Afterglow RFT VI: Styx - Halloween in Bemidji

 

I was talking with Mike & Katie for many weeks before embarking on this journey, so I knew that I would be up here on Halloween. Because of that, I made sure to pack a costume. But since I'm not that creative when it comes to dressing up, I recycled one of my old costumes - The Kool-Aid Man. Reese dressed as Cleopatra, Mason was Darth Vader, Erin was a Football and Mike was a nerd. We roamed around the neighborhood and I even got some candy from a woman who thanked me for dressing up. But the best treat of all came from a guy at one of the last houses we stopped at. After he gave the kids some candy, he told me to wait because he had something special for me. I thought he was going to give me a beer but he came back with a plate of smoked salmon. Thank you... I guess? But I did "steal" some of the kids' candy. Kool-Aid Man gets, what Kool-Aid Man wants.

 

After helping my Dad put all of his Earthly belongings into a storage unit, my journey took me further North to the Land of the Sky Blue Waters. In case you aren't familiar with Hamm's Beer, that is a Minnesota reference (even though Hamm's is now brewed by MillerCoors in Milwaukee, it was founded in St. Paul). One of my best friends in the entire World Mike Bates lives waaaaaaaay up in Bemidji with his wife Katie and their 3 children Reese, Mason and Erin. I've known Mike and Katie since High School, watched their children grow up and I officially became part of the family when I was named Mason's Godfather. So when Erin was born on September 29th, I knew I had to meet the newest member of the family. And so would begin my week in Bemidji with the Bates Family.

 

Home

 

The Bates Family has a annual membership to the Headwaters Science Center, so we went there to spend a couple of hours. Since it was Halloween, the kids wore their costumes and Trick 'R Treated in this learning place. There were all sorts of animal displays, scientific experiments and hands-on exhibits and I was having just as much fun as the kids were (who are under 10 years old). What does that say about me? They had this thing with a green screen where it flashed your shadow on the wall, some tubes to play music and an echo chamber where I could shout out "HELLO WASHINGTON!!!" to nobody on the other end. I love Science. And goofing off like a child.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This contraption was blowing bubbles just like James Cameron's special effects in The Abyss and I was trying to understand how this was possible. I could have stayed here for many more hours lost in the wonderment of the scientific World, but Mike & Katie told the kids (and me) that it was time to go home, wash up, eat some dinner and behave ourselves. I would have kicked & screamed as they dragged me out of there, but the promise was a pizza from  Papa Murphy's and some nighttime Trick 'R Treating around the neighborhood. Free eats is enough for me to run to the car and buckle up, but I don't know why Reese and Mason did it. They haven't faced a reality of paying your own way, so every day consisted of free eats. Someday they will know what it feels like. But not today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it was a Monday night, Mike and I decided to head out to the bar to grab a few drinks. We figured since it was a holiday and we were wearing costumes, we might as well make the most of it. At the local Bemidji bar, it was buy-one-get-one-free, so for me it was Whiskey & Whatevers for days. It was a school night, but I wasn't working tomorrow. And neither was Mike. So what the hell - why not?