"Color is my daylong obsession, joy and torment"

“Enjoy memories, yes, but don't be a slave to who you wish you once had been.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

I mentioned last time how busy my August was, which has killed some of my momentum in writing this newsletter. Still, onward we march.

One of the bigger events of our August was a trip to Minneapolis. We picked it because it’s known for its bikeability, food, the state fair, the food at the state fair, and a soccer game!

We had a great time! A decision to stay downtown meant we didn’t witness a lot of night life(but with a 3 year old who has time for that anyway) but it made transit much easier. The public transit system was pretty flawless for our needs. The ability to get almost everywhere we needed to go with rarely a transfer made our choice of stay definitely worth it.

One day we decided to rent bikes so we could experience all the cities biking offerings. I was impressed with a lot of the trails running through the city and the designated bike only paths to separate them from walker/joggers. My main complain with the city was when you were transiting down a road and it would transition to a path, protected bike lane, or sometimes just a regular bike lane - the signage was often confusing or totally lacking. Several times we were in one form of lane and when it disappeared we were struggling to decide what to do when we would notice the lane would continue in a totally different side of the street. Very minor complaint though and I have no doubt that it is mostly chalked up to not being used to the cities infrastructure. I saw a fair amount of other cyclists on the road but never large groups. We weren’t traversing major commute routes from offices so it’s possible we just missed them. I hope the people living there know what a gem this bike infrastructure is, it makes getting around town such a joy.

The fair was an intense topic in itself. We ate several items and waited in long lines for many different foods. Donuts, cheese curds, pizza rolls, and a variety of drinks. My feet were tired from all the standing but the food was fun to seek out. Having a screaming kid made this a little distractable process sadly, but if you’re in the area late August I would highly recommend checking it out.

Lastly the soccer game! People who know me may remember I was a season ticket holder to the Portland MLS team the Timbers for close to 10 years before letting my tickets go. It’s just to hard to find the time to go to enough games to make the hassle worth it. Maybe again someday, but not in this season of life. I still love going to games enough, that getting to see the Timbers play at Allianz Field was a definite must for this trip. I hadn’t been keeping up with the Timbers players much lately but was impressed with their quality of play. It’s also always interesting to see other stadiums and arenas, but it mostly just reinforced how much I love seeing the Timbers play at home in Providence Park.

Kind of a long one this week but if you made it this far then

Thanks for reading!