early Saturday afternoon was that the Shakopee Mdewakanton were hosting their annual Pow Wow. Tammy has a fascination and love for Native American people. This would have to come first.

We drove 20 minutes west to Shakopee, found parking and took advantage of a dusty golf-cart ride from our car to the site. We found the Pow Wow to be in full swing when we arrived. I wondered how my brother Bryan (had he been with us) would've captured this event with his camera. He's got such an eye for photography. I did my best and also took some video.

The dancers were entertaining to watch but I think the vendors who lined the perimeter added a cheap commercialism element that the organizers could have done without.

From there we made our way to Burnsville to check out the art and jazz festival. It couldn't have been a better day! Just a beautiful weekend of weather, really. Yeah, I could've been out riding but I was fine at this slower pace.

We walked around looking at the craft exhibits and saw one of our friends from Foci. Steve had been there since early morning but wasn't all that happy with sales. He said the good money this day was in women's jewelry. The booth next to his was evidence that he was right as there was no lack of people looking over the merchandise.

The sun was getting low and the air was beginning to chill as we donned our jackets and found some seats to take in the show. See the embedded video below.

It was a nice Saturday in the 'burbs.

I did manage to get out late Sunday afternoon for a ride. I've got a 10-mile loop I do around Orchard Lake and the surrounding area. It's nice for working on strength as there are several hills that amount to a little over 500 feet of climbing each loop. Plus, I usually find myself pushing the pace trying to stay above a set minimum speed/time for each loop. Six loops left me with that unique feeling of being both refreshed and tired. Here's some video of the loop.