YCGL - Minnesota - Day 17 - Tuesday , May 3 - Saint Cloud - 84 miles

It's worked out.  

1)  Sally's "new" cousin in Brainerd will be able to meet with me on Wednesday.

2)  I was able make a reservation at the RV park in St. Cloud to come a day early.

3)  I am meeting Merle and Tom around 4:00 and I would buy them dinner.

4)  And, I can get out of Minneapolis/St Paul before rush hour.

So I did.

I left the RV park about 2:30, stopped at the desk to say I was leaving a night early and that their internet was awful.  They said, "Yeah, we're going to try to work on that, maybe this summer, maybe next..."

The drive went mostly well.  Some lane changes were off until I got almost to the point where I couldn't  change.  Luckily, the traffic had enough holes that I could switch lanes.  It's a little more of a problem when you are 50 feet long, but it worked. 

Merle and Tom's beautiful house on the Mississippi River burned about three years ago.  It was a heart breaker, Tom had designed it down to the furniture and Merle had decorated it with artwork and his weavings  and wrappings.  It was built into the cliffside of the river and the forest around it.  It was like a gem on the banks of the river.  But now they have moved into Saint Cloud, things are closer and easier to get to, so that is a benefit.  

And their house is another gem now.  It totally has their personalities embedded into it.  They've removed walls to make the  living room larger, they've made small bedrooms into office and den spaces.  Tom said, "We decided it would be cheaper to put friends up in a hotel than to make a nice bedroom for very occasional guests at the expense of losing these rooms."  Great thought.  

I know I talked about Merle and Tom before on the Southwest trip, but Merle was a professor of Art at St. Cloud State University and Tom was an architect who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright for nine years.  They are two highly creative men who are full of stories of travels, work, students, people, works they have done and inspired others to do.  They are full of such enthusiasm that they are just fun to be with.  

We went out to eat at Granite City Brewery.  I was impressed.  I had the baby back ribs, and they were actually pretty tasty.  I'm a spare rib guy myself and without BBQ sauce on them, but these had good taste and texture.  Merle and Tom both had Asian Chicken Salad (which I was thinking about also) and they looked good also.  But when the waitress came up with the check, it was over behind my shoulder, and Merle had his card out before I knew it was happening.  I agreed to let him take me to dinner when we were together in Phoenix, but this was expressly against what I agreed to.  If he pulls it again, I'll just have to say Thank You.  (Yes, mother....)

Merle's specialty was fabrics and textiles in the Art Department.  He let me take pictures of his current project, a quilt.  I wanted you to see the texture of the pieces, so the enlargement below.  

Another piece is a hanging of silk and nylon that he did while studying in Brno, CZR.  It is done by the Art Protis technique which I had never heard of.  It is like a painting process and usually done in wool.  The wool is combed but not spun.  It is colored and layered on to create "paintings".  

Here is more about the process.  Art Protis 

The last piece is a whimsical weaving.  It is called "An Open and Shut Case, With Strings Attached."  It is a three dimensional weaving that can be open so that it is like a basket or it can be closed so it is flat against the wall. 

Merle and Tom are just great fellows, and I enjoy the time and times I get to spend with them.