Adventure Awaits the Daring, or Run! You're going to miss the bus!

Quote of the Day:  Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is a fitting quote as I describe further adventures with Krista Rolfzen Soukup and her boys on our Spring Break, daylong, excursion into the Mini-Apple (Minneapolis). I would also like to remind all you readers that I am a country girl. I learned how to drive on gravel roads where you drive down the center unless you meet a combine or large tractor, then you both hug the side of the ditches.

After our lovely lunch and visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, we headed out onto the streets.

I barely had time to stop and take a picture of an interesting looking house and a few letters for my AtoZ Challenge posts. I had to run to catch up as Krista yelled behind her, "Let's take the bus!"  The next thing I know, I'm crowding in behind her and the boys, trying to make room for the other riders, and Krista hands me a twenty dollar bill. I look at the bus driver, and she says, "I can't make change." I look back at Krista, rather bewildered. I am a country girl and have no idea how much it costs to ride the bus. If I'd known I was going to hop on a bus today, I would have found out how much it was and had the exact amount of money ready to go. The very kind bus driver added up our total, an even $5, which luckily I had in my wallet, as we were already on our way to downtown Minneapolis.

The bemused (I hope) regular riders explained how to open the side seat once the man in the wheelchair exited. The bus driver gave us a message about needing the whole village to raise up a child and shut all the windows so she could turn on the air conditioning since it was an unusually hot day for mid-March in Minnesota. Normally, we'd be needing our winter coats, not extra deodorant. When Krista got up to shut our window, the riders told her to give it a harder shove. (Thanks, folks. We're from the country.)

Once downtown, we noticed that the buildings were way taller than the Brainerd water tower.

The boys thought it would be fun to go up to the observation deck of the Foshay Tower. I was against it, being a very grounded acrophobe from the country. I barely climbed past the second overhanging branch of a tree when I lived on the farm.

The boys said that they could stay up there all day. (That made me glad that I'd faced my fears and stepped out of my comfort zone.)

The view from above.

The residents' private patio.

Krista and her boys enjoying a little more breathing room on our bus ride back towards the theatre. We had a momentary pause at one stop, so the bus driver sang to us an Irish song that her grandmother had taught her.

City bus drivers are cool.

Now that I'm an official bus-riding city girl, I'm ready to...

Go. Create. Inspire!

(Honestly, I'd enjoy the city much more if it wasn't so noisy and there weren't so many people.)

Journaling Prompt:  Have you ever jumped into adventure?

Vist to Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Quote of the Day:  Ostapchuk is a painter's painter...often uses the launguage of music in how he "riffs" off others, "playing" with his paint and giving his colors "rhyme." Christopher Atkins describing the painter Mark Ostapchuk whose work is featured in its own room at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

As you can see, The Children's Theatre Company and The Minneapolis Intitiute of Arts are connected. What a brilliant plan that was! When I was here with my 14-year-old son Zach, he asked to look around. We didn't come close to seeing the over 80,000 exhibits. I spent another two hours here with my friend Krista and her two boys, Ben and Matt, before exploring more of the city, then watching Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.

My goal was to seek out and take pictures of intersting letters for my AtoZ blog Challenge in April.

I also liked this glass display from early America.

I told Krista to jump up and be like she's the lady in this colorful dress. I love it when people play along with me!

Matt & Krista in the Matisse room

Krista and Matt in the room made for a publicist!

Krista's favorite piece - rain on the streets of Minneapolis.

That's what she called it. I didn't write down the proper title.

This one made me think of my dad whose theme song might be, "I Could Have been a Cowboy."

Krista and I thought that little carrier would have worked for her preemie twin girls who are now 4 and a half. (They stayed back with Grandpa and Grandma for this trip. We'll take them to "Pippi Longstocking.")

Here's where I came alive. I walked into this room and caught my breath. I took a picture of Krista taking a picture (please keep your flash off), then sat down to text my artist friend JeMA. I typed, "At the MIA with Krista & boys. Thinking of you. Someday, a room for Art by JeMA!"

I grabbed the flyer on Mark Ostapchuk and read it last night. No wonder his art made me come alive. Read the Quote of the Day. He is inspired by music, particularly Jazz music, and evokes it through his art. The colors, lines and swirls, stimulate my imagination, and remind me of my friend.

The MIA is free and open to the public (sweet deal for families). It's connected to the Children's Theatre so you can come early and make a special outing of it. And, there is a park nearby to run or have a picnic. If you didn't bring food, stop at the the cafe. The food is delicious, fresh, and very affordable. Here's the lovely shrimp flatbread that I enjoyed.

You want to dig in, don't you? Too bad, I ate it all up!

This is one of my favorite pictures from our Spring Break excursion.

Matt waiting for food.

I'm one of those geeks who loves museums and art galleries, especially when they're accompanied by performance space, music, and good friends.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Do you enjoy art galleries, museums, and performances? Where do you like to go? What inspires you?