Wandering Where We’ll Be

OK, here’s a quick post to get caught up on what we’ve been doing this past week.  We’ve been keeping busy with last minute preparations and getting together with friends and family, but I’m getting anxious to hit the road.  I’m sure this last week will fly by, and we’ll be on the road before we know it.

Last Monday, Dan went to the dentist to have a root canal finished.  Everything seemed to go fine; his mouth was a little sore initially, but he hasn’t complained of any pain lately.

On Tuesday, Dan and I (and Jake) went up to my parents’ cabin in northern Minnesota with both my parents and Dan’s parents.  The cabin was finished late last year, and we thought it would be fun to go up there with our folks since we had some free time before we left.  We lucked out by picking the best day of the week, weather-wise.  It was a beautiful, sunny, spring day, in the mid-50’s.

We made the three-hour trip in the morning, stopping once at a wayside rest north of Milaca.  Arriving at the cabin around lunchtime, we gave Dan’s mom and dad a quick tour of the cabin and, then, had soup and sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch, we lingered around the table for a bit before going outside and showing Dan’s mom and dad around the rest of the lot, walking down to the lake and showing them the “porch” down by the lake and the garage/bunkhouse near the cabin.  We also walked down the road to the public boat access.

When we returned to the cabin, I – with Dan’s assistance – assembled a Spinach-Potato Pie for supper.  While it was baking, we hung out in the cabin and visited some more.  After dinner, Dan’s parents took off for home; they had planned on staying just for the day, and had to get home to take care of their dog.  We had a great time that day, spending some time with our parents away from the normal bustle of our everyday lives in/near the city.

Dan and I and my parents stayed overnight and returned home after lunch the next day (Wednesday).  We arrived home in time for Dan to go to his weekly role-play gaming in St. Paul.  We had hosted the group at our place until a week before we moved out of our apartment.

On Thursday, we drove out to the small town of Brownton, MN (west of the Twin Cities) to have lunch with our friend, Liz.  Jake has twice stayed with Liz when we were out of town for long weekends.  We ate at Cactus Jack’s in the nearby small town of Stewart.  Dan first met Liz when they both worked in the flooring department at the Home Depot in northeast Minneapolis – the “Quarry” store, so they were critiquing the tile installation job at Cactus Jack’s.  We also heard from Liz about all the drama that goes on in a small, rural town in central Minnesota.

Thursday evening was choir practice.  I sing and play guitar with the St. Mary’s choir that sings for the Saturday afternoon (5:15 pm) mass.  My mom also sings in the choir, and – since we’re staying in Shakopee and Dan isn’t working – Dan is singing with the choir for these last few masses (Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil).

On Friday, we met our friend, Shawn, for lunch at Big Bowl in Edina, MN.  Shawn is in the midst of his own transition, having just left his long-time job at American Express (now Ameriprise Financial) for a job with YMCA.  We ran a couple errands and stopped at Panera Bread to check email and get a few things done online.  For dinner, we went to a Fish “Fry” at the local KC Hall with my parents.  Even the Knights of Columbus have become more health-conscious, offering several different kinds of fish, including oven-baked.  After the fish fry, we watched a movie that my mom and dad had picked up at a garage sale earlier in the day, “The Rookie.”

On Saturday, Dan and I took our bikes to run some errands in Shakopee – Target, Dan’s bank and my bank.  Then, we rode through the old part of Shakopee, including stops at the house that I grew up in until I was 9 years old, the pet store in downtown Shakopee, and a gazebo overlooking the Minnesota River, threatening to flow beyond its banks from the spring snowmelt.

After attending and singing at Palm “Sunday” mass in the afternoon, we went to Panzanella restaurant in Shakopee with many of the other choir members and their spouses for a “farewell” gathering for us.  We had a lot of fun having dinner and visiting with our friends in the choir.  We received a very nice card, along with $200 that had been contributed by choir members!  A great big, heartfelt THANK YOU to the choir!!

On Sunday, evening we went out to dinner with my sister, Brenda, her husband, John (Anderson), my other sister, Jackie, and her husband, John (Aldritt).  We went to Machu Picchu restaurant near Lake St. and Lyndale Ave. in Minneapolis.  A couple years ago, Brenda and her daughter, Amanda, traveled to Chimbote, Peru with others from their parish, St. Michael’s in Prior Lake, to visit and help out their sister-parish.  While they were in Peru, Brenda and Amanda visited the real Machu Picchu, and Brenda had wanted to go to the Minneapolis restaurant ever since she returned from Peru.  None of us had been to the restaurant before, but we were eager to try it.  Both the food and the drinks were great!  Brenda had had and enjoyed Pisco Sours when she was in Peru, so that’s what she (and I) had to drink.  We all ordered various Peruvian stir fries, called Saltados (I think).  I had the vegetarian one, with broccoli, red bell peppers, carrots, red onions and french fries – yes, that’s right, French Fries!  We all thought that including french fries in a stir fry was rather odd, but it was very tasty.  I want to do some research to see if adding french fries to a stir fry is really authentic Peruvian cooking.  It was fun to try a new restaurant and spend some time with my sisters and their husbands before we leave.  Thanks to all of you!

Tags: Choir, Machu Picchu, Pre-Trip

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