Bussin' It III

This is arriving downtown from 94E. I like how winter adds another dimension to the place. The steam puffing into the cold air... This didn't quite capture what i was seeing. This scene always mesmerizes me and i forget for a minute that i am on my way to work. By the time i realized i should take a picture, i was at the wrong angle to get what i wanted. Ah well :).



In the downtown area there are a lot of warehouses/industrial buildings. Quite a few were abandoned and had been so for quite a few years. Then the condo boom came along and replaced all of those old empty buildings with ones like you see here. They are pretty nifty and i often wonder how loud it gets with traffic going by. Maybe the buildings were sound proofed well? Either way, i grew up in a fairly busy part of Mpls. and i would rather not go back to that. Although i can sleep through just about anything.
When the bus leaves downtown, the sun hits the buildings just right so you can peek into the lives of the condo dwellers. There really isn't much to see other than how the places are decorated. You can pretty much guess how that looks, industrial modern.



This is the Salvation Army. When leaving downtown, i can see all the guys sitting on the rooftop patio (there is a lower roof just below the bridge). In the summer there will be patio gazebos set up. I do believe those were samples from work that got donated, so it's kind of funny to see what we see at work out of context.



This would be the first building on the left of 4th St. It's abandoned on this side of the building. There are still quite a few empty spaces. Hopefully that will change with the Twins Stadium just a few hundred feet away.



This is just before i get off the bus and head to work.

In my next post i plan on showing shots from my route through the skyway. It's an interesting concept that i don't know how to describe because i'm so used to it. I just know that people from out-of-town are fascinated with the concept of skyways.

Bussin' It Deux

The amazing thing about Minnesota, to me, is the changing of the seasons. Each season lasts just long enough (well summer could last longer i suppose). I always make it a goal to try and witness the exact moment when Ma Nature changes her wardrobe. In the spring i look for the moment when leaves start to unfurl, the summer for the intense colors, the fall for the change in colors, and then the naked trees of winter.

These pictures make it look like it's warm out but yesterday was a wee bit chilly at zero degrees in the morning. These are pictures as i'm heading out of downtown on the bus. As i passed the buildings, the sun blasted me. I had no idea what i was taking pictures of. The great thing about my little iphone camera, is that it loves the light. I think so far, these are my favorite pictures.



This was one of my completely blind shots. You can see the sun blasting away in the upper left. I thought it interesting that i was able to catch the nice potholes that line our many roads in MN. I'm not complaining. Chicago is far worse for potholes.


The next two pictures are of the new Twins Stadium. The bridge that we are crossing brings us to 94W. You can see that there are people parked below the bridges. I used to park there. It's the Rapid Park parking lot. Pretty cheap, i think it was $84 a month, compared to $120 to park in the garages. The commuter train also arrives below this very bridge. If i had been quick enough, you would have seen a photo with train tracks.

Here is my last shot before we start the process of merging on to the freeway.

Yesterday morning, i sat in the way back of the bus. I was able to get more pictures of my arrival downtown. I'm the first stop so there really isn't much to take a picture of. I'll post what i do have next.

Bussin' It

I'm sad to say that i only take the train twice a week. The other days i take the bus. I actually don't mind the bus because that seems to provide the most entertainment.

This picture was taken the first week it snowed in MN. The commute was pretty slow, but if it weren't for the bus, it would be extremely slow sitting in a car. When my bus arrived downtown, traffic had come to a stand still in the bus lane. The driver ended up letting everyone off a block away from our stop. When i reached the corner of our stop, this is what we found.
My first thought was, wow! i wonder if anyone was standing in the bus shelter and what they thought when this huge bus slid towards them? You can see there isn't a ton of snow on the ground. What you can't see is that the roads hadn't been plowed yet. When roads aren't plowed, snow can be as slick as mud.


I don't have many pictures of my arrival downtown (i'll have to work on that). I do have quite a few of me leaving downtown (hmmm). This is one of my stops. Depending on which bus number i take home, depends on where i stand. Now it's really not that complicated because the 766 goes to Brooklyn Park, and the 780 goes to Maple Grove, so it's pretty evident which stop i need to be at. This is Nicollet and Hennipen. What you don't see is the 10' marble(?) wall behind me. I lean up against it quite often when waiting for the bus.
(This is the stop where a squirrel ran up a lady's pant leg. I think i still have that previous post if you want to read it).


