6 Aug 2008
Another Engineering Perspective on Life
Hello there friendly readers. I write you from the roads of Minnesota. We are on a long trek towards the badlands. The roads are flat…the roads are straight…the roads are, quite honestly, boring.
But enough about our current state – we haven’t even told you about our escapades since Chicago. I’ll give my simple explanation of the events that have transpired in the previous day and a half or so.
Jeff told you about our art museum experience, but he didn’t mention our boat ride. We hopped on a ferry-like water vessel and spent ninety minutes listening to a nice woman talk about architecture. It was the highlight of my Chicago experience [and of mine too]. The otherwise rainy day opened up for a few hours, aligning almost perfectly with our boat ride. Hopefully we will get to show you some of the pictures. Simply put, if you ever go to Chicago, take the Chicago Architecture Foundation Boat Tour.
We also went to the top of the John Hancock building. They claim that it is the world’s most recognizable building. That’s a pretty big claim. I guess you have to market something when you have to compete against the Sears Tower. I’m glad we chose the Hancock building though – better skyline view.
Now yesterday (August 5) we drove from Chicago to Minneapolis. It was certainly a long trip. Our first stop was Madison, WI. It is the state capitol and, more importantly, an isthmus! It sits neatly between two lakes. The state capitol building is located on a beautiful square directly between the lakes. We found a parking spot right in front of this lovely store called Fromagination. What a great name! We spent about 20 minutes or so trying various cheeses. We settled on four cheeses, buying a third of a pound of each. One of our choices is currently the highest rated American made cheese – it just won the cheese making competition or something like that. The stuff is amazing – aged goat cheese with such great flavor.
After eating lunch (Thank you, Briggs!) with our new cheese and other goodies, we got on the road again. As I was driving my way across route 94, I saw a sign for a “scenic overlook” shortly after passing the Wisconsin Dells (another story in itself). We found our way to the scenic overlook and met two interesting families. One had stolen a little plastic nutcracker figure from Michigan and they were taking pictures of it as they drove across the country. The other family was from Malaysia, although they live in Minnesota now. I took their picture – my first experience with a Canon SLR on this trip. I’m a bad un-American photographer.
We got to see the reconstruction of the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis – an amazing site. There was a certain degree of pride in the incredible pace of reconstruction that could be felt. In the words of Jack Kerouac: wow. To continue with the American theme, we hit up the Mall of America, ate at Bubble Gump Shrimp and experienced the quintessence of American culture – consumerism. We are proud to say that we purchased nothing. Jeff wanted stamps but the post office in the mall went out of business apparently…
Then we camped for our first night – a lovely night. With that, you have the most verbose post you will ever get from Jared. I now return to the road, windmills, corn fields, and the endless trains of the Union Pacific Railroad.
