Today I demonstrated in Grand Rapids, MN. The demonstrations went pretty well. I talked so much that I completely lost my voice. I sound like a giant bullfrog. I had about 3 small pots of tea at dinner and my voice is now different but at least my throat isn’t totally raw and sore.

After the demonstrations Katie and I drove from Grand Rapids to Hinckley, MN. The whole way it was rainy and dreary, but having someone to ride with and talk with was good and made the miles fly by. We also listened to a National Geographic Traveler Magazine Podcast about Minneapolis. These podcasts are titled walks of a lifetime and are meant to be walking tours of major cities. This was a fantastic podcast and I only wish that we were walking around the city and listening to it because the information was very interesting. We learned much about the city and it was very entertaining. I used my Monster iCarPlay Plus Wireless FM Transmitter/Charger for iPod to play the podcast in the rental car. The podcast told much about the history of the city of Minneapolis. I am very happy to have found such interesting podcasts through iTunes. I can’t say enough good things about some of these podcasts.

When we arrived in Hinckley at the Days Inn we saw a store that sells sculptures. They are done by Dennis Roghair. Now, I saw the sign quickly and my mind saw the name Rothgar. So I pictured this barrel chested medieval dwarf like Gimli from Lord of the Rings. I imagined this person hewing sculptures from the trees with a double bladed battle axe. I just through of a very Nordic barbarian looking person who cleaved forms from the trees. So, this evening I ended up snapping a picture of the place. It was dark because I didn’t take the picture until I came back from dinner, but since I hadn’t taken my photo today I had to make sure I got something.

Come to find out after doing a search on the name Roghair that this sculptor is quite famous and have been commissioned to create sculptures for many major places in Minnesota. His works have been purchased by people from all over the world. Dennis sculpts with a chainsaw and his sculptures are amazingly detailed. His works are in the Minnesota governors mansion, the U of M and the Minnesota State fairgrounds. He has even been commissioned to do works on location.

I do not know if it will be a nice day tomorrow but I certainly hope to meet this man and watch him work. He has scaffolding set up around a 13 foot tree trunk and it looks like he will be working on a new sculpture soon. So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get more pictures of his works. And I will be able to get them in the daytime.

Tonight we went to the Grand Casino Hinckely and I had buffalo ribs. These were so tender and tasty. The meat fell from the bones and it was a delicious meal. We had dinner at The Winds Steakhouse. There were six of s and we had a very lively table. I had lost my voice so I did a lot of listening. I’ve basically been talking for two days non-stop. So the break from talking was good for me. I hope my voice comes back before the demo tomorrow.