Update: It's still cold

It's still cold in Hopkins. 14 degrees right now that feels like 4. Cool. Cold. I'm still holed up in the Pine Cone Cottage coffee shop, but it's almost time to make a run for it.

Live from Minnesota: Planes, Trains, and Buses Part 4

(continued from previous posts) ... After standing under the "bus stop" for about 10 minutes a bus pulled up. The driver was right! Thank God he'd said something to me or I'd have been screwed...

Wait a minute....

It was the same bus and driver again.

He told me to climb aboard, he was going to take me to where I needed to go. I wanted to confirm that we both had the same final destination in mind. I showed him the address of the Holiday Inn. He didn't know where that was. He pulled out his map, I pulled out my map. He said he once saw a hotel "here" and "here" he pointed out. I asked if either was a Holiday Inn, he said maybe. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I kept asking which bus stop would connect me with a bus that went "here". Eventually he/we decided that I needed to be back at the stop I was originally at. I stepped off the bus and headed back.

Upon returning to the stop there was about a dozen people from Opportunity Partners waiting around. That must mean a bus was coming soon. Yes.

Eventually a bus did come, in fact two of them. Neither were the route I wanted. All the other people boarded one of the buses. About 20 minutes passed and finally another bus stopped. It was labeled "12C" I needed 12. The bus driver asked if I was waiting for the bus. "Yes" I replied. "Then get on, this is the bus for you." Having heard this before (although being able to understand it much more clearly now) I was skeptical. I told her I needed the 12. She said this was and she just hadn't changed her display yet. Whew. That was close.

I boarded the bus and waited about 10 minutes while she had her cigarette break. Then we were off. I knew my ride would be short (<10 minutes according to my planner) so I was alert to when my stop might come up. For some reason this driver wasn't calling out the stops. That's fine, I figured I could spot a Holiday Inn from a mile away.

Of course, I was wrong. We went by several other hotels that gave me false alarms before I finally actually missed my stop. The hotel had a large script "H" on it. I knew for a fact that a Hilton was in the area. I also know that Hyatt exists. Large script "H" does not equal Holiday Inn to me. Maybe it should. As we were going past my hotel I recognized the address on the side "10985", which I'd committed to memory at this point.

"What stop was that?" I asked.
"What do you mean stop?" replied the driver.
"What stop was that?" I was dumbfounded as to how rephrase the question. Buses stop at things called bus stops. The stops are named so that you can know where you are going. Otherwise everyone would get on and say "take me to the bus stop" and then someone's head would explode and the earth would cease to exist as we know it. This almost happened that day.

"This is Red Circle Drive, but that's the road not the stop." The driver said.
"OK, I think that was my stop back there, let me off at the next place you can stop."
"The next stop is around the corner a ways down." She said.
"Just let me off here please." I pleaded as she kept driving.

I exited the bus 1/2 mile downhill of where I needed to be.

What Hillary Clinton Will Be Doing in a Few Weeks

Here's a preview of Clinton's job once she finally realizes the American people don't want her to be the next president.

Hillary's is a gift shop here in Hopkins I noticed as I was walking around. I didn't bother to go inside, since I figured it was just "more of the same."

Live from Minnesota: Planes, Trains, and Buses Part 1

Arriving in the twin cities at about 12:30pm (central time) on Wednesday, I knew I had an adventure waiting for me. I'd decided to forgo a $35 taxi from the airport to my hotel and take mass transit instead. From their site, Minneapolis appears to have a great mass transit system. Indeed, they do, the problem was that my hotel, the airport and the route of the buses form a triangle--not the most efficient shape.

My trip began on the Hiawatha Route 55 light rail system. This part was awesome. Really fast, smooth, and clearly announced station stops (more on that later). The train took me from the airport to downtown Minneapolis. Getting off the train I made about three circles in place to get my bearings. It was no use. Without mountains to guide me I was lost in finding directions (digital compasses on cell phones should be the next big thing).

Thanks to the magic of Google maps Streetview you can see exactly what I saw here. Once there click on the steetview of the location and spin around in place. You'll see a train parked and farther left of that the bus stops.

I wandered across the street to a bus stop which I presumed to be the one I wanted. Then I spotted a bus stop across the street. Which one did I need?

I asked a passerby / street person (he lingered in the area for most of my duration there). He had no idea which routes ran on which sides. Don't do drugs kids.

After about 15 minutes (did I mention the high was 8 degrees on Wednesday?) of waiting a man passed by and asked me if I knew which bus just passed by. Of course I knew (the #6) since I'd been watching the buses like a hawk waiting for mine to pass me by on the other side of the street (and also secretly hoping that would happen so I had an excuse to call a cab). So I asked this man which side the 12C ran on. He said the other side. I went to the other side and boarded the 12C about 15 minutes later. And that's when things got interesting...

Live from Minnesota

This is the first of my "live from Minnesota" series. I've decided to tell everyone how my trip is going as it is happening, so here you go. Here's what I'm having for lunch at Camille's Cafe in Hopkins, MN. It's the California Chicken Panini and it's pretty good. What's that in the background, why that's a Blueberry Cozumel smoothie and 7th street in Hopkins. For those of you following along at home, here's where I am in the world. As soon as I finish my lunch I'll dive into my 3 hour bus ride from the airport to my hotel. I'll give you a hint: it was cold.