Landed in Minneapolis

I have made it "narth" as the natives say and am set up in the La Quinta Inn in Bloomington, Minneasota — the hotel in which Iowa delegates to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul will be staying for the duration.  A very tired but relieved couple from Oregon were checking in ahead of me.  They drove out for the convention.  "It wasn’t that bad," the wife said when I offered some sympathetic comment.  The husband rolled his eyes.

Since this metro is closer to Des Moines, I drove up I-35 and was again reminded of the irony that the "Lake Milles/Northwood" exit now features a huge casino.  Lake Mills native Governor Terry Branstad signed the "riverboat gambling bill" into law, perhaps never expecting a land-based casino would be built near the fields of his youth.  I’m also convinced that water tank sign with the flashing word "casino" will fall over in a storm and hit cars on the Interstate, but I was assured by the DOT last year the sign meets all set-back standards.