I was feeling restless Saturday morning. I'm trying not to occupy myself with shopping like I've done the last few weekends. So I got in my car and went for a drive.

The last time I did this I tried to get to Duluth and got distracted and ended up winding around central MN. Stillwater seemed like a perfect spot this time. I could look in antique stores! Maybe get a nice lunch. Realizing this wouldn't help my "don't spend money like a crazy person" goal, I kept driving once I got there. I drove through pretty downtown Stillwater and kept going north. I saw signs for Taylor's Falls and figured I'd make that my destination.

It was such a perfect day for a drive! Partly cloudy, not too hot so the AC didn't have to blast the entire time. Not many cars on the road. Before I left I loaded my car up with old mix CDs I hadn't listened to in a while, which made the trip even more enjoyable. I love driving.

At the intersection of 95 and 8 I believe, I turned right towards the river and Taylor's Falls. The drive down the curvy road was so pretty! TF came up pretty quick so when I actually got to the town I was confused and kept going. I went across the river into Wisconsin. I decided to turn around at the first opportunity and head back to TF to explore. Then I saw a sign for "Wisconsin Interstate Park" so I turned into it. I ended up at a toll booth of sorts collecting money before you can go any further. The young guy at the window asked how he could help me. I said I didn't know and asked where I was. He probably thought I was crazy. But I paid my $3 and was given a map and told I can be in the park for only 1 hour. (that's all the $3 got me).

I pulled into a parking lot to study the map and try to figure out where I was and what I was doing. I saw a small trail on the map called "Pothole trail" that didn't look too far away or too far to hike. I drove off in the direction I thought it was. (I have a really good natural sense of direction. Ask me at any time what orthogonal direction I'm facing and I can almost always tell you.)

Let me just side note here and describe what I was wearing: A cleavage-y pink t-shirt, a short skirt, and flip flops. Not exactly hiking gear. I thought it was hilarious, though, and quite enjoyed the weird looks I got from the people speaking German on the trail in front of me.

Luckily, I also grabbed my camera for my impromptu road trip. So I loaded up my camera, cell phone, and car keys and went off on my hike. Heh. Pothole Trail, I learned was called such because the ice melting and freezing from glaciers created big potholes in the rocky ground. Fascinating!

After I walked around my 8/10 of a mile trail I got in my car to find a bathroom. Or "Toilet" as they called it on the map. Uh... "toilet" is used very loosely. The outhouse in Canada is worlds nicer than this "toilet". I pulled over next to what looked like a public bathroom that you might find at a pool. Or on a beach. It was far from that, my friend. There was a stall with a good sized, upside down metal can with the bottom cut out in the middle. Half a toilet seat on top. The part you sit on. The part that modestly hides what's in the toilet was gone. Awesome. And there was a bright fluorescent light above the toilet making it impossible not to see what was down below. Ew. It didn't smell too bad, though.

After that I just drove around taking pictures when I saw anything pretty or picturesque. Then I headed home.

It was a perfect day trip and exactly what I needed to keep me busy and not spend another $200 on clothes like last weekend. I think I left at 10am and was home at 2:30. (I stopped at Subway for lunch - eat fresh!) I think KP and I might go back this weekend and hike for real. Maybe even rent a canoe and swim at one of the beaches. OR maybe take the Taylor's Falls Princess ferry boat for a ride. I'm so excited!

I'll post pictures soon.