Susan the Human

Susan the Human: Great Southwest Road Trip

The Great Southwest Road Trip Diary 2004

Go to Part 10: The End of the Grand Tour
Go to Part 9: Petrified Forest, AZ; Zuni, NM; El Morro & El Malpais Nat'l Parks, NM. 
Go to Part 8: Navajoland & Canyon de Chelly, AZ
Go to Part 7: Silverton-Durango Railroad, CO
Go to Part 6: Mesa Verde, CO
Go to Part 5: San Juan Skyway, CO
Go to Part 4: Pagosa Springs, CO
Go to Part 3: Taos, NM
Go to Part 2: Santa Fe and Las Vegas, NM
Go to Part 1: Albuquerque and Carlsbad, NM

Cleveland is a city that gets a lot of crap. Cleveland has sustained the careers of many middling comedians. I spent a week in Cleveland--last week, in fact--and though it appears much of what the comedians say is true, it is a unique and surprisingly dramatic place. At least the weather was dramatic.

As the storm raged offshore in Lake Erie, my coworker and I explored the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Christmas Story House, a late night comedy club, and tried to find the brighter side of this gritty, industrial city on the northern edge of the United States. More photos, including that infamous leggy lamp, on the flip.

A little treat as I prepare a photo essay on...wait for it...CLEVELAND! All right, I did actually find some interesting pictures in Cleveland. Just think, tune in on Sunday for the Cleveland photo essay, and then You'll never have any reason to actually go there.

Some tulips in front of my home in Minnesota, Spring 2006.

Ok, so I went on a big experiment with Joomla, which, while technically fascinating, didn't cut it. So I'm coming back to the Susan the Human blog and hopefully will start updating again. Apologies to new readers who have dropped in to find posts well in the past. There's plenty here, though, and be sure to check out the Italy pictures (see link on right to "A Week in Rome")
as well as the other past collections. Prints are available for most photos here. If not already available on my Smugmug site please send me an email and I'm happy to make the photo available on Smugmug.

I'm traveling to Minnesota's Boundary Waters in two weeks, and to Cleveland, Ohio, next week, so we'll see which one photographs better. Ok, I'm being a bit snarky. But you never know what you might find in Cleveland...as for Boundary Waters, snow, ice, trees, cozy cabins...it should be good. Check back in at the beginning of February for new pics from new adventures.

PS: graphic issues which are present in some browsers are being addressed--apologies for weirdness in the banner.

Northern Minnesota is ablaze with color at the moment, but there are spots of brilliance to be found in the greater Twin cities right no w as well. I took a walk through the local Blaine Open Space preserve, and found numerous stands of deep, luscious red.

The forest here was hit hard in the storm a couple of weeks ago that produced an F2 tornado. In addition to the tornado, which hit west of here, 70-80mph downdrafts snapped many trees in the forest. But 95% survived, and the colors are beginning to show.

Despite rumors to the contrary, I have not been eaten by a kitten. The kitten is getting bigger, but she is not yet big enough to eat me. When she gets that big, I will wrap myself in cellophane to thwart her people-eating tendencies. I have heard that this works.

This blog has been quiet for a while, though my camera has not. I have literally hundreds of pics from the drive across America (new readers: I just moved from San Francisco area to Minneapolis) and I have many lovely pics of my new state, including Itasca State Park with the beginning of fall color last weekend. I am going to reconfigure the blog a little bit in the next couple of weeks, and it will become a wildlife blog focused on observing the behavior of Minnesotans in their natural environment (this would be out in the country, or inside a restaurant consuming Hot Dish). If I can find the resources, I may tranquilize a couple of Minnesotans, attach radio collars, and track their movements, though I am told this may be illegal under some obscure legislation.

We had an F2 tornado in my new town, Blaine, yesterday. A house got ripped apart. My place was fine, but we had quite a scare. The Minnesotans appeared to have some advance knowledge of the storm, as several of them were seen busily cramming boxes of fruit into the corners of their garages to make room for their cars. It appears the Minnesotan has an aversion to hail damage. Contrast this to the Californian, who, when hail appears, says, "dude, hail!" and proceeds to stare for the duration of the downfall.

It is a clear blue sunny day here on the first full day of fall, birds chirping, squirrels rummaging, and gigantic old trees uprooted and lying askew in the road. As they say at the airport, Welcome to Minnesota.

A little ways north of the Minneapolis metro area is the modest metropolis of St. Cloud. Clearly an agriculture center, it isn't exactly a tourist mecca, but it does have a gorgeous set of gardens near the Mississippi.

The Clemens gardens sit on a hill above the river (Yes, a sizeable hill. They are few and far between up here...). It's done up English-style, meaning tons of flowers, nice symmetrical displays, and quaint fountains. It is immaculately tended, rivalling in quality, though not in size, the Butchart Gardens in Vancouver Island, BC. More after the link...

Minnesota's lakes are hidden around every corner, every cluster of trees. I found this one after getting lost somewhere in East Bethel, Anoka County, over the weekend.

PS--Comments are now working. Typekey accounts are accepted, or you can comment without as I've taken some anti-spam precautions.