Can this really be Minneapolis/St Paul?

After our adventures in Cleveland and the discovery of so many interesting neighborhoods and great food, we decided to explore Minneapolis/St Paul and see what we could find. What a surprise! When I moved from MSP MANY years ago, the city was just beginning to see a few Indian and Vietnamese restaurant opening. Today, everything is available.

With one of the largest Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Cambodian populations in the United States, we discovered the Hmong Market (Located across from some recreation fields on 217 Como Ave).

We drove into the packed parking lot and found a huge market with vendors selling everything from Hmong music and videos to traditional handicrafts to Western clothing, as well as a large indoor / outdoor farmer's market type place. The food court is located in the back of one of the buildings, and home to about seven or eight different vendors with names like "Thai Thai Daily", "Asian Special Drink", and "Mr. Papaya Kitchen.

"Papaya Salad"

We decided to try the Laotian “Papaya Salad”…a mysterious mixture of garlic, papaya and “special sauce” (made of things like shrimp paste, crab paste and fish sauce). It was brown and smelled awful and tasted even worse…a bit like eating a salad made with gritty mud.

We washed down the salad at The Finnish Bistro, the creation of Soile Anderson who moved to the States from Finland 25 years ago.

The "Finnish Bistro"

While most of the “Finnish Bistro” isn’t really Finnish, they did have “Pulla” – a wonderful light, mildly sweet bun made with cardamom.

Finnish "Pulla"

We made our way through Como Park and from St Paul to NE Minneapolis (“NordEast”). Years ago, Nordeast was a tired neighborhood, primarily Eastern European. Kramarczuk's Sausage and the nearby Surdyk's liquor store were the only major attractions. Today Surdyk's has moved from a storefront to their own giant building, the neighborhood has been almost completely rebuilt (the old IGA and strip mall are now a Whole Foods, etc). It’s definitely been gentrified. But Kramarczuk Sausage Co is still alive and well, dishing all sausages and all varieties of eastern European food.

Kramarczuk's

Kramarczuk's takes up two storefronts: on the right side is the actual butcher shop/grocery, filled with several refrigerated cases absolutely stuffed with every kind of sausage known to man.

The other half of the store is a cafeteria-style serving line, where you grab your tray, select your meal from amongst the various sausages, sandwiches, borscht, verenky, hams, and other specials. (Note- we ordered lots of sausage to take home….not so good. We ended up giving it to the campground owners. Must be an acquired taste).

We continued on Central Avenue and found “Little India”, a slice of the Mideast with Middle East restaurants and markets. We even found an Afghani Pizza place. The Crescent Moon is famous for its football-shaped Afghani pizzas topped with a spicy, gyros-tasting ground-beef filling and served with a cilantro sauce.

The Cresent Moon Afghani Restaurant
We ended the day at Psycho Suzi's, “the den of all things vintage-groovy”. Where else can you get a drink served in a ceramic coconut, parrot, or pirate's head, complete with paper umbrella—with your dog—while sitting on the patio under a thatch umbrella?

Psycho Suzi's Porch
I’ll never look at MSP the same again….


Couldn't leave MSP without a "Girls Lunch"...Jane, Kathy and me in White Bear Lake!

Selling the Lake House

Finally in Minneapolis and yes, we are exhausted. We got in last week, took one day to get set up and prepare mentally for the trip to the lake. We drove up on Friday and immediately were put to work... We had our first showing that afternoon and probably would have the house sold--except the couple needs to sell their existing lake house. Their cabin is on the "other side" of the lake--we call it the "mountain goat" side. Mom has probably the best lot on the lake--level all the way to the water with gorgeous views of the lake from the house. This couple is on the highway--and have a huge drop to the water (one of the houses has installed a tram to get up and down the 'cliff'. They also can only see the lake through a break in the pine trees--the houses on this side of the lake are forbidden from cutting down any of the trees. The guy was absolutely wild about my mom's place-had all sorts of ideas of what he'd do (and gave us some good ideas for us to use).

The next day we started with a drive around the lake --John drove, my Mom directed and I was the "jumper"--jumping in and out of the car putting flyers on mailboxes and front doors. Fortunately it wasn't blisteringly hot so the only nuisance I had to deal with was the huge hungry mosquitoes. We finished up and headed back--John got to take the push mower to the shore and cut down the overgrowth (he was not a happy camper!--it was hot and humid and he was trying to mow on sand!). My list was mostly painting and caulking. I had all of the heat registers to prime and paint and in the shower, I had to dig out the old caulk and recaulk. What an awful job--John did get me some amazing 3M stuff that you put on and let sit for 2 hours. It made it so easy to just pull the old stuff off. Re-applying was a mess. I made a real mess of it and sent John back to the hardware store for a "tube" of caulk--more like spreading toothpaste from a tube. In the process of cleaning the shower in preparation for the new caulk, I made the mistake of putting some cleaner on the tile outside the shower--and realized that it would look much better if I did a serious grout cleaning. (Why oh why do I have this grout fetish....I absolutely hate dirty grout.) So, my simple caulking project turned into an afternoon on my hands and knees with toxic cleaners, awful fumes and a scrub brush. I have to admit- it looks like a whole new bathroom but I am still so sore from hours on my hands and knees.

