lucky sweet detour

This post should be from Saturday. I wasn't in the mood on Saturday to get it done, so it wasn't.

I took Castillo's to the airport this morning and then had a day of 'adventures' planned detouring my way home. I was going to stop at the conservatory and take pictures of flowers, then go to Michael's and buy my missing embroidery floss, and finally jog through Stillwater to get salt water taffy.
The conservatory opens at 10 AM and it was busy by quarter after nine.













The flower pictures that I did take were relatively not-so-good. The light was too bright - a lot of feedback.
I did get to see a duck sitting on a lily pad, which I thought was pretty neat.

I found Michael's after much round-about through the neighborhoods. On the way to Stillwater (at least I told myself I was on the way) I stopped at one of those 'scenic view' stops. It reminded me of a set-up for unsolved mysteries and some place that someone was last seen. I didn't stay and enjoy this view very long - it didn't take long to absorb anyway.
The trip to Stillwater seemed straight forward until my road closed. Since I didn't really know how I was going to where I was going, detouring wasn't straight forward. (Many folks are aware that navigating the cities is not my forte - I have learned that 35W and 35E are different roads - this has saved some back-tracking.) I ended up lost in Woodbury/Maplewood/Lake Elmo for a bit - thankfully in that order. Upon arriving in Stillwater it was hard not to notice that everyone else had too. I still haven't adjusted to how crowded the Midwest is. One of the first times driving on I25 with friends, we merged onto the freeway and I asked Laura - 'Where's everyone going?' (I figured there must be some big sports event at 'the Pit' (or its equivalent). She thought I was kidding and then told me it was normal. Getting my taffy in Stillwater reminded me of going to Universal Studios - only there were more people in Stillwater. I did get my taffy and I have since decided that it was worth the trip.
I was then thinking that there are many things that the process seems so difficult and the outcome so sweet. From this thought I jumped to comparing the acquisition of my pound and a half of salt water taffy to child birth and become quite certain that I had taken the whole thing too far.
Saturday July 7, 2007 was a lucky day I guess - but I'll take the trips up the river on either side of it any day. (This is not in any way in reference to Trevor's Birthday which was also Saturday - I'm sure that he and his family had a much more worthwhile day than I did since children are worth so much more than taffy.)
This summer should be the fourth summer that I head off on an adventure by myself. (Someday someone will perhaps come with me, but for now they have been by-myself-adventures.) The first summer was Phantom of the Opera, the second Apostle Islands kayaking, the third was London. I realize I can't 'top' London, but it is not a matter of 'topping' anything - it's just a matter of going - and I don't know where. (The reason that Tanzania and Virginia didn't count is because there was someone there to meet me when I got there - that sterilizes the adventurous part of the adventure.)