Traveling Fool

You don't have to cross the ocean to have a new experience. I love finding things a little closer to home as well. I came across the Wildlife Science Center in a rather oblique way (read a Star Tribune article where it was mentioned and then tracked down what the organization did) and have been wanting to visit for a while. It's not your standard tourist stop; it really is a science and research center, and that's the primary goal, but they also want to educate people about the role of predators in the wild and concerns about the potential extinction of some of the wolf species. They just moved into this new space in Stacy, MN, in April 2017, and a lot of the work was done by volunteers from donated funds and supplies, so there are not a lot of amenities (there's no snack bar, souvenir stand or indoor toilets) yet. They do tours on Saturdays, 11:00 and 1:00. We saw around four species of wolf: gray, red, Mexican gray (and one more, I think); fox, bear, bobcat, lynx...

Here are some random photos form my trip. I'm missing the road already. La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona A random building in Barcelona Oh, Paris. J'aime Phil Collins Edinburgh Lovely England, home away from home Adele at iconic Wembley

Before I left on this trip, my youngest brother told me to savor every moment. I tried to do that. I've been home two full days, and I miss Europe already: light, flaky croissants, sidewalk cafes, old buildings, and just not being at work :) I tried to blog in a timely fashion to keep my thoughts and observations fresh. Sometimes it was harder fighting my iPad mini than writing, other times, I was so tired I'm not sure I was making sense. I would post and then think, shit, I forgot to say this, or mention that. So I am taking this opportunity to wrap up my random thoughts. Thanks for reading. A few statistics: I walked roughly 256,457 steps from June 15 to July 2. I went to six countries. Ate at least five types of cheese. Saw four concerts: 2 Phil Collins, 2 Adele. I was 'forced' to try IrnBru because my friend in Scotland was 'forced' to try root beer in the US and didn't like it. WHAT? After a while, nothing sounded like English, even when it was En...

While it is true that you can squeeze a lot into a brief visit to Amsterdam, I wish that wasn't necessary, but I did it to myself. I landed yesterday, I honestly don't know what day it was, but it doesn't matter. I booked a tour for 2:45, and I landed at Schipol airport around 12:30, and got my bag around 1:10. Is anyone else scratching their heads asking what the hell were thinking? Well, I was. Especially when I got to the departure point exactly at 2:45 which was a little late (in Barcelona I would have early), the bus hadn't left yet, so we did a modified bus run and got on the coach and met our guide, Edgar. I'm glad I didn't miss it because we covered a lot of ground in 6 hours. We started in Zaanse Schans to see a working windmill; windmills are used to grind nuts for oils, pump water, for energy, etc. The mill we visited was over 400 years old. I grabbed a gelato from another windmill. Then it was off to Volendam for CHEESE. I am not even going to...