Beyond Wayzata

I decided to go for a drive today (Monday...I'm not sure what timestamp is going to get put on here as it is after midnight). The weather outside was beautiful - perfect for a cruise with the top down in my convertible - and I had some things swimming around in my head that I needed to try and come to terms with, or at least forget about for a while, and I just didn't feel like sitting around inside anymore.

I started out heading south on Highway 100 then cut over westward on I-494. Then it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last time I had been out on west on Highway 12 beyond Wayzata. So that's exactly what I did.

The Twin Cities are curiously designed in that they have suburbs stretching out for quite some ways to the south (Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley) and some distance to the north (Blaine, Champlin, Coon Rapids, etc.), but if you head just a little bit west of the freeway loop (that one formed by I-694 and I-494), they just stop. If you take Highway 12 out west, you will pass through Wayzata, which is only about 15 minutes from downtown, and then the city just stops. You are suddenly in the country passing by farms and seemingly untouched wilderness.

It's actually kind of cool. You don't have to go very far to get out of the city, if that's what you really want to do. All the towns along the way, even though you are still in Hennepin county, feel like small towns far away from the city even though it is literally just down the road. There are a lot of lakes out that way too, so there is some pretty scenery. I really should remember to bring a camera along when I make excursions like this.

I just followed 12 for a while; about 40 miles I think. It was peaceful and it felt great to just be driving along with the top down and not having to deal with the world for bit. I made it as far as Montrose before deciding it was time to turn around. I made a stop in Delano on the way back to have dinner at the local Dairy Queen. They've improved their burgers. The sign says Delano has a population of about 3800 people, but it is one heck of a bustling town. It could be all the traffic coming through on 12, but I'm not sure.

So that pretty much concluded my trek. Not one of my more adventurous excursions, but I wasn't really looking to get lost or anything (that can be fun sometimes though), just to get away for a very short while. And that's easy to do if you just head west.