Is there ever a time with no Motorhome maintenance?

It's another day in paradise....NOT!!!! We left Cleveland on Sunday planning a one day stop in Elkhart, Indiana to get a few minor things fixed. It was only a 4 1/2 hour drive, but it seemed forever. Guess it's just being rusty after our 2 month stint in Cleveland. The first day on the road after a long stay is so difficult. The hours drag by and, of course, with a destination of Elkhart, there wasn't really much to look forward to. We arrived just before a huge rainstorm--by minutes--and John came in to hold the dog while I put the slides out. Well, I was chatting and not paying attention--and forgot that I had stuffed one of our fabric wine bags into the slider lock arm (it had been making horrible creaking noises--so this seemed to muffle the irritating sounds while we were driving). As I looked up and yelled, "F(&*", I saw the wine bag being sucked into the slider lock arm. I raced to stop it, but it was stuck and the slide arm wouldn't budge. The good news--we were at a repair facility--but we still don't have any idea of how much this little boo-boo is going to cost. So, it's now Tuesday and we were supposed to be on the road to Minneapolis---but after getting the slide arms un-budged, the new transfer switch put in, new sensors on the tanks, our headlights "polished", we made the mistake of talking to the techs and they were talking about the seals on the roof of the coach...and of course, we asked them to take a look at ours. Wouldn't you know, they found a broken antenna, cracks in the A/C covers and seals needing attending. So, we're here for another day in lovely Elkhart.

Probiotics and Wine don’t mix

Our neighbors across the way-- two women with a 45 foot motorhome came over for cocktails. We had helped them back into their site and John has been getting them a Wall Street Journal every morning when he picks up my newspapers. They were a really interesting couple--both ex-teachers- they left academia -Kathy became an investment counselor (and from the sounds of it, decided at that point to get divorced and try the "other side"). Paula was one of her clients. They got together and started doing "network marketing"....from the sounds of it, it's a bit like doing small "Avon" or "Mary Kay" businesses. They done a number of them and obviously have done quite well. Their new venture is with probiotics chocolate. (They brought some over last night- and I'm blaming my current hungover state on the chocolates--not the over consumption of wine with no dinner!...it's been so long since I've felt so bad....must be a reaction to the probiotics. They were really good--and there's a few left. I'm dying to try them, but afraid of the reaction). Their web site -"successbychocolate.com. We got the whole pitch--supposedly good for blood pressure, diabetics....

Feeling like death warmed over, I still managed to get to my 11 AM haircut with Serena. Cute little thing who convinced me to take a few inches off--can't believe how short my hair is- she just kept cutting and cutting! I guess it's a good length for this hot weather---and as John said, "You're only 8 weeks from a good haircut". Oh well.....John just got his hair cut, mine is short now- and Chloe's turn is tomorrow....

We met the Homan’s on Friday at the Garage Bar on the West Side. What a great place—dog friendly, good food and cheap drinks!

Check out the drink menu!

Cruising Lake Erie

John decided to call Dan, an old high school friend, out of the blue--they haven't seen each other in 40 years! Dan was 2 years older and quite an entrepreneur --even in high school. He started the tree service that John worked for in high school and college. John was a "climber". Well, I think the last time he saw Dan was at his wedding to Marg. Dan went from high school entrepreneur to a hugely successful business career...owns and runs about 20 companies and is still going strong in his business ventures to this day. He suggested we meet at the "Sunset Grill" on the shores of Lake Erie on a little island called "Whiskey Island". Turns out that he used to own the island- and donated it to the county for a park. It was a very hot Cleveland summer day and when we arrived, Dan tells us that we're going out on his boat for dinner. We got some wine and cheese and took off to see the Tall Ships. It was a lovely way to see the ships--and the Cleveland skyline.

They were a charming couple. They aren't your typical Americans --very well traveled-- they've been all over the world. Every two years, he takes a motorcycle trip--the last one was a trip from Xian, China to Istanbul. (We checked out the tour company coordinating these trips--a mere $30,000 -but, as John reminded me, it does include transporting your motorcycle to China and back from Istanbul. I told him not to get any ideas...there's no way I'm being a motormaid on a 3 month motorcycle trip!). Dan's next trip is from Cairo to Cape Town! Marg joins him--in the city of her choice-but not for the entire trip. Smart woman.

It's been a fun stay here in Cleveland--only a week left before we head off. We have to make a stop in Indiana --the wires on our transfer switch started smoking again. Fortunately, John had put a smoke detector in the compartment and heard it chirping. When he went to check it out, he found the wires starting to smoke- a short developed because one of the contacts came loose. John was able to get it fixed-thank goodness--the temps here have been in the 90's and humid and it was a long hot afternoon waiting for him to get it fixed. The short did damage the box --so the company is sending us a new one and we're going to have it replaced at a repair place in Indiana.