Minnesota Part 1

I rolled into my destination, Duluth, MN, for my High School reunion early on the morning of July 29th....the first day of the reunion. After unpacking and chasing my cat down the motel hallway, I took a long nap, then got ready for the festivities. More on the reunion later. I am still recovering.

On the following day, I took the time to scrape off the dead bugs accumulated thus far on this odyssey. The photo shows the front end while just leaving North Dakota. It was worse when I finally got to Duluth. I hope a killed a zillion mosquitoes. I hate those bitches. As soon as I stopped in Moorhead, I got my first mosquito bite in decades. I was instantly reminded of another reason why I emigrated out of that state. It took all of five minutes for one to sneak through the gap in the sunroof. Bastards. I really hate them. One of the first questions I'll ask of God in the afterlife is why he created those things. He better have a good answer.

The roads in Minnesota really suck, too. Like I said on a Facebook status post, as soon as I crossed the border, it felt like I was driving in Soviet Russia. (In fact I was being generous. The roads in Moscow [c. 1989-90] were much better than in Minnesota. I know this because I drove them.) Those that blame the Minnesota climate for the road conditions are lying. Moscow's climate is just as bad, if not worse. I think Minnesota Communists are just inept. I would say Minnesota's roads are on the level of Nicolae Ceauşescu's Romania, but even he could build a decent highway .

On the plus side, Minnesota has invented the combination gas station/convenience store/pizza joint. And not just any pizza but Sammy's Pizza! I will do a separate post on this icon of Northern Minnesota later. Sammy's Pizza is the de facto standard of pizza excellence worldwide. I am not kidding.

I am burning daylight, so that's enough for now.

A reminder: to see the posted photos in their full glory, click on them.