Schmoopie and I finally got away for a weekend of celebrating our long union! We headed to lovely Iowa to spend our 16th wedding anniversary together with some relaxing fun. First, we drove to Decorah, a town I could easily see myself retiring in, and stayed in a very cool hotel/opera house, the Winneshiek Hotel. We scored the last available room, one that had been newly renovated and never slept in. It was posh, amazingly comfy and the genuine friendliness of the staff was stellar. After a wonderful walk around the quaint town, we sat down to enjoy a sampler plate of tasty, locally made cheeses and meats and a beer for each of us. Upon finding out that it was our anniversary, one friendly wait person brought us probably THE most delicious cupcake I’ve ever had. I’m not hugely into sweets, and especially not sickly sweet, overdone frostings, but this frosting was expertly crafted. Creamy and light with the perfect ratio of sweet and buttery, and the cake was moist and decadent. I was glad we shared a sampler plate rather than filling up on big honkin’ burgers and fries.
The next day we spent at the Vesterheim Museum, which is a collection of all things Scandinavian. It was really neat to see all the gorgeous wood and fabric crafts that our ancestors are known for. Some people get really snooty about the art versus craft thing, and I personally see as them essentially the same, their only difference being that “art” is something that is made solely for decoration, entertainment or enjoyment, or as an emotional or political statement, and “craft” is made for function as well as beauty and meaning. I am more into crafts, probably because I am such a practical gal (and feel that the whole idea of separating the two, which often elevates “arts” above “crafts”, is wholly elitist), and when you see a master craftsman create a functional yet stunning piece, you are looking at an artist all the same. I felt like I stepped back in time as we marveled at the old cooking and baking tools, lefse rolling pins, gorgeous ale bowls that resemble Viking ships, wooden containers that held flour, sugar and salt, hand carved spoons with ornate carvings along each one, wooden chests painstakingly crafted and painted with pretty rosemaling, looms and spinning wheels (oh, the spinning wheels!), painted smorgasbord trays and intricate butter molds (man, they loved their butter molds!), and the famous bunads-- traditional wear for women that are individually crafted based on one’s locality, silver jewelry, wedding crowns, Hardinger fiddles with mother-of-pearl inlays and dragon-heads carved at the top, rocking chairs with cow horns instead of wooden joints, butter-churners, books of kids stories, a tiny stuffed doll of the famous Nisse, just tons of stuff! One room has the Trade Wind, a tiny little sailboat that two Norwegian brothers sailed from Norway all the way to New York. For some reason, this story and the photo of the two together really struck a cord with me. I felt the awe of embarking on such a feat, living still in that quiet room that is now just a preserved moment in history. The eyes of the two brothers, and their obvious brotherly bond, seemed to lead me into the cold, vast Atlantic, imagining all that they saw and did, how lonely and scary it must have been, and what wonders they witnessed along the way. I took a photo of their photo to remember them.
Amazing Craftsmanship
Ale Bowls
That's one serious drinkin' horn!
Cradle Loom
Look at the detail carved into these spoons!
One of many butter molds
The Tradewind
The two brothers who sailed the little Tradewind all that way
A typical trunk of necessities brought by immigrants to America
We've seen these real buildings in Norway!
The horny chair!
For fans of the show Vikings, you'll recognize this tale :)
Gorgeous carved oak leaves and acorns
A model stav church
We spent a couple of hours snooping around the museum, then headed off for some lunch at the Angry Pickle! What an awesome little café! Very crazy-busy, but the single waitress was a testament to true multi-tasking. She acted as hostess, bus-boy, cashier, food preparer, manager and even babysitter! She had two boys helping her out at one point, and it seemed the cashier was brand new so she kept having to run over there and help him out. They had delicious food: I had a half turkey sandwich and a bowl of pork and sweet potato soup, and John had a half a roast beast sandwich with a bowl of fish chowder. Both meals were incredible, and the fish stew was so good, we resolved to come home and try to craft our own version! Another quiet stroll around the town center, and then we headed out for Cedar Rapids.
Good food!
The Angry Pickle! Love this tee-shirt!
John really wanted to catch a Kernel’s baseball game, the Twins’ A-ball team that used to be located in Beloit, WI, and are now in Cedar Rapids. It was a pretty large stadium, along the same lines as the Saints stadium here in the cities. It was kind of chilly, but better to bundle up for a game than sweat profusely. We had a good time, and the Kernel’s won 4-0! Their mascot is an interesting hybrid of corn stalk and baseball. His head is a grey baseball, his body a strangely rotund-rumped ear of corn. We couldn’t really figure it out, especially since the drawings of him look nothing like the actual mascot, but he was cute and funny and the fans really go crazy for him! He had been injured in a previous game, and this was his first game back. We enjoyed a relaxing evening watching the national pastime against a lovely, darkening sky. After the game, they had a fireworks display that capped off the evening nicely.
The Kernel's!
Love this shot!
Schmoopie-ness
Pink sleeves=breast cancer benefit
Cool stadium!
Look at that wind-up!! What an arm!
