Midwest a wanderin'

Tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early for a winter's trip to the heartland. First, it's a night in Minnesota with Joe. On the schedule: chess and the big football game on a big TV.

Then Sunday it's a trip north. Like way north. Like to a small island in Lake Superior that--were I traveling there a month later--might have an ice road connecting it to the mainland. So it'll be cold. But I'm cool with that. 3 days on the frigid North Shore of Wisconsin (technically a little ways past the North Shore) for New Years Eve.

Then it's back to the Twin Cities, where we'll stay in St. Paul for three days. I'll be dang close to the Iowa caucus, but I've decided there's not much I can do to help Obama if I go, so I'll just be a news junky that day and mercilessly check online updates. He may not need my help: his new speech is really really damn good.

Then it's back to T-town next weekend and then 2008 gets underway.

Looking forward to it.