Weekend trip Drove down to visit my sister Heidi in Davenport over the weekend. I've wanted to make one of these spontaneous trips for a while, to see what such a trip would be like and for the visit's sake itself. I'd wanted to go visit Karen this way last holiday season, but unfortunately I didn't make it. So that just increased my determination to do this now.
I drove down off the freeways - I heard a rumor that I35W was a mess of road construction down by Faribault, so I decided to take smaller roads starting with highway 52 out of St. Paul. It was a good choice. The weather was magnificent, and eventually I even figured out how to set the vents in the car so I didn't need the air conditioning (despite the southerly sun pouring in on my lap).
I left late at about 11:00 a.m. and reached Davenport after about six hours of driving. Heidi and I grabbed some Mexican food at a nice place, and went to see "District 9," which turned out to be excellent. After the movie we went through some of Karen's hooked artwork, and she let me bring a few home that she didn't have room to display. Theresa was thrilled to see them when I got them home.
We had a great visit, catching up and reminiscing about Karen. The next morning we grabbed breakfast, then I headed back. I noticed that Highway 61 ran through the center of Davenport, and I remembered that it's the same Highway 61 that runs through St. Paul, so I decided to come home on 61 alone. It was a very scenic drive and once again the weather was gorgeous, turning just a little gray as I reached St. Paul.
I slept well on Saturday night, more tired by 11 hours behind the wheel than I would have suspected.
Over the weekend I received word from a consulting firm that they wanted to line up a Monday morning interview, so if I'm lucky I'll pick up another job, albeit at a much lower rate, without a complete gap in earnings. Maintaining cashflow is the important point right now, I can keep looking for an appropriate rate once I make sure I've got any money coming in at all.
So off to bed, to get ready for my interview in the morning!