Brewers vs. Twins in MN 2010

I can't often make a guarantee that I can back up 100%, but at the moment I took this picture, I'd be willing to bet my life savings on the fact that I was the only person in Bemidji (population 13,419) that was wearing a sombrero. If that's not the Revolution, I don't know what is.

Reese is a little ball of energy. But then again so are most kids when they are 2 years old. I don't think I could ever cut it as a parent because I wouldn't be able to keep up with them. I'd probably just try to distract them, like when I told Reese to go look for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the sewer. The best part is that they listen.

Katie works as a vet in Bemidji (which is about 28 miles from their home in Blackduck) and Mike took the day off of work so he could pick me up. Since he was off work, he could look after their daughter Reese. We had to wait for Katie to get off work, so we went to play on the playground. We had a fantastic time. Kids are a lot of fun.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox are characters of mythology. Everyone is familiar with their tall tale, but since they didn't actually exist there are a lot of cities that claim to be the birthplace of this unlikely pair. Bemidji is one of these cities and it boasts 2 large statues of them on the shore of Lake Bemidji. These statues do not do the "real" Paul and Babe justice but they are still a pretty cool thing for a small town to have. Personally I think that Paul stole his outfit from Spiderman and Babe looks a little retarded, but it is still awesome that they have something like this.

I knew that the "real" Babe had to be bigger than the statue version because I was able to reach up and pick the nose of this one. If Babe was as big as stories tell him to be, he would have dwarfed me so much more than this plaster one did. Even though I criticize the scale of these models, they still tower over mere mortal humans such as Mike, myself and Reese. These statues are among the most photographed in the USA, let alone Bemidji, which is why we were easily able to find some people to take this picture.

The closest airport to Mike and Katie's home in Blackduck is the city of Bemidji. I had to change planes in Minneapolis and had a little bit of a layover, but I didn't mind because I had my sombrero and time to grab a beer. There's nothing wrong with rocking a sombrero or grabbing an airport beer, no matter what they say.

I certainly got a lot of stares and questionable looks from the rest of the people traveling through the Minneapolis airport that day, but that would be no different that any other day of my life. In fact I've gotten quite used to it and I enjoy being the center of attention.

I have been going up to Minnesota to visit Mike Bates (who went to University up there) since we were freshmen in college. We continued to go up there after he graduated and moved back to Milwaukee. But now he lives in Blackduck, MN so I decided to head up there to see him. And as always, I said goodbye to Coach Gordon Bombay.