This is my spot on the bus, leaving downtown...






Stay tuned for more pics. from the bus.

Graffiti

This is a bridge that crosses Lowry. I'm surprised there isn't more graffiti, however the snow hasn't completely melted to reveal what else might be there. It could be that it's a high traffic area for trains...? Who knows. The roof on the left is a VW auto repair place.


These are boxcars waiting patiently in the rail yard. How in the world do people get graffiti like that on boxcars? I would probably get one line spray painted before the cars moved or someone caught me (not that i would try).


I'm curious to see what will appear as the snow begins to melt away. It's almost like another world waiting to be discovered.


This one is my favorite. I took typography in college. We had to learn how to draw fonts with the correct line weights etc. For someone to just spray paint this on a wall is pretty dang amazing to me. Plus i like the various meanings this one word has. Each day it means something new.


And of course, i can't leave out a snapshot of Nicollet Island. This is leaving downtown.

Arrival

I try to be discreet when taking pictures on the train. Particularly when there are a ton of people right next to me. I hope for no one sitting next to me, because then i feel like a complete tourist or... well... a complete nut.

Part of me wonders if i'm not supposed to take pictures from the train. I turn off the camera as the traffic cops come by and check our fares. I'll pause here for a note; be sure you understand the fare system before boarding the train. This means, get to the train station EARLY so you can scope out the "how's". It is very easy, which also means it is very easy to make a mistake.

Anywho... This first picture is of the arrival at Target Field. You can kind of make out the general shape of the stadium. I promise to take a better picture when weather cooperates, which may not be till summer :).

The crazy thing about where the train arrives, it's literally at the feet of the stadium. As the train pulls up, it stops just before going under the bridge and then under the stadium. What's interesting about this perspective is; this is the ultimate view of public transportation. The train arrives on the tracks below. Above on the bridge there are city buses flowing by in a constant stream (the bus garage is across the street from the stadium), and then there is the light rail chiming away. It is a hub of public transportation if you will.

When the train stops, everyone spills out. Since it is winter, i take my time stepping onto the platform. Once i know i'm not going to wipe out in front of everyone, i haul it. I have two blocks of skyways before i get to my building.

Into the lobby of the train station. We all funnel through the doors and either choose to go up the single-wide escalators or hoof it up the stairs. I prefer the stairs. It's the same theory as being stuck in traffic. I would rather take the manual route and keep moving vs. taking the "express" route with stop and go movement. We make it to the upper lobby and WHAM! the elevators for the stadium to the left, doors to the light rail to the right. VERY convenient, except i don't take the light rail and this is where the hoofing it starts. The walking trip to work is another blog (and pictures).

This second picture shows the other side of the train on arrival. This is the platform side. I'm on the left side of the platform, the platform is to my right and the stadium is to the left. On the other side of the fence you see the awning over the sidewalk. This leads up to a men's clothing store. It's pretty nifty. I have a picture of that building and will post when i talk about departure.

Somewhere NE Mpls

The first two pictures are of my favorite building. I have no idea what building it is. I do know that it is in NE Mpls. This building fascinates me because of how it curves. Who knew brick buildings could curve ever so gently? The building gently approaches the tracks and then turns away.

I think these are lofts/apartments. I'm jealous of those who get to live here (if they are dwellings) and of those who (may) work here. I often wonder what the people think, hear, or see from inside that building as they see the commuter whip by. Annoyed? Maybe. Curious? Probably.



Below is a sneak peek into "someone's" backyard. Even though it's industrial, it's "someone's". I realize that there are other people on the train with me, but for some reason i feel like i'm the only one who is completely fascinated with what is whipping by us. I feel like i've been granted an exclusive look behind the scenes. It doesn't matter if it's junk, i'm seeing the secrets the front of the building is hiding.


Believe it or not, this is still NE Mpls. I still have no idea where this is. The one thing about railroad tracks, i never realized the places they could pop up. It doesn't matter if there are signs to see from the road, it still surprises me. Often times i assume the tracks are never used...


And then there is the urban serenity...

The Yards

If you have ever traveled along East River Road, you may recognize some of these images. East River Road "starts" in Coon Rapids and winds it's way through Fridley, eventually transitioning into Marshall Street of Northeast Mpls. I have travelled that road many a times, from a little sprout to my senior year in high school. Most of the time on that road was during my senior year in high school.

