A Weekend in Minnesota

Damn, for fun! And I deserved it.

As it turns out, my future father-in-law scored some tickets to see the Twins-Yankees match-ups at the Dome. My future brother-in-law was going to play an American Legion game on Sunday some time after the afternoon game (yes, on the field itself!), so we all headed up there for a wonderful weekend.

We shacked up in Bloomington, just a stones throw away from the Mall of America. I did all of the driving, since I pretty much know the 'burbs like the back of my hand. We couldn't sit still for long -- then drove to Minneapolis.

Man, I love I-35W. A lot of folks hate it because of the congestion -- I mean, who doesn't? -- but once you get going and you're flying along with merging traffic, woo! what a rush! I even freaked out my father-in-law, who was grabbing for the door handles along our way to downtown Minneapolis.

On Saturday night, the Twins took an early 3-0 lead over the Yanks off a Jacque Jones 3-run home run. The Twins didn't hold the lead for long though, as they dropped the game 4-3 in 10 innings.

Sunday was the highlight. We only managed to get 2 hours of shopping in at the Mall of America since we were in such a rush (and stores didn't open until 11:00 a.m. on Sundays). The Twins killed the Yanks 9-3 during the afternoon game, then found out that the Legion game didn't take place until 9:00 at night. We didn't have a lot of time to do whatever we wanted, since the team needed to be back by 7:00 p.m. But it was well worth it -- the Legion game was between heated rivals -- and my brother-in-laws team won 5-4 in 9 innings (Legion games are usually 7). Nobody jacked one out -- but I bet my brother-in-law, the lefty, that if he hit it over the "Baggie" in right-field (327 down the line, with a 23-foot wall), I'd give him 50 bucks. But he struck out twice.

We left early Monday morning from Bloomington. Then came my pissed-off moment of the trip. We were making excellent time until we stopped at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Marshall since my father-in-law needed some drugs for his sinus headache. Since it's a new area around there, there were road construction crews working to put in new curb and gutters. To turn right back on Hwy. 59 to reach Hwy. 23, a set of cones lined up along the area where a new curb was going to be. Confusing to say the least, I drove in-between the cones and the dug-up area. There were two vehicles in front of me who drove through that area before I got through there -- it looked like a lane for vehicles turning right! But the second I got through there -- apparently I get an ear-full. It was muffled enough since the windows were rolled up, but I said:

"Were they talking shit?"

My father-in-law started to laugh. "I think they were!"

Damn, was I mad. The road construction guys placed the cones in a confusing matter -- let a couple of vehicles go in front of me but I get the brunt of their abuse. I felt like turning around and giving them the ol' Death Race 2000.

We got back to Mad-Town around 1:00 p.m., then immediately I was hit up with wedding chores to complete. I wasn't the happiest camper in the world, since I was dead-ass tired from the driving and I had to work at 3:00 p.m. But all-in-all, I was back in Minnesota, watching the Twins, and ripping it up on I-35W.