Month: July 2023

Today was our first full day at our Bozeman, MT housesit, so we are at the beginning of starting a routine with the four dogs and two cats. The dogs, so far, have been much easier than I was anticipating. Eating and sleeping is mostly what all pets (and really humans too) desire it seems, with a little activity thrown in.

Our time out of the house for today began with a stop at the Bozeman Visitor Center to pick up a few pamphlets and magazines to identify possible activities for our two-week sit. Then, we headed to Montana State University (MSU) and a self-guided walk around their campus.

The university is located right in the center of town, just a couple of blocks from Main Street. The university was founded in 1893. It currently has an enrollment of over 16,000 students with around 250 different degree programs. It is among the top 3% of public colleges and universities in the nation in research spending, surpassing $200 million annually in 2022, with expertise in areas such as biomedical sciences, energy, optics, solar physics, agriculture (its focus on fisheries gives it its nickname Trout U), snow science (apparently, there is such a thing), Yellowstone studies, paleontology, and more.

Our walk seemed to be coinciding with New Student Orientation, as we saw a number of tour groups being lead around campus. The campus is attractive, but lacks helpful signage (as in campus maps). Many buildings seemed newer and were impressive. Two buildings we always like to find on campuses are their student unions and library. Unfortunately, these two buildings were unremarkable.

We ended our exploring at a Rosauers Market, a nicer local grocery. Plan A was to get ingredients for dinner, but their prepared foods section was so impressive, we picked up ready made salads and sandwiches. We’ll cook tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon after Bob and I arrived at our hotel in Bozeman, we visited a sculpture park and library just a few blocks from the hotel. It was a fun introduction to our new community home for a couple of weeks.

The sculpture park was located in Lindsey Park behind the Bozeman Public Library, so we checked that out as well.

This morning at 8:00 am we met with the family for whom we are currently housesitting for the walk through before they left for a trip to London and then onto Scotland. We will be caring for 4 dogs and 2 cats while they are away.

As they have their unique meals and needs, we’re looking forward to getting to know each one a little better as well as this beautiful community.

Bob and I were up at 5:45 am today to start our drive from Rapid City, South Dakota to Bozeman, Montana for our next sit. However, before we even thought about heading to Montana, we had to see Mount Rushmore. Beth had never been there, and Bob hadn’t been there since high school. It was only a 30 minute drive from Rapid City.

As with yesterday and the advertising for Wall Drug, we passed a lot of touristy sites on the way to Mount Rushmore.

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial opens at 5:00 am daily, and the website encourages you to come before 9:00 am if you want to beat the crowds. After dressing, loading the car, checking out of the hotel, and filling up with gas, Bob and I got to the park a little before 7:00 am. There were only about 6 other people there. It was amazing. The only way to truly take in the incredible sculpture of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, but also the beauty of the memorial and the natural surroundings.

After we left the park , we had about a 7.5 hour drive to Bozeman, Montana, beginning by heading back into Rapid City, South Dakota. The entire drive from Rapid City through a little bit of Wyoming and then through Montana to Bozeman was really scenic and gave us a greater appreciation for this large, geographically varied country.

Early this morning (about 6:45 am), we left the sweet Becca and headed towards Rapid City, South Dakota, on our way to our next housesit in Bozeman, Montana.

We loved our St. Paul housesit, maybe because both of us being Midwesterners, it felt like home — only with awesome bike paths. The drive today was 8.5 hours without stops.

Bob and I gave equal opportunity to each of the Twin Cities today by doing a guided tour of the Union Depot in St. Paul and then doing our own “tour” of Lake Nokomis by walking the 2.5 mile trail around it. We continue to enjoy all the many free activities that this area offers.

I had read about the free historical tour of Union Depot on the Visit St. Paul website. These tours are just getting started and are currently being offered twice a month. We parked in the farthest Union Depot parking lot for $2.00. The tour was an hour long and provided by Cynthia of Cyn City Tours, who is paid a flat rate from Union Depot to conduct them. She also does haunted tours of the depot in October.

The current Union Depot building is the 3rd one on the site, the first two having been destroyed by fires that started in on-site restaurants. The original Union Depot opened in 1881 after James J. Hill (of the house tour that we did) convinced the other railroad owners to create one main hub. The current building was started in 1917 but didn’t open until 1923. It underwent renovations from 2010-2012.

