We put in a lot of saddle time and got to see a lot of country this last weekend. On Friday, Ellen and I drove our rented Toyota Camry to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to attend our nephew Christopher’s wedding. We left here at 9 in a light rain (that left .3 of an inch in the rain gauge.) The fields and I-90 road sides in Minnesota were lush. The cornfields looked tall and tassled for the most part except where there was standing water. In low places mostly this side of Albert Lea, many of those fields had added to the 10,000 lakes after being transformed into corn-surrounded ponds with corn leaves sticking up out of the water. Thick and healthy looking soybean fields stretched away from our view for miles. The highway roadsides and medians and yards of homes were vibrant green. Anyway, according to the natives we visited with at the reception, they have had plenty of rain and could maybe even stand a break!
We stayed in downtown SIoux Falls at the Holiday Inn City Center. Nice place. The wedding was in a tall multi-spired First Congregational Church nearby, built in 1903. It is filled with rich woods, stained glass, topped off with a tall pipe organ set behind the altar. Christopher and Laura’s traditional ceremony was perfect with a sweet little 2-year old flower girl, inspiring music, lots of flowers and a beautiful bride with a brilliant smile. The reception was held down the street in the Washington Pavilion, a remodeled high school. The public space opened in 1999 with museums (including a full-size tyrannosaurus rex skeleton) and music areas including the huge Husby Performing Arts Center. (Someone told us that Arlo Guthrie had performed there earlier in the week and that Rod Stewart was to play there the next evening.) The Broadway size stage was set up with decorated tables, a bar, a DJ and a dance area and the huge back screen with projected art and images adding to the celebratory atmosphere. Anyway, we had a great time and helped Christopher and Laura off with a fun start. (They were leaving for Hawaii today I think.)
On Saturday morning, we had brunch with Mom, said our goodbyes to some of the just rising party goers (brother Del said he and Sandy didn’t hang it up until 4 a.m.) and loaded out for the long trip to Cassville.
Interestingly enough, after we headed south off of I-90 and east out of Austin, MN, the land started to look drier. The closer we got to Prairie du Chien, the need for rain was quite evident. Southwest Wisconsin could use some too. After we dropped Mom off, we headed north, and got back to Grouse Hollow around 7 Saturday night. Scout was pretty happy to see us, practically wiggling out of her hide.
I learned a couple of things. Sioux Falls, SD was not at all the cow town, rail yard I expected but quite a modern city. It also has real falls. Also I learned I have to apologize to Iowans (at least the ones in NE Iowa) for joking about their roads - all my life. The ones we traveled Saturday were excellent. Our new Toyota Camry rental with only 561 miles on it was not nearly as quiet as our Sonata. It averaged around 29 MPG, while our Sonata usually gets upwards of 40 MPG. Why didn’t we drive that? Well, a rental car for a few days is cheap insurance against spending hours or even days in some burg not on our itinerary while Honest Ed’s Garage and Video Store orders fixes our car. I learned that it is a lot hotter in Sioux Falls, SD than here and IT IS NOT A DRY HEAT! Some of our new SD friends also told us that they get much more snow than we do, but they don’t have any hills to ski down. (I really like the snow part.)
The dog days of summer are upon us. That means the lawn slowing down a bit - I hope, the bugs are backing off a little - well, maybe, back-to-school sales are ramping up, and Ellen’s garden is about to explode with produce! The sweetcorn trucks are starting to show up too - hurray!
Oh, just in time, I remembered I forgot to remind outdoors types that August 1st is the deadline to apply for fall turkey hunting permits, goose hunting permits for the Horicon zone, permits for bobcat, fisher and otter, and for Upriver Winnebago system sturgeon spearing seasons. August 1st is also the deadline to apply for the rare sharp-tailed grouse permit: there are 100 permits available this year in management unit 8. This is also a good time to get your hunting licenses and permits. My first Conservation Congress Mississippi River Committee meeting is this week up at Alma, and I may have jury duty and we do have some wedding pictures to shoot. I need to start shooting my bow in earnest. Who ever said retirement was boring.
Until next time, get out - Congratulations to Pete Swanson and Viroqua Legion baseball team on their regional tournament win this last week. Finally, I am grilling salmon on a cedar plank for supper this (Sunday) evening. I put some lemon juice on the filet and let it stand, while I oiled the grill and got the grill hot. I put the filet skin side up on the hot grill to get some grill lines then I put it on the oiled cedar plank and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I brushed on some dijon mustard on it and sprinkled with brown sugar and covered it for half an hour on low heat. Ellen has sliced some cukes and doctored them up with yogurt and onions and prepared some fres
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