There's a knick-knack shop in Duluth called The Electric Fetus. Such fetusy treasures lie within.
I arrived in Duluth a few hours before a pretty colossal thunderstorm moved in. Duluth itself is right on Lake Superior, and is thus subject to wonky weather patterns as well as spectacular views.
Deanna and I looked for agates on the shore. She loves agates so very, very much. But you can't help but like her.
The next morning was foggy. Super foggy. Dangerously foggy. London foggy.
Luckily, the fog lifted before I made it to Birchbark Books, a wonderful independent bookstore owned by Louise Erdrich, one of my favorite authors.
Naturally, there's a whole section dedicated to her work. You really ought to read one of her books. If you have already, read two.
This is Dharma, the Birchbark Bookstore dog. Puttin' the bark in Birchbark. Heh.
Louise has recently won the National Book Award for The Round House. Congratulations, Louise! Keep writing!
The Modern Times Cafe is a little slice of awesome on a Minneapolis sidestreet.
Annie and I went to grad school together. She's very talented. Any time spent with her is a good time.
DIREWOLF. Aww.
J. R. R. Tolkien once referred to a particularly nasty thunderstorm as more than a thunderstorm. He called it a thunder battle. Such a thunder battle hit while I was in Minneapolis. The power went out and trees were smashed into yards, cars, and the streets. My car escaped just fine. I found a few leaves on it.
Leaves of destruction.
I drove down to Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa. The town itself is adorable and has a pedestrian mall with public pianos to play.
A.J. is my Iowa buddy. He's very tall and very humorous. His brother, some friends, and I watched a really bad horror film called Winterbeast. It's about totem poles coming to life to kill people while a dude in a clown mask dances around with corpses. You'd love it.
Speaking of corpses, a whole crop of 'em were washing cars in Nebraska. Part of Governor Heineman's "Put the Dead to Work" program. You might remember reading about it.
Here's the Nebraska state capitol in Lincoln. It's palatial and well worth a visit.
It's the Nebraska triceratops!
Here's the view from the 14th floor. You can see my car from here!
The thunderstorms followed me into Colorado. Zap, zap, boom.
Rainbow!
This Denver billboard says, "Vasectomy: the new cool thing."
Unrelated to vasectomies, Kate showed me around Boulder. It's a great place!
Tom runs a nature-centric company in Colorado Springs. He loves nature. And the environment. You should, too.
Tom and Jack drew these great, surreal images on their walls. It's after the art of Theo Ellsworth.
Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico had the worst-marked trails in state park history. Don't go there unless you want to really lose yourself in nature. On the other hand, the nature in which you'll lose yourself is actually quite lovely.
This is Bailey, the most adorable dog ever. I dare you to name a more adorable dog. Try! Try now!
Here's a lizard. They're really fast, but they like to avoid people. However, they do like to ham it up for the camera.
A Bad Case of the Dates card is still up on the cork board at Harry's Roadhouse! I put it up on there the last time I was through town.
The hippies were scrumptious.
But of course, a visit to Santa Fe wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Tecolote Cafe. Their breakfast burritos alone are worth the trip. George R. R. Martin pops in occasionally.
Deliciousness is coming.
The Santa Fe state capitol has wall-to-wall art. It's really inspiring to see a state government as a patron of the arts.
Here's the main plaza in Santa Fe. If you like lots of odd people and buskers, this will become one of your very special places.
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