Summertime Activities...and Abby alert!

I'm often asked by friends and family, "What is it exactly that people do in Minnesota?"  Without the mountains, or the oceans, or famous city streets like Broadway or Santa Monica Boulevard.  And my response is usually "Uhhh, well, we just sort of do all kinds of stuff"  So here is some summer stuff.

We do things like the Muddy Buddy, a run-bike-mud pit obstacle course.  I didn't do it, but that is only because I was in Vegas.  But, I did take the red eye out at 1am Saturday morning so I could get to the course by 8am to cheer on my favorite buddy.



Here are Mike, Pat, Jessie and Dustin Benson, 4 good run club friends putting the muddy in buddy. 



She'll hate that I did this, but that's Abby smiling and teammate Kelly in the final stage.  At least the helmet is still white.

Muddy and Buddy. This is how you're supposed to look at the finish

Post Muddy, still Buddy.  The Bensons, Pat and Mike, and Kelly and Abby

On top of outdoor activities like this, we appreciate what living off the land is all about.  Farming is a big deal here, so once a year your are reminded of its importance, when the farm comes to you at the Minnesota State Fair. 

Flower contests abound. In this room, dahlias everywhere, some the size of a basketball.  There was a weird Halloween theme going on, which I'm sure made sense to some, but not to me.




Mike and Abby waiving the dahlias goodbye till next year.....or maybe the year after. 

Corn is taken seriously, but not so seriously.  Minnesotans have a good sense of humor.  They gave this scarecrow a vacation once it's job was done. 

I had no idea what "seed art" was, and admit it, neither did you, but it's taken rather seriously here.  The winters are long, I guess this is one thing to do.

People lining up to get a closer look.  The wall goes to the left another 30 yards. It's......magical

Did I say magical?  I meant.....MAGICAL.

This deserves the largest size the blog can do.  Despite her tightly held district here, as my friend Mike said "Damn right, this ain't Iowa" 

Just in case you thought it was a fluke

There were awards for all kinds of foods, with the majority baked goods and desserts.  One day, God willing, I will be a judge.  I considered breaking the glass and trying myself, but didn't want to get kicked out.  Bet they were pretty damn good though.  

There were a number of "large vegetable" displays, but the pumpkins were by far the most popular.  Mike and Abby clearly were excited 

For those that have heard all the crazy hype about butter sculptures, here they are.  Bottom line, they're downright eerie and I'm pretty sure they talk to each other late at night when the building is closed.

We were so excited to get to the State Fair we forgot to put on our arms or legs. 

Abby was really excited to the baby animals, as the Miracle of Birth Center is full of pens of extremely pregnant goats, pigs, rabbits, cows and sheep.  TV monitors above broadcast recorded and live births. In a word, shocking, and not for native Californians.  Granted, the resutling little critters running around afterward are adorable, but due to the graphic nature of the place I continue to lobby for a name change to the Miracle of Afterbirth Center.

There's no surprise that patriotism runs strong out here, but that doesn't mean you can't get creative in how you celebrate.  One of Abby's uncle's was a butcher for a good 20 years, and learned the fine art of pig roasting, enough that he welded a roaster just for the ocassion.  Granted it hadn't been used in a while, but Abby's parents thought this year was as good as any to resurrect it.

Here's the Abby, aunt and uncle inspecting the equipment. 

There are actually two grills, and the pig is sandwhiched between the two.  Abby was clarifying how you flip the grill, which sounds simple, but with a 125 lb pig stuck between it got pretty complicated

Logistics had to be considered.

Abby's dad was more than happy to watch me dig. He designed the cinder block frame perfect for the grill

Abby was happy to watch as well.  Actually, there are some key photos missing, as this is after the fact.  We split pit digging duties right down the middle, and she is good with a shovel

Poor Wilbur

 

 The design worked flawlessly.  Pig fit nicely between the grates, and we were off to the races.  Total cooking time was 6 hours, producing by best estimates about 25 pounds of nicely roasted pork.  We had about 50 people over and there was plenty of meat left.  Lots of pork sandwiches that week.

We don't have a whole lot of photos from the dinner, but there were fireworks. I still like a good sparkler, even when it looks like it's coming out of my ear.

Yes....I put the olives where the eyes were.  Happy belated 4th of July everyone!!

When we're not out BQ'ing, occasionally we'll dress up real nice and do an event.  This was post 4th of July, at a fund raiser with a lot of good local restaurants. 

I look like I've had a few drinks, but think we just had a long run that day.  Don't know why Abby doesn't seem so affected.

This is me, trying to describe to my friend Mike Fanous the succulent flavor of the pork at the 4th of July BBQ

Girls like to dress up in Minneapolis.  They don't all wear overalls and drive tractors, though Abby did work on a military base in school and drove a jeep around, apparently.  Their pose on the left is "OC arms" in respect to posturing SoCal style.  I can appreciate that.
 

Guys can pose too. We just need to practice a little bit.

Perhaps most importantly, we can drink too much and act like complete idiots. May that always be the case.

SO, there's a snapshot of Midwest summer activities.  But....fall has arrived quickly.  Apple picking signs are in abundance, bags of road salt are conspicuous at every gas stations, and my winter coat is smirking every morning.  There are a few more summer shots to throw up here, in particular the Lake Cabin Weekend, a right of passage for everyone, a cool trip in a bi-plane of a friend, and some other randoms.  Promise I'll get those up before the first snow falls.  I figure I have about a week.......