Jane Reporting for 24th September
Today
Today (24th September) we left the big interstates and took the shorter route along Minnesota State Highway 60 (MN-60) from Worthington to Bloomington (effectively Minneapolis). While every drive is interesting this one was a bit different because we were on a road small enough to go through towns, rather than around them, and one of those towns was the City of Windom.
Lyn was delighted by the glimpse she caught of the Cottonwood County Courthouse which is why we took a left turn, and then another and then pulled up outside the back door of the courthouse - just to stretch our legs and take a photo or two of the building.
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| Cottonwood County Courthouse |
The building was completed in 1904 and the architects were Omeyer and Thori of St. Paul. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Inside is a large foyer over which is the dome, including a mural of Justice - which you may be able to make out at the bottom of my photo:
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| Dome and mural |
Outside, along the edges of the courthouse plot, were some interesting street lights:
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| Street lights |
The sign in the photo below indicated that snow might be a problem in winter so I checked up and, according to my friend Mr Wikipedia, the average low in January is 7 degrees F (-14 degrees C) and the record low is -36 degrees F (-38 degrees C). Yep, that sounds like a place that would be liable to the odd 'snow emergency'.
A snow emergency is something quite unknown to me but it appears it is "A Snow Emergency is the term used to indicate the active response plan when a snow storm severely impacts a city, county or town in the United States or Canada. Schools, universities, government offices, airports and public buildings may close during a Snow Emergency." -- Wikipedia
There are times when I think I might just have to come back to this part of he country in winter just to experience this snow way of life but let's not mention this idea to Gary just yet ...
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| Snow sign |
All of this is no doubt interesting enough to have made Windom stick in our minds but then I wandered into a shop near the car and discovered I could have my 'cat fix' because there was a resident cat - who is a rescue Ragdoll:
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| Biggs |
Those claws you see are not grumpy claws but him padding his feet in the air because his tummy is being rubbed. The neat shop he lives at is called Enspired:
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| Enspired |
While I was introducing Gary and Lyn to Biggs, Geoff was visiting one of the local hardware stores where he met with Dwight, a fellow gun enthusiast, and a WWII veteran with fond memories of Australia.
Lyn's attempt to find Geoff meant she was in the courthouse when a prisoner was handcuffed and hobbled (apparently something not just confined to tv and movies).
All-in-all an unexpectedly interesting short stop on the day's drive.
State Quarters
Today we have California, one of the nine states/provinces (California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota) we've visited to date on this trip.
If anybody is interested in the significance of the images or wording on the coins, this Wikipedia article may just have the answers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_Quarters#Designs
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| State Quarter: California |
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