The next day, we headed back up to Minnesota to stay in Beaver Creek Valley State Park in their only camper cabin. The cabin is nestled right next to the burbling creek, and behind that lies the enormous bluffs, creating a nice little cove of wilderness. Right away after checking in, we went straight away on a very challenging hike. Being in bluff country, there were steep trails that are quite the advanced hikers territory. I ended up needing an additional walking stick, so I found a large piece of birch to help me along the paths. The sweeping views from the top were worth the walk up, and would have been even more stunning if the true colors of spring had been in bloom. As it is now, all was brown. From the tippy top, we sat for a well-earned rest on a strategically placed bench and marveled at the many turkey vultures that were swopping near the cliffs. At one point, we counted seven circling about. From this level, you can almost see what they might see as they soar above the rest of the world.
Clear creek
Turkey vulture!
Look at those gorgeous wings
Blooming flora
Look at his read head!
More Schmoopie-ness
Having not been able to decide on what would be best for dinner, nor wanting to worry about keeping any leftovers cool, we opted to just have the same meal for dinner and breakfast. At the co-op in Decorah, we picked up some sausages and eggs, a roma tomato to have with some salad greens that we’d brought that needed to be eaten up along with some bread that I’d made that also needed to be eaten. We enjoyed our campfire meal as the sun slowly sunk down, listening to the chatter of the creek and the local birds as we ate. We became tired with the dark, as humans are supposed to, and decided that an early bedtime was welcomed. Having no heat in this cabin, we snuggled together and John’s body heat did a fine job of keeping us both toasty as cubs in a den. Still, upon taking my temperature in the morning, my body heat had dropped to a cool 65.3! I don’t think I’ve ever run that cold!
Our little camping spot
By the creek
The lovely little creek
Look at how clear the water is!
Abiding
I did not bring my pee bucket this trip, so I woke John a few times during the night to relieve myself. As we stepped out, even without my glasses on, I could see the bright sliver of moon and twinkling stars above us, and some neighboring campers in a large tent were still up, talking into the night as their camp light glowed around their little cove of trees. I think we got up two or three times, and then tucked in for some real sleep. I awoke around 5:30am because of my annoying bladder, but when I nudged John to come with me, he said a flat, “No.” and turned over. I decided I’d better be brave and just go, otherwise my bladder would choose my pissing location for me. As I hovered about in the screened porch making sure no one was lurking, I noticed two large creatures lunging along the path that followed the creek. At first glance, they looked like huge, white wolves. My sleepy brain was trying to process this visual, as it seemed unlikely, but the creatures looked so dog-like to me from that angle. I squinted. Coyotes? As they approached nearer the cabin, the larger of the two halted right in front of the cabin, and the smaller one stood some yards back. They were two white deer. I’m not sure the scientific probability of seeing white deer, but to me personally, that signifies a wonderful, magical sign. The larger deer stood stock-still and our eyes met. Suddenly, the smaller deer leapt off and clambered up the impossibly steep hill of the cliffs opposite us, along with what looked like a few other brown deer. The large white deer continued looking at me; I was utterly enchanted. Suddenly, her ears pricked up, along with her bright, white tail, and she dodged fast as a bolt up the leafy bluff. What an awesome way to start a day!
Another cool, magical sign was both in my dreams and in reality. I dreamt of a great, black spider that had imprinted itself on my back, like a rune. Later, as we packed up the bedding, a black spider was beneath my pillow, and as I pulled the sheets in to fold, it scurried away beneath the mattress. Spiders are another very significant sign for me, and I was pleased to have seen it, though one never quite gets over the fear factor that having a fat, black spider so close to their head as they lay in vulnerable oblivion. We also brought home a much larger, black spider inside one of our bags, and I’m ashamed to say I panicked a little, thinking it could be a black widow and not wanting it near us or the kitties, and made John bring it outside.
After getting up and dressed, John fired up the breakfast fire, and we made all the preparations for our egg and sausage feast. We lazily enjoyed our buttery breakfast with coffee and listened to the whisper of the trees, the bubbling of the creek, and all the birds and crows who were also starting their day. I must mention the constant caw of the crows. I suppose because of all the turkey vultures and golden eagles about, the crows seem to caw relentlessly. It was so frequent that at one point I thought that I must be hallucinating! It just seemed to go on and on, and even into the (previous) evening, when crows are normally quiet, I kept hearing their constant, “Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!”
We put out our small fire, which died quickly because of the small slats of wood that made up our wood bundle, we got the car all packed up so as to be ready come check-out time. We set out on another challenging hike up the high bluffs, working up a nice sweat, before checking out and heading home. This was truly a getaway from the stress of city-life, and a celebration of our relationship that has weathered many years. This park was stunning, relaxing and a great workout! Here are a bunch more photos of this lovely visit:
Cute little nest
Winding creek
Time to consult the bones!
Fragile little fleurs
See the face in the tree?
Soaring turkey vulture
Schmoopie!
An unexpected capture :)
Creek shot
Little chippy!
Gettin' my hike on with my Hobbit stick
A typical country sighting
I adore this part of Minnesota!!
