Dinosaur Days: Day 3

I awoke today with enough time to get ready and leisurely check out. I did have the rest of my Special K bar before I left.

Also pictured, the notes I made last night while trying to figure out who was coming to brunch.

On the left is evidence of the 21st century car I got as a rental. Finally, no keys!

I didn't write out the directions to the restaurant, and I ended up missing one of the many, many highway changes on the route to St. Paul.

However, I wasn't too far away and made it there on time. I parked behind the building and took a photo to document it because I needed to ask if it was okay to park there. It said parking for residents and for the restaurant only, but sometimes, it's a different restaurant. I walked around the block and found a couple people from my party waiting for the restaurant to open.

Our group ended up being 8 people, and we had a great meal, with plenty of stories and more connections.

R's Bloody Mary & coffee and my coffee.

My amuse bouche (Bacon n' Egg Teaser) and mostly consumed Weekend at Bennies, the eggs benedict variation. Not pictured, my Mi-Woah-Sa.

Fried chicken and waffles, breakfast tacos, and potatoes as ordered by friends.

I did my show and tell from Iran after the meal, and offered up the Iranian hotel toiletries as gifts. KPN got a great video of my Expo.

This marked the largest assemblage of old friends that I have amassed in the Twin Cities in all three of my visits, so I wanted a group photo. Everyone reacted like normal people do when a group photo is requested, and I think I heard a groan when I requested a re-take. I have posted both below.

Everyone took off, and I went to my car to pack everything up. I stayed outside for a little while to enjoy the weather and get good directions from Tongue in Cheek to the airport. I had to rewrite them when I made a correction and wrote directions to Terminal 2, instead of Terminal 1. One of the residents of the building and I chatted and I gave him the URL of my blog and phone number in case we could meet up and chat more next time I'm in the area. I also had a good text conversation with The Model, back in Iran, about his possible future trip to America. It was then time to get going to the airport, along the beautiful Minnesota highways.

The directions worked out great, until I got to the exit to the airport, which was also the exit to a National Cemetery. I got herded into the cemetery and had to turn around to get back on the road to the airport.

I did try to get to a gas station, but ended up getting turned around and was running too far behind. I would pay the higher fee for not filling my tank (which turned out to be about $10 or $15) to avoid being too late for my flight. i returned my rental car, but still was not able to use my Avis gift cards. It turns out that I have to either identify that I want to use them when I book the car or when I pick it up. Given the difficulty I've had using these, I would strongly recommend against getting Avis gift cards ever again.

Soon enough, I had checked in and was at the gate, waiting to board my flight to MCI, or Kansas City international Airport. I opted to sit near the front this time too, since I was transferring flights, and wanted to avoid any delays. While I had been driving, The Model called me via What's App, and I asked if that was intentional. It had been, and he had been talking to the guide from the trip before, who is bilingual, to help translate. I was happy to hear that he was working on our communication issue, but I had to get going. I wasn't going to buy wireless internet for the short flight, and we were about to take off. He would be asleep by the time I could connect again.

 

We flew over the Kansas or Nebraska or Missouri countryside, and then landed at the most *country* airport I've ever been to - and I've been to CWA. Ok, maybe I was being biased, but it also reminded me of some Star Wars outpost. The bathroom situation in the gate area was as close to a public health problem as I think we can get. Lines for the ladies rooms were asinine, since I guess each women's room only had two stalls. I opted to walk away from one line and wait in a different one where I wasn't forced to watch men go in and out of their restroom freely and quickly. I suggest a new bathroom regulation that for each toilet and urinal in a men's room, there is one toilet in a women's room, and if space is an issue, the women's room will just need to be bigger. So if there is one toilet and two urinals in a men's room, there need to be three toilets in a women's room, not two because they take up the same amount of space as two urinals.

Anyway, with that ordeal over, I got some food from one of the stands and went to wait for my final flight to Houston.

Maybe it doesn't look that country to you, but you weren't there.

We finally boarded the plane, which did not have wireless available, so I tried to nap away the flight, but did chat a little bit with the people in my seat. There seemed to be an abnormally high number of toddlers on the plane this time, and all of their noises slowly grated on my cheer.