My family moved out to Champlin in '94. I decided to finish my last year at Edison, in NE Mpls. The quickest way for me to get from point A to point B was to take West River Road to East River Road. Well, maybe not the quickest, but at that time the safest. I had my grandparent's hand-me-down Mercury Marquis. I would start off in the wee hours of the morn and travel the foggy West River Road. I absolutely loved that time of the morning. There is something mysterious about the fog and early hours.

From the calm quietness of West River Road i would land on the harried East River Road. It was always treacherous in the winter time. Only two lanes in each direction to barely contain the amount of traffic on it. When i hit Fridley, most of the traffic spilled onto the freeway and left me on the last leg of my journey to St. Anthony Pkwy and beyond. It is at this point were we see the industrial side of town.

There is the mysterious FMC building (it's called something else now), the rail yards, the beautiful brick buildings of the Mpls. waterworks, and back to the mysterious fenced in auto wreck yards. Below reveals some of what is seen from behind the scenes of East River Road. The bridge is part of St. Anthony Pkwy.

Nicollet Island

In the last post i gave you a sneak peek of what would be in this post. The picture i had taken was from the train on my way to work. The following pictures are in the order of which i took them. Maybe you'll feel yourself moving forward through the town (maybe).

As the train shoots out from the backyards of NE Mpls. we cross a river. Not just any river, the Mississippi river. Before i know it, we are crossing a street and before i finish blinking, we are crossing the river again. The bridge is of ancient steel, graffitied tastefully on just the lower half of the beams. On the opposite tracks, a brave runner crosses the bridge. We have just crossed Nicollet Island.

Nicollet Island isn't just any island. It's its own community of 144. You can't just BUY a dwelling on the island; you have to practically be willed a dwelling from great aunt gertrude.

Nicollet Island fascinates me in a lot of ways, but more so because i actually have some family history tied to it. On this island, there are two old buildings. One of which is an Inn, and the other is a pavillion that can be rented for weddings and such. The pavillion is were i'm tied to.

My grandfather used to work there (it wasn't a pavillion at that time). My grandmother would sneak out of work early (she was a corporate lady!) and meet my grandpa after work. They would then ride home together.

There is my two sentence history. It's a sweet little story and a brief, yet concrete peek into what life was like for my grandparents.

Stay tuned! I have many more pictures, and apparently i can only post 5 at a time...

It's Been Awhile

It has been awhile. Okay, a really long while since the last time i posted in here. To be honest, i hadn't been terribly inspired to write. I will pause here for a moment to let those who are new to this blog know, i am not a grammar queen. I rarely capitalize my "i"s. If you notice any other errors, that's nice. I'm just forewarning you :).

As the days start to get longer, it seems that there are more things going on around me than i thought! Apparently dark, gray days puts a shroud over my eyes and all i can focus on is the ground i walk on. Probably because i'm old enough now to know that falling on the ground hurts; particularly frozen, ice covered ground. Lately i've been taking courage into hand and holding my head up. It's amazing!

The original intent of this blog was to post about things i saw while working downtown. Lately, i have realized that there is more going on elsewhere too! My morning commute consists of me leaving the house around 6:20-ish am. I travel through the small land of suburbia, hit the open country road, slide through industrial backyards, and land soundly in my urban workhome by 7:30 am.

The industrial backyards is a new thing and only occurs on Mondays and Thursdays, when Jason is at school. It's also new in the fact that there was never the option to take a train. The commuter train finally became a reality and by-george, people are taking to it like jell-o.

Riding the train has been particularly inspiring to me. It has awoken my curiosity and forced me to pull my head up out of the dark gray winter into a new world. Unfortunately it's been too dark to take pictures, until recently that is.

I have acquired an iPhone that has allowed me to carry a camera with me at all times. Something i've always wanted to have with me. I don't like bringing my "everyday" camera for fear of losing it and all the pictures of Jason and Olivia etc. It would break my heart. Even though the iPhone is strictly a point-and-shoot (i know i could buy a fancy attachment for it...but really?), i have found that it has taken me to the roots of photography. Almost to the pin-hole stage.

With that being said, see my next post to learn more about this picture: