What's a weekend without a trip?
I'm not sure, having only had two such weekends out of the last five.
Last week, Orhan, Jem, and I headed to Northfield, Minnesota (motto: "Colleges, Cows, and Contentment) home of Carleton College since 1866 and home of Eli since August.
Step 1: Photograph the parking shelter in the economy lot so we can find the car again.
Step 2: Work at the airport and have intense deja vu.
Step 3: Buckle up and fly !
Step 4: Find the rental car agency and request a Lamborghini for the bird to drive.
(Settle for a Ford Focus, and only humans driving.)
It did come with two interesting features. One, it was ready for Minnesota winter.
And two... well, two kind of speaks for itself:
Fortunately for the cats, we had left them at home.
Getting in Thursday evening meant we drove directly to the motel in Owatonna, about 40 minutes south of Carleton. (We were surprised that all the affordable places in Northfield were full until we discovered there was a track meet at Northfield's Other College, aka St .Olaf's.)
Dev met a new friend at the motel.
On Friday we drove to Carleton and found a nice cafe to hang out in while waiting for Eli.
When Eli arrived, it was gift time.
(The first two pictures are of him receiving a set of Trader Joe's dish towels. He had joked about how Northfield lacked a Trader Joe's, so Orhan decided to bring him a gift.)
Next was lunch, then back to the motel to work and rest, then dinner, then back to the motel to work and rest, then brunch, then work in another cafe on Saturday afternoon, then dinner, then back to the motel to work and rest, then brunch and to the airport on Sunday to work and then go home.
Below are some of the sights at various eating and cafe places.
At the Ruen 'N' Stein, Dev pretended to be a phone operator. Hello, Central?
At El Triunfo he contemplated buying some dried shrimp.
We were all pleased by the Hideaway's policy.
Also, their salt and pepper shaker holders were kind of fun.
On Saturday afternoon I took a mosey around town with Dev. We liked the art...
...and LOVED the river.
Some of the art was, admittedly, a little harder to appreciate. Thus mural, for example...
...was awfully subtle:
Later, Orhan and I (with Dev, of course) took a mosey around campus.
They call this a chapel. (Do they think they are Texas? We thought "cathedral" would not be an overstatement.)
This was an observatory; it now houses linguistics.
This was a linguist. Here he is, observing.
Carleton has some gorgeous ponds. One pond has an island with a barbecue grill; Orhan talked at some length, and with great pleasure, about how he would grill sausages there.
Bike storage, Minnesota style.
Eli's dorm is the building just up the hill from the bridge.
Jem and Eli.
The four of us walked to dinner and saw a few more nice buildings along the way.
The "chapel" again.
Self explanatory.
The president's house.
An ordinary (albeit rather grand) house with an extraordinary bird plinth.
The next day we had brunch at The Ole Store Restaurant, and then Jem and Orhan (and Dev) and I flew home.
Orhan got the window seat.
Last week, Orhan, Jem, and I headed to Northfield, Minnesota (motto: "Colleges, Cows, and Contentment) home of Carleton College since 1866 and home of Eli since August.
Step 1: Photograph the parking shelter in the economy lot so we can find the car again.
Step 2: Work at the airport and have intense deja vu.
Step 4: Find the rental car agency and request a Lamborghini for the bird to drive.
(Settle for a Ford Focus, and only humans driving.)
It did come with two interesting features. One, it was ready for Minnesota winter.
And two... well, two kind of speaks for itself:
Fortunately for the cats, we had left them at home.
Getting in Thursday evening meant we drove directly to the motel in Owatonna, about 40 minutes south of Carleton. (We were surprised that all the affordable places in Northfield were full until we discovered there was a track meet at Northfield's Other College, aka St .Olaf's.)
Dev met a new friend at the motel.
On Friday we drove to Carleton and found a nice cafe to hang out in while waiting for Eli.
When Eli arrived, it was gift time.
(The first two pictures are of him receiving a set of Trader Joe's dish towels. He had joked about how Northfield lacked a Trader Joe's, so Orhan decided to bring him a gift.)
Next was lunch, then back to the motel to work and rest, then dinner, then back to the motel to work and rest, then brunch, then work in another cafe on Saturday afternoon, then dinner, then back to the motel to work and rest, then brunch and to the airport on Sunday to work and then go home.
Below are some of the sights at various eating and cafe places.
At the Ruen 'N' Stein, Dev pretended to be a phone operator. Hello, Central?
At El Triunfo he contemplated buying some dried shrimp.
We were all pleased by the Hideaway's policy.
Also, their salt and pepper shaker holders were kind of fun.
On Saturday afternoon I took a mosey around town with Dev. We liked the art...
...and LOVED the river.
Some of the art was, admittedly, a little harder to appreciate. Thus mural, for example...
Later, Orhan and I (with Dev, of course) took a mosey around campus.
Great space ahead!
This was an observatory; it now houses linguistics.
This was a linguist. Here he is, observing.
Carleton has some gorgeous ponds. One pond has an island with a barbecue grill; Orhan talked at some length, and with great pleasure, about how he would grill sausages there.
Eli's dorm is the building just up the hill from the bridge.
Jem and Eli.
The four of us walked to dinner and saw a few more nice buildings along the way.
The "chapel" again.
Self explanatory.
The president's house.
An ordinary (albeit rather grand) house with an extraordinary bird plinth.
The next day we had brunch at The Ole Store Restaurant, and then Jem and Orhan (and Dev) and I flew home.
Orhan got the window seat.
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