Minnesota

Back in the middle of June I made a trip to Minnesota with Jim. There were several great moments on the trip, but I will just cover two of the events in this entry.

The first is a tale of when I went to see Super 8 with Jill. Since I’m slightly too lazy to re-write this small adventure, I’m just going to copy and paste from an email I sent Jen.

On Saturday, Jill and I went to see Super 8 at the Mall of America Theater. Why the Mall of America Theater? Because it was the closest theater to Eagan that Jill knew about.

As I was buying the tickets for the show, the woman at the box office asked me if I wanted the “Dbox seats”. I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but there was a sign on the box office that said something about VIP seats and that got you access to beer and wine. I assumed that is what “Dbox seats” were and we didn’t need access to beer and wine. So I told her that regular seats were fine.

The tickets were 6 bucks a piece, which I though was cheap considering that the last time we went to a movie, it was $10 a piece. But, I figured that maybe we got matinee prices since it was a Saturday and it was somewhat in the afternoon.

We were nearly late to the theater as the line for the concession stand was slow moving and going to the movie was kind of a late decision based on the fact that it was raining. So when we got to the theater most of the good seats were already taken. However, there were a couple of seats available in the back row. So we sat in the back row.

We hadn’t been situated for more than a few seconds when an usher approached us and asked to see our tickets. I handed them over and she said, “It would cost you an extra 8 bucks to sit there. You can sit in the blue seats.”

It was then that I noticed that we were sitting in a red seat. The last 8 rows of the theater were all red seats.

Most of the blue seats that were in the middle of the theater that weren’t smashed up against the screen were taken, so we took some side seat and watched the movie from a weird angle.

So here is the object lesson from this story. I will not be going to a movie at the Mall of America Theater again. A theater that has 1st and 2nd class seats.

The second event was going to Target Field to watch the Padres play. It was the first time I’ve ever seen the Padres play, so that was exciting. Here are some pictures from the trip.


Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Target Field

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Bethany & Becca negotiating for a beer. Bethany was turned down because one of Minnesota’s Mickey Mouse Laws.

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
The coolest thing in Target Field

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Target Field

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
More Target Field

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Nate and Jim

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
If you look closely, you can see Nate, Becca, and Bethany in this picture. They are in the 2nd row from the top.

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Another view of Target Field

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
If you look closely… Clue: Nate is wearing a yellow hat.

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Venable

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Maybin

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Denorfia

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Maybin Again

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Meeting on the Mound

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
End of the Day for Moseley

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Outfield Meeting

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Adams

Twins vs. Padres - 2011
Some Twin

Next Wednesday’s random photo collection will be from my fence building project.

RWPE Y2 #29 – FRAMING

Only 2 pictures this week:


WEEK 29 - FRAMING - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT>
Christopher Bennett

WEEK 29 - FRAMING - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

Next week’s theme:

NIGHT

That is a new theme for this year. Night photography can be the most difficult and most rewarding kind of photography. So get out at night and bring a tripod, or at least find a way to stabilize your camera. It also wouldn’t hurt to use your camera’s timer. Hopefully we get a few submissions for this interesting category.

Kalona Road Trip

A few weeks back I went on a road trip with Sara, Cousin Amy, and the Funk to have lunch at an Amish woman’s house in Kalona. The trip was set up by the Funk who has ties to the Amish community in Kalona as she is formerly Amish.

I’ve really only known the Funk for a few months now, but she is truly one of the most fascinating human beings I’ve ever met. Not just because she is formerly Amish, but I can’t lie, that part fascinates me.

I really find the Amish community to be fascinating and to have somebody to ask question after question after question after question to is really cool for me.

The pictures of the Amish woman’s (Ruby Miller) house are being held back for Personal Photo Project #77, but here are a sampling of the other pictures we took on this incredible day.

Disclaimer: I go to Kalona about once or twice a year with my Mom. I never photograph the Amish while I’m there because I know that it is not something that they would enjoy (clearly not the right word). But on this trip I did take a couple of pictures of some Amish at the urging of the Funk. One of the pictures I took was of an Amish volleyball tournament. I really wish I would have been able to stop the car and enter the tournament. I have a history of dominating religious tournaments. A Pentecostal volleyball tournament here and a Mormon basketball tournament there. However, Amish volleyball tournament was not to be added to my list of life experiences.


Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Cheese from the Kalona Dairy

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Kalona Dairy

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Kalona Dairy

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Picture for The Story Project

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Flower for Sale at the Bakery

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
The Funk in the Community Store

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
The Funk in the Community Store

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Clematis

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal
Good Grass Fed Beef

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Mealpg”>
Sara in Stringtown

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Another bonus of this trip was taking Sara to Sister’s Garden. I’ve always kind of viewed it as Sara’s mothership even though she had never been there before. Now that has been remedied.

Next week’s Wednesday random picture collection will be from a baseball game I attended in Minnesota.