4th Street Diaries, Day Zero

Jun 21, 2012 23:37

Got off to a late start by a couple of hours yesterday; fortunately the friends whose floor I was crashing on were up for a late-arriving houseguest. Made the first leg of the trip in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which I'm pretty sure is a new record. And that includes the time it took to wedge the car into a not-quite-big-enough parking space. Construction wasn't too bad, and traffic was moderate. Had a pleasant if non-verbal exchange with the car that had been using me as a pace car when I pulled off for gas at the usual stop.

Today, hit the road in the early a.m. Took side streets because the ramp from 294 to 90 was closed, and of course missed the side street I meant to take. This was actually good, because it meant I went by the Caribou Coffee I remembered up that way. Got directions from an extremely helpful parking cop, and got to the expressway fairly painlessly. Think I'll do it that way on purpose next time.

They were mowing the verges along the expressway, so my nostrils were filled with the lovely green smell of fresh-cut grass as I drove, accented with moisture or dust depending on location. Could have done with less traffic along 90, but it kept moving fairly fast.

Western WI is some beautiful terrain, but damn there's a lot of it. I love to drive, but even I was ready to be done by the time I hit the traffic jam just short of the border. Ten mile backup for a ten-foot lane closure, I swear.

The St. Paul expressway interchanges are a bit much, coming at the end of a long drive. The traffic was backed up as seems to be standard for the area regardless of time. Was very glad to see the hotel.

Walked in the door to a big hug from Janet. This is just plain the friendliest con I know of. Had dinner with a miscellaneous collection of folks in the restaurant at the old hotel; good food and conversation. Picked up minimal groceries, then came back to find that neither the fridge nor the AC in my room were producing anything like cold. Hotel sent someone up right away, and when they couldn't fix it, moved me down the hall to another room. A hassle, but they made it right right away. I'm a little bummed only because my initial room was at the very end of the hall, right by the stairs; Michael Westen would have approved. I'm consoling myself with the thought that the new room is equidistant between two sets of stairs, which gives an operative options in a pinch. ;-)

The story-circle is still ongoing as I type this. Cool idea, seemed to be going well, but I've had a day and a half's worth of sleep over the past three days, and I'm dead. Gonna sleep now, in whichever of the two queen beds I have all to myself I see fit.

cons, 4th street

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