here we go again


this weekend is going to be crazy. i don't know if i'll be able to handle it.

we interrupt our minot coverage to bring you...

this:

(via fittedsweats)

minot - chapter six
the search for Billy

at this point in the trip, it was time for me to move up to north hill and stay at my dad's house.


here they are sitting around chatting it up. that's my grandma in the middle.

she just moved to minot a few days before after living her entire life in Pittsburgh, PA. it's pretty great to have her around.

later that evening, my brother connor had a soccer game.

here's the two local news channels covering the game. KMOT and KX13 i believe....

there was halftime entertainment in the form of...

a drum line! it was actually pretty great.

minot high was playing bismarck century. the score ended up being 4-2, minot.

take that state capitol!

in case you were wondering, my little brother (who is now 6'2") played very well. it was a lot of fun to watch.



the next day, i decided that it was time to go look for Billy the monkey.

my first job after graduating from high school was being a zookeeper at the zoo in minot. i don't know how i lucked into it, but it was by FAR the greatest and most fun job that i ever had. (still to this day, actually)

anyways, there's this story that i tell (a lot) about when the spider monkeys, led by their prickish leader Billy, tricked me and attacked me through the fence.

it was a very embarrassing moment in my blossoming zookeeping carreer, and i never forgave that little sassy Billy.

i wanted to go and pay him a visit to see if he still remembered me. and maybe make him feel bad about being such a jerky little monkey.

i decided that i was going to go see all of the other animals first. you know, save Billy for last.

so...

here's me and one of the bears.

these guys have been here since i was a kid. they are awesome.


here are the gibbon apes posing all sexy for the camera.

when i worked there, there was only one little fellow in this cage. his name was Banger, and he was absolutely batshit insane.

there were rumors that the zoo had gotten him from a testing lab somewhere and somewhere along the way, he had eaten his own toes off. to make matters worse, his mate had died years before and he was incredibly depressed (they mate for life apparently).

he got his name because he would bang/punch himself super hard in the head whenever he got worked up.

even with all of this, i really liked him. he tried to kill me (and any other males) whenever he got the chance, but i still felt so bad for him that i would sneak him extra bananas.

but now he is gone, replaced by a much more subdued couple.

after the lions, tigers, deer, etc., i came upon the parrots.

we chatted for a long time. i forgot how hilarious and bizaare it is to hear birds say words. i just kept laughing and laughing at/with them.

luckily the zoo was pretty empty.

next to these guys are the camels.

i think that the one with her head up is Louise. that would mean that the other one is the male that chased me around the pen one day when he was cranky. i had to climb this chain link fence to get away from him, but in the process, he spit all over me.

it was really gross.

i can't remember his name, but i still think he's a jerk.

across from the camels are the giraffes.

i was the giraffe keeper when i worked there. this meant that i had to let them out (through that big red door) every morning, clean up their house, feed them, and then bring them back in at night. it was amazing. especially since i was only 18 years old at the time.

soon after the giraffes, i found myself over in the petting zoo area.


me and a sheep. i felt bad because i didn't have any money to buy him treats.

after seeing the new seals that they have now, i wandered back to find my primate nemesis.


i passed mr. bear again along the way.

and then, suddenly, there it was...

the infamous spider monkey cage.

i was now ready to sass the monkey.

except that now, instead of a cage full of 20 females and 1 irate male (Billy), there was only this:

two cute siamang gibbons getting all cuddly with each other.

what??

the zoo already has gibbons, so i have no idea why they replaced the infinitely more entertaining spider monkeys with these guys.

i couldn't believe it. it was the most anti-climactic moment ever.

i tried to find one of the current zookeepers to ask if they knew what happened to Billy, but no luck.

he's gone.

but his legacy lives on.
in the form of my fear of monkeys.

minot - chapter five
more tacos, more balloons, more video games

the next day, i had an appointment to get my hair cut by my sister.

on the way up to her salon, i passed my pal dave's parent's house:

sheesh. the number of CHiP's episodes that we watched in there during high school (and early college) was truly amazing.


the hair cut in progress...

this is always one of my favorite parts of my trips home (along with the eating, of course). keli is the best.

if you are ever in minot and in need of a new hair style, go see her.

being freshly groomed, it was then time for...

lunch. i believe it was Taco Tuesday, so it was pretty easy to decide where to go.

after eating, my mom and i took a trip to Dakota Square! (minot's biggest mall)

here, not only did i get a brand new pair of jeans ($29!!!), but i also ran into:

Larry's mom karen!

karen RULES. we talked about larry, larry's job, and the Norsk Høstfest.

larry, make sure that she comes to my Holiday Party this year, ok?

after a few lovely hours in the mall, i headed over to see if i could catch Dylan hard at work at Budget Music and Video.

sure enough, there he was:

we made plans to meet up later in the week. (let's just say that dylan gets his own chapter here. stay tuned for that...)