After the tour, we drove into Minneapolis to Lake Nokomis Park for a walk around the lake. Even at midday on a Tuesday, both the lake and the pathway were being enjoyed.

Bob and I broadened our horizons a bit today with a short 25 minute drive to the cute little town of Stillwater, MN. We had seen a sign for Stillwater when we did our bike ride on the Gateway Trail on Friday, and it had also been recommended as a place to visit by our friends here.

A quick online search told us that Stillwater has a population of about 19,000, sits on the St. Croix River, and is often called the Birthplace of Minnesota due to the territorial convention held here in 1848 in which the process of establishing Minnesota as a state was laid out. It was a lumber town in the last half of the 19th century, so Stillwater had a number of active sawmills at that time.

Currently, Stillwater is popular for its attractive downtown riverfront area, hiking, biking, and water recreation, and historical sights such as the Stillwater Lift Bridge.

The downtown area had a number of attractive shops, restaurants, and hotels, as well as public art in the form of sculptures and murals. And, of course, the beautiful St. Croix River and bridges.

We started out the day headed for the free Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus. We didn’t know much about the place but it was listed on a Things to Do in Minneapolis list and the photo of the building caught our eye with its curvy metal construction. It was designed by Frank Gehry (also of Guggenheim Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles fame).

We parked in a section of Minneapolis near the university called Dinkytown, which is the commercial center of student life. So you can imagine our surprise when one of the first things we saw when we crossed the street onto campus was a wild turkey. In fact, there were quite a few of them wandering around.

Not having a ton of expectations about the art museum, the five or six room museum was really well done, so many interesting pieces, including some by Doug Argue, a Saint Paul native.

After exploring the WAM, we headed over the Mississippi to see some of downtown Minneapolis as well as the Stone Arch Bridge.

Bob and I were back on the bikes today to cycle part of a trail that we had passed when we biked to Phelan Park a few days ago. The Gateway State Trail is an 18-mile multiple use trail that begins in the city of St. Paul and travels northeast through the cities of Maplewood, North St. Paul, and Oakdale, and ends at Pine Point Regional Park. It is located on a former Soo Line Railroad grade.

We didn’t do the full 18, as part of it is closed for maintenance, and we haven’t done that much biking recently, but we did 12 miles out and back for a total of 24. Plus we did a few miles to the trailhead and back. The Gateway State Trail was impressive, fairly level, and shaded. Sections of the trail have a horse path that runs alongside of it.

We started our bike ride using Wheelock Parkway, as we did the other day. However, on the way back, we branched off onto Trout Brook Pathway, which took us along McCarrons Lake and then into the Reservoir Woods, which we could exit into the neighborhood where we are doing the house sit.

We were out biking for almost 3.5 hours and got into the house a few minutes before a quick downpour came through.

We’ll, it wouldn’t be much of a visit, at least not for Bob, if we didn’t get a big head photo or two for his collection. So far during our St. Paul sit, we have two — one in front of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and one in Phelan Park in St. Paul.

Today, we did a guided tour of the James J. Hill house. James J. Hill was a native Canadien, who made his fortune in the US as a railroad titan. He was called the Empire Builder. He built a line from St. Paul to Seattle and Amtrak calls the line the Empire Builder, a few years ago we road that line.

His home, completed in 1891, was once the largest private residence in the state. At 36,000 square feet, the house had with 13 bathrooms, 22 fireplaces, a three story pipe organ, as well as electric lights and security system. The final cost to build the home was $932,000, which would equal 31 million in today’s dollars. The guide provided interesting details of his and his family’s life as well as the home.

Minnehaha (Ha Ha!) Regional Park is a city park in Minneapolis, the “twin” city to St. Paul. Minnehaha Regional Park is home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. It lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (didn’t know there was such a thing). The 170-acre park was designed by landscape architect Horace W. S. Cleveland in 1883 as part of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway.

The Wikipedia entry for Minnehaha Falls claims that the lovely waterfall within the park was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who never visited the park but saw photos of the falls which were made as early as 1852) in his 1855 poem, “Song of Hiawatha.” There are a number of references to Hiawatha, Minnehaha, and Longfellow throughout the park.

The park was full of children at summer camp, families, and other visitors. After we visited the falls and the main section of the park, we continued on to the Longfellow Gardens and walked part of the great hike and bike path along Minnehaha Creek to Lake Minnehaha.