Water and Heights!

What a gorgeous day! After the storms blew through yesterday (while we were in the movie theatre) the humidity dropped and the sky cleared and we awoke this morning to a gorgeous sunny day with some moderate winds. It was a great day for viewing the sights of La Crosse.

Teej explained yesterday that while she lives in Caledonia, MN, a town of about 3,000 people, she works and her husband goes to school in La Crosse, WI, a much larger town about 25 miles east of Caledonia. To get from Minnesota to Wisconsin, we have to cross the Mississippi River; there are two bridges - one on Cass Street and one on Cameron Street - that take traffic across the river and I was driven across both of them yesterday and then again today. The Cameron Street bridge is new - it was just built a couple of years ago - but I think the engineers did a great job of fitting it into the form of the Cass Street bridge.



The Cameron Street bridge is the front one and it's the rounded middle "peak"; the Cass Street bridge is the one in back and it's the two end "peaks". I think it's sort of neat that the trees on the other shore are Minnesota, but I was in Wisconsin when we took this picture!



We were at a little park that sits along the edge of the river to the south of the bridges and I was a little surprised at how small the river seemed up here. I've been told about "the Mighty Mississippi" and I always imagined it much bigger. Teej assures me that as the river wends its way south it gets much bigger, but that there's a place in Itasca, MN where even I could just step right over it in one stride!



Teej tells me that the two "attractions" in La Crosse are the river and the bluff and just in driving from her home in Caledonia into La Crosse I can see why. The bluffs are gorgeous - though Teej says they're even more impressive in the autumn when the trees all change colors - and I even got to go up to the very tip top of the largest one in La Crosse - Grandad's Bluff.



It's quite a height! It was windier up on the top of the bluff and I was a little nervous that I'd get blown over the edge, but Teej kept a good hold on me so I could get a look over the edge at the city of La Crosse spread out beneath us.



Teej pointed out that we could see the building she works in on campus - where I met all the people yesterday.



A little ways out of town is the marsh, which is a natural wetlands area that is home to lots of waterfowl. Teej says that's it common for her and her husband, Jack, to see herons and egrets on their commute into town, as well as lots and lots of falcons and eagles. I don't think I saw any, but I have to admit that I tried not to look - I would be just the perfect size for lunch. *shudder*



Teej needed to stop at her local yarn shop - Fitting Knit Shop - to get a couple skeins of black yarn to make swatches for a DNA scarf she's making for a friend and while we were there, I got to meet Mimi, who showed me how to knit while we were waiting for Teej to pick out the yarn she needed:



Mimi said that she thought one of my cousins might live in her shop, and sure enough, it turns out that Sven and I are related:



Sven is Norwegian and is originally from Vanberia in Decorah, IA. Mimi said that the Vanberia store had patterns for both Sven and his wife as well as for an Irish couple.



On our way back to Caledonia, Teej had to stop in quickly to Houston County Women's Resources, where she is the Board President, to check in on some planning for one of their upcoming events and chat briefly about the preparations for next fiscal year's budget.

Now I'm tucking away the goodies that Teej is sending along with me for my next host and pretty soon I'll be off on my way again! I'm looking forward to my next stop - Teej says she's been watching the blog of my next host and knows that she's just as excited to have me as Teej was!

Take Your Gnome to Work Day

Whew! I had a pretty busy day today, checking out Teej's office and meeting her co-workers.



Teej has two computers in her office - a desktop that is her primary computer and a tablet laptop that is her travel computer. As an extra bonus, her tablet has quite a lot of music burned onto it, so I got to check out some new-to-me tunes by Rusted Root, the Cowboy Junkies, Sweet Honey in the Rock and a few I didn't catch the names of. I grooved out for awhile with Wilcoxon, Teej's moose, enjoying a cuppa the fabulous Market Spice tea that Stephanie sent. Teej is right - it's really, really tasty!



Deb - a professor in the Women's Studies and University Honors programs - came by to say hi...



...and took me on a quick tour of the office while Teej went to a meeting so I got to meet the folks who work in the Provost's office:

Chandra
Carmen
Betsy
Karyn

They were all really nice about showing me around. Once Teej got back, though, we were off again, this time to Samulnori rehearsal! Samulnori is a form of traditional Korean drumming and Teej plays the Janggu, which is a double-headed, hourglass shaped drum that is played with two mallets, one held in each hand. Emily - a professor in Psychology - showed me how to play the Janggu:



One of the other types of drums used in Samulnori is a Buk, which is like a small bass drum. Ronda - a professor in Communication Studies - held her Buk for me so I could try it out:



After Samulnori rehearsal, Teej's husband Jack came to get us and we went to a theatre to see the new Pirates movie. It was pretty good, but all that water made me a little nervous, so I was kind of relieved when it was over! We had a quiet dinner at home and are now chilling out watching some television. Tomorrow we're going to do a little more site seeing around the bluffs in La Crosse and spend some time in Teej's garden before I have to jet off to my next stop.

Safe arrival!

{Editor's Note: As I had feared, Gnorm arrived on my doorstep while I was out of town for work. I sincerely apologize for the delay in posting about his adventures; I returned last night to find him patiently waiting so he should be all rested up for a whirlwind tour before jetting off again tomorrow so he's not late in getting to his next destination!

As an aside, all the photos are clickable thumbnails to avoid long waits for the page to load for those on dial-up.}

*yawn**stretch* What a wonderful nap! It was so very kind of Stephanie to send me off so comfortably!



I had some lovely Yarn Pirate yarn as a squishy soft pillow that kept me from being bored by exploring the myriad beauty of the Deep Cove colorway:



..and some tea to enjoy by candlelight from Market Spice in Seattle (which Teej says is her *favorite* tea of all time - how did Stephanie know?!):



..and she she even sent along some absolutely splendid handmade soaps (made by Stephanie herself!) so I would be sure to arrive smelling fresh and clean:



After apologizing profusely for leaving me alone for so long, Teej explained that she needed to unpack her own bags from her recent trip to Kansas City as well. In doing so, she left me to pet and admire the spinning fiber she acquired while there - some lovely cashgora and a small stack of silk hankies from a marvelous little shop called Cottage Fibers:



After she unpacked, Teej wandered out to check on some of her plants to see how they'd been faring in her absence. I was really fascinated with the morning glories climbing up the twine on her front porch:



As we were walking back inside, I spied a portrait of a long lost relative:



I'll have to check my genealogy books and charts when I get back home to figure out just how I'm related to the gnome in the portrait, but I'm sure I must come from the same family tree.

When it was time to get ready for bed, Teej offered me the use of her newly finished linen washcloths and my pick of the soaps from Stephanie to wash up with. I picked the Sweet Surrender bar because it's such an intoxicating scent and the bar itself is swirled with gorgeous colors:



Today I'm accompanying Teej to her office for the morning so she can catch up from being away this week and attend a few meetings. This afternoon, though, we're sneaking out a little early to do some sight seeing and take in a show - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End!