Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving and Hanukkah

Today, Thanksgiving Day and the first day of Hanukkah, we spent part of the morning driving and walking around St. Paul and Minneapolis. First stop was taking a look at the deserted capital building before searching for the first geocache of the day. Call us wimps but we just aren't used to the wind and retreated back to the rental car with frozen hands. We then headed west towards the Mississippi River to look at some of the mansions along the way and along the bluffs overlooking the river.

I was surprised to see that the river was not quite frozen over. There was quite a bit of open water and the river is a lot wider than I remember from previous visits. We did look for and find a couple of caches along this stretch. There still isn't any snow, which is also surprising considering the temperature. Again, the wind makes it feel much colder than in Fairbanks. Personally, I'll take the cold over the wind.

Here is something I don't see back home. I believe that these are oak leaves of some sort. Lots of fallen leaves on the trails made for treacherous climbing up and down the trails. The old mansions along the river eventually started to look more like ranch houses though I suspect that they are still pretty pricey just from their location. Chris had suggested going along the bluffs to see some of these older homes and I wish we could've walked along the path longer but it was cold and breezy.

We stopped at the Ford Dam and lock, again to look for another geocache but I had also wanted to see the falls. I do remember seeing these falls from the other side of the river back in the late 60s during a family vacation and being impressed by them. There wasn't any ship traffic so no interesting photos of the lock in use.

Below the dam, you can see the ice starting to reform after getting broken up by the dam. I the background is the lock. Bridget's son, Reuben, is coming by at 2:00pm and we were going to have Thanksgiving dinner here at the hotel. That is all that they are serving this afternoon.

The next time Hanukkahah and Thanksgiving land on the same day is 80,000 years from now which has earned today the nickname "Thanksgivukkah". For those celebrating either, I wish you the best. And for those not celebrating either, I still wish you a great day.

11 comments:

  1. Richard:

    I can feel the cold just by reading your words and looking at those photos. It's hard to think that it is colder there than back home

    Happy Thanksgiving to you too

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. The combination of wind and humidity really makes it feel colder. The wind blows right through the stocking cap the keeps my head toasty warm in Fairbanks.

      And being surrounded by water doesn't help.

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  2. There is something profoundly perverse in an Alaskan taking a winter vacation in a place colder than home.
    Nice banner picture by the way.

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    1. I guess I must fit the description. Truly weird would be a vacation to Antarctica, which, by the way, would be totally unbelievable. MN is not Antarctica or Greenland but still a nice area. Nicer at this time of the year than the summer.

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  3. Brrr, just thinking of the wind makes me cold.

    I would agree that wind chill is the worst. We have been lucky when our temperatures have dropped into the 20's that there hasn't been any wind. Of course air stagnation is a result of that.

    I am glad you are enjoying your visit and a happy belated Thanksgiving to you.

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    1. Thank you! I enjoy visiting places and St. Paul would classify as new. Recently, I've only been around the University of MN the last time I was here.

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  4. We celebrated both and enjoyed it! Latkes and turkey.

    It is amazing what the windchill will do isn't it. Cold is cold, but cold with wind . . .

    I, too, love the banner photo.
    ~k

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    1. Hmmm. latkes! I forgot all about those. I'll have to make some when I get home.

      Cold + wind + humidity = MN weather...

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