Wicked Half Marathon, Salem, MN ~ Massachusetts is off the map!  State #32 is done. Only 18 to go! They offered an early start so I jumped at the chance to start 30 minutes before Eric and Phil.

The course was mostly an out-and-back with loops at both ends. It was also wickedly hilly!  The most scenic part was running the causeway (Ocean Ave.) to Marblehead Island. The day before when we drove the course the waves were crashing over the wall. The waves were not as violent on race day.

Phil caught me just before mile 7. Eric didn't catch me until mile 10. The last 3 miles were rough but I finished ahead of my goal time!

We went to Hermann Fest yesterday with our New Ulm family. It was fun as always with the cannons and municipal band and then fireworks later.

State Fair Round 1

I met Eric at Southwest Station after work on Friday for our first trip to the 2024 MN State Fair. When we showed up to the fair there were lines and lines of people leaving. We were in a very long line to get in. It was a busy day and I was pretty sure it was record breaking (it was...225K!) Look at the crowd at 6pm!

We made our usually first stop at Roasted Corn for me.

The next stop was Hamline Church Dining Hall for the Chicken Dinner. Sadly they were out of mashed potatoes. :(

A quick stop at the U of M building to see the one lonely trophy, Floyd of Rosedale. Good thing we beat Iowa last year otherwise we would have no trophies. :( 

We ventured around the creative arts building, education building, the farm building (with the beautiful sunflowers) and eventually got to the Sky Glider ride. We waited 45 minutes to ride it but I love this thing so we had to do it. 

State Fair Round 2

Sunday morning DJ, Eric and I met Allista and Bailey very early at Burnsville Transit station for our bus trip to round 2 of the State Fair. We got to the fair by 8:30 and the crowds were not too bad. We started off with Sweet Martha's Cookies and All You Can Drink Milk for $3.

We watched the horse speed show (barrels and poles) in the Arena and walked through the various animal barns. Checking out the largest boar (he wasn't that big this year), some sheep, an attention seeking goat and some piggies. We also took them into Miracle of Life so they can see all the babies.

We watched the Stunt Dog Show and the Lumberjack show and then checked out the old tractors. 

I made Allista and Bailey ride the Sky Glider. I told them all about the bras and panties on the building. The ride proved what I had suspected, another busy day. 

The crowds got the best of us and we left at 3pm.  I was right...another record breaking day...265K

State Fair Round 3

We relaxed at home for a couple hours and Eric said he really wanted the pork chop. The line was so long that we didn't do it earlier in the day. We had got our hand stamp and I said ok, lets go back. So we got on the 5:30 bus at Southwest Station and got back to the fairgrounds at 6pm. Eric is very happy to be doing round 2 for the day. 

First stop was Lulu's Public house for the new State Fair Food this year, Deep Fried Ranch Dressing. I know it sounds disgusting but it was actually pretty good. It was ranch flavored cream cheese in a panko crust and fried. 

Last year's new State Fair food that I didn't get to try was also at Lulu's and was Deep Fried Cheesecake Bites. I figured what the heck, try those too. They were amazing. They will be a new favorite for years to come. It was cheesecake pieces dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried. It is served with strawberry sauce.  Even Eric like them!

Next stop was O'Gara's Irish Pub for the Shepard's Pie on a Stick. It wasn't on a stick but it was definite finger food. They tasted pretty good but unfortunately they were cold. If they would have been hot it would have been amazing. 

 

We ventured to the Agriculture Building to see the large pumpkins...the MN State Fair Record 1,800 pounds!

Also in the Ag building was the Dahlia Show. They are so beautiful

The final stop was buying my bamboo sheets in the Grandstand. Overall a great year at MN State Fair.

Our 2024 baseball trip took us to San Francisco to see the Giants at Oracle Park and the A's at the final year at the Coliseum.  We did a day/night doubleheader. It was a beautiful day at Oracle Park. The sun was shining and I got sunburned. It was a bit warm in the upper deck but the view was amazing. There were at least 14 large ships in the bay. 

After the White Sox got one of their rare post All-Star game wins against the Giants, we took the bus to Pier 39 for a bay cruise.  We got to see the resident sea lions. 

After sitting in the sun and being sunburned I froze on the boat cruise. But the views were amazing.

We relaxed for a bit at our hotel and put on more layers and took the long BART ride to the Oakland Coliseum. It was an interesting ride with lots of A's fans. There was quite a crowd with 10,339 people in attendance. Typically there are about 4-5 thousand fans. It helps that tickets were $2 and hot dogs were $1. The hot dogs were terrible but for a buck it was a cheap dinner. The dollar dogs at Target Field are way better. We stuck around for the 7th inning stretch and then the "Sell the Team" chant.  Poor Oakland fans. 

The next morning we rented a car and drove to Sacramento to see the capitol building Sacramento is a weird town. It was miles and miles of farmland and then boom, big city. It wasn't a very impressive, I'm kind of surprise.   There wasn't much to see around the capitol either. It was a bit let down. The Cathedral was pretty cool though. 

 After Sacramento we drove to Point Reyes National Seashore. It was a beautiful coast and the drive back to San Francisco on the CA Hwy 1 was really cool. We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge back into town.  We dropped the car off a the rental and met up with Katelynn for dinner.

The last day was spent riding the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf and then walking a 10K along the Crissy Fields to Golden Gate Bridge.