This irritation lasted even to the baggage claim, and it was taking forever for our bags to come out. I saw a co-worker at the baggage claim too, but didn't want to talk long because I was in an unfortunate mood. Apparently, 12 flights landed at the same time, and the baggage handlers were a little overwhelmed, but finally, the Kansas City bags arrived and I could leave the airport! The cab driver seemed a little confused as we neared my apartment building, but we got there and I was, at last, home.

The Downtown skyline and a movie made from photos and videos from today.

Dinosaur Days: Day 2

Special K bar for breakfast.

I awoke today somewhat early, hoping to go to Paisley Park at 9, but then 9 passed and I wasn't ready. I had to do my hair and pack for the day. There was an impending tropical storm headed for Myrtle Beach, which was all over The Weather Channel. After a while, I may have switched over to Animal Planet. After 10, I was ready, so I took all my things, put them in the car, and walked around for a little while to see the pond by day and enjoy the fresh air.

When I got outside, however, I was surprised to see a few little bunnies hopping around the parking lot.

The flowers made the parking lot smell very nice.

I had written out the directions to Paisley Park to help prevent me from getting turned around and lost on all of the Minnesota highways. It was overcast, but not yet raining, and the drive in my brand new Altima was very nice. Soon enough, the blue dot got closer to the pink blob and I turned onto Audubon Road. There weren't so many cars there that I couldn't park on the street, but there was a steady stream of people coming to pay their respects, including me.

The grey weather seemed very appropriate, just like when I went to Graceland seventeen months earlier. We all walked past the tributes, poems, and letters, somberly stopping to take a photo or read something.

Messages from around the world - mostly the US, but one pictured from Kosovo.

Then I realized that there were more tributes in the front, facing the highway, so I turned the corner and walked down to the creek.

Click the image on the left for a video of me reading a letter posted down here.

Hearts made from the foliage and some shameless Vikings fan paraphernalia. 

But it was getting close to 11:30 now, and it was time for me to head over to the whole reason I came up to Minnesota for Memorial Day Weekend: The Trex Tuesday Prehistoric Party. I calculated directions directly to the school where the party was being held, but decided to get off on another exit to try to find food. I ended up seeing some signs for a deli near a synagogue where an event was taking place. Unfortunately, the restaurants were not open, so I went off to the Party without lunch.

Back in my car, it was a short drive off to the high school where the Prehistoric Party was being held. The media restrictions said that I could not take video at the event so I grabbed a couple from the parking lot and went in.

Inside, there were so many T-rexes! Dinosaurs, and even a couple eggs. I took a walk around the football field, then got myself some snacks since there wasn't any lunch yet.

T-rex kisses!

The dinosaurs there in spirit.

My snacks. Cheetos and a Trex Sea Salt and Caramel cookie.

I'm going to refrain from posting any more photos of the event from here, but I got to see a few of the shoots out on the field. It was starting to rain, and I helped move the speakers to under the bleachers. I asked if they were planning anything for after the shoot, and was also trying to plan dinner with friends. I had been able to confirm brunch plans, but nobody was really available for dinner. The lack of good sleep and excessive carbs I had eaten were making me quite tired, so when the dinos went into the school for the rest of the shoot, I decided to head back to the hotel.

I decided to find food via the Yelp app, and found a place called Pei Wei, which is an Asian food chain. I ordered a bunch of food online, including pad thai, then drove off to the location. As I drove, the rain started coming down, hard. When I got back to the hotel, I decided that I was going to stay in that night and nap, rather than continue with dinner plans. After all, I already had more than enough food for that night.

Brunch, however, was shaping up nicely, so I called the restaurant and made reservations for 8 people. I chatted with a couple people before I began my lovely nap. After a few hours, I awoke and found that the brunch group had grown and I called the restaurant back to increase the possible group to 12. I also got up and showered, then had the rest of my pad thai (which was the vast majority of it) while watching Animal Planet's Monster Week and a show about people that had rabies and poking around online. I also took a little walk outside in the actual fresh air. I ended up staying up past midnight, packing and starting the blog posts. Fortunately, I was going to be ready to go quickly after getting up the next day.

.aaaand since there are no issues with my photographs or the video posted from the Prehistoric Party, I can publish this post.