that evening, my family and i all went to the Oak Park theater to see the latest Star Wars movie. it was my fourth time (i know, i know!!) seeing it, but i still liked it.

my mom was telling me stories about when she took me to this same theater SOOO long ago to see the first Star Wars. we had to sit in this separate room for little kids up on the balcony. i totally remember that, too.

it was pretty funny.


of course, dairy queen follows seeing any movie.

i went with the oreo blizzard this time around.


the next day my sister needed help decorating her house for her husband's semi-surprise birthday party.

she bought enough balloons to fill up TWO huge vehicles. it was hilarious.

i think that the balloon people thought that she was insane .

i can't say that i blame them...

after balloon-time came lunchtime:

again.

i know, it's a sick obsession. i can't help myself....

the rest of the evening was spent playing video games with my brother.

man, that was pretty fun too. even though i'm not as good as i used to be...

old age comes for everybody. it's true.

minot - chapter four
walking the dogs


one morning, my mother and i decided to take the dogs and go for a walk.

they kept on twisting themselves up with their leashes, but it was a beautiful, chilly, autumn-like day and we had a great destination that we were heading towards.


here's mary ann. it was great to walk along the river and catch up on things.


during our walk, we passed by my old junior high school.

Erik Ramstad y'all!

sooo much cooler than Jim Hill.

man, walking by this building brought back a ton of crazy memories. i HATED 7th grade so much. hated it. 8th grade was ok, though. i went to 8th grade graduation dance with maria shomento. ahh, young love.

apparently sixth graders go there now too. i have no idea how they all fit in there, but somehow i guess they make it work.

after a few more blocks, we came upon another one of my old schools: Minot State University.

i only went here for a few semesters, but still, it counts.

here's the view from the edge of the "campus", looking down broadway to the south.

can anyone guess where my mother and i were heading for lunch?

it's a pretty easy guess...

that's right!

the one and the only.

Taco John's!
(click that to see the weirdest virtual tour ever)

i had their jingle going through my head for almost my entire trip.

on the way home, we walked along the mighty Souris River.


this dam is right behind my mother's house.

i used to go fishing there with my grandpa all the time when i was a kid.


this is, i think, the same bouy that was there way back then. awesome.

after our exercise, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to a store that i miss a lot:


there are two in nyc, but they are both really pains to get to.

and anyways, this is my favorite one.

sigh...

minot - chapter three
the first full day

we got up early the next day (sunday?) to go over to my sister's house that she and her husband just moved in to. or, i should say, are still working on moving in to.

i got a ride with my newly licensed "little" brother connor.

here is his vehicle.

my first car was a Mitsubishi Tredia. it burned oil like mad. his is a lot nicer.


here's my sister's house.

this was my first time seeing it and i couldn't believe this place. it is awesome. and HUGE. and i am so so very jealous. so. very. jealous.

it looks like a house out of the O.C. except that it's in minot and, as far as i know, mischa barton isn't passed out in the backyard somewhere.


breakfast is served: caramel rolls, deer sausage, eggs and fruit.

i believe that this was the first family meal in this house.

afterwards, we all ventured out into the (giant) backyard to play some leisurely games.


first was croquet.


then came bocce ball. you are looking at the current bocce champions.

after all of this hard work, there was only one place to go:

yep. Dairy Queen. this was my first of the trip.

i started things off with a large root beer freeze, but it proved to be maybe too much even for me. it was mediums from then on...


one of the great things about going back home is that you get to choose what's for dinner quite a lot.

this night i went with the delectable Sammy's Pizza.

(pictured here with pretty much the whole Johnson side of the family)

i usually eat here twice during every vacation because it is so badass.


the amount of pizza that i ate on this night was obscene.

but delicious.

minot - chapter two
flying and frying

after making my flight by the skin of my teeth, i settled in for the quick hop over to minot. i think it's somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour.


soon i was descending down over the neverending farm land.


getting closer...

these sqare lakes are just outside of minot. i remember going to see them on a school field trip one year for some reason. it's some sort of water treatment operation i think.


grain elevators!

as i was landing, i took a movie and held my little ipod earpiece up to the microphone of the camera. i looked like a total nerd, but hey, instant soundtrack. you can see it over in the Vimeo section if you want.

i was greeted at the airport by my dad's side of the family. after hugs and welcomes, they quickly whisked me away to a bbq at my uncle's house.


here's my uncle walter.

just prior to this photo, i watched him squirt about a gallon of lighter fluid onto the coals. i started taking photos thinking that i was about to witness a backyard mushroom cloud.




in the end, wally knew what he was doing. soon we had a nice roaring fire on which to roast some pork chops (i think. i had fish instead).


here's my dad waiting for his brother to finish grilling.

oh, right below him is my sister's brand new puppy. this thing is soooo goddamn cute. we hung out a lot over my vacation.


after dinner, my jetlag started to kick in a bit.

instead of napping, however, i was quickly roused for a typically vicious game of Sequence!

for the record, my team was beaten.

barely.

revenge will be sweet come christmas time...