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Hoo boy, our $4.29 national average is probably going to be going up even more, even more quickly.

A screenshot of AAA gas prices (https://gasprices.aaa.com/) showing a national average of $4.29, with Illinois colored red in the $5.92 to $4.49 highest price category

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100%! It was great in the lower level of Amtrak too, no trouble at all. I've heard it could fit up as a carry on, but I couldn't get that to work when I tried later out of curiosity

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Okay and a bonus from the museum - what the hell man, these snuff bottles are nuts. Go to the Minneapolis Institute of Art! Go to museums!

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And here's just a little closing snippet. Minneapolis bike lanes, beautiful homes, municipal innovation like EV rideshare, and goofiness, like giant skeletons 😆

A blue house with solar panels and a bike lane sign in the foreground

An Evie Nissan LEAF rideshare vehicle parked on Bryant

A big ol Home Depot Skeleton with his arms in the air. Is he upset? Is he happy? Nobody knows

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Just beautiful stuff, both the stations (like this green one with fun plant outlines) and the scenery! And it was actively being worked on!

A light green train station with an outline of a fern on a metal plate

The yellow train station with the trail to the right and some kind of road or path overhead

Several construction workers on the trail, discussing important train business

A view of a river or other body of water by the trail

Then yesterday I hit the stunning Kenilworth with all the upcoming Green Line stations, and it was STUNNING. Flowers, rivers, and rail

A Black Brompton folded on Lake St in the sunrise sun

Flowers behind a fence with a train line and some trees in the sun, as a person bikes past on the right

The Black Brompton unfolded over a river

A yellow Basset Creek valley train station with the trail right next to it

I also loved the architecture of the museum itself - it was open and inviting with a really fun open center stairwell that had the cafe. It really felt like the focal point of the building energetically too, since that's where people would hang out and work or have lunch

A yellow curly looking blob in the lobby of the museum, with text on the wall below and behind that says "We're Free. Everyone is welcome. Always."

The lobby of the museum, with a glass wall and a glowing desk

The main cafe and lounge with open seating and a large glass wall to outside

A view down the central stairwell, with Asian art open on the second floor and the lobby down below

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I mean just look at all of this stunning art, including this massive Kehinde Wiley piece, that you can see for $0.00. (though you should absolutely donate)

A large dot painting of plants and animals that are threatened

A dark wooden prayer room with lots of gold buddha statues

A marble and bronze statue of a black man in a white head covering and robe (Man from Sudan in Algerian Dress)

A large Kehinde Wiley painting portrait of two Brazilian men laying on stone

In something a little lighter, the Minneapolis Institute of Art is a gem. Like the Art Institute of Chicago, it's bigger than it looks and impossible to cover in one day. Unlike AIC, it's totally free!

A statue of an angel woman riding a... wolf? holding a sword in front of the Minneapolis Institute of Art entrance

A stone statue of a person in lotus pose with what looks like water (but I believe was silver) running down them, giving it a wet appearance

Some traditional African style bead masks

A purse with Native American embroidered designs and spikes

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Lastly we have a very extensive bike share system with Divvy that has like a thousand stations and 20,000 bikes, so you'll see a lot of tourists but also commuters with memberships riding those, similar to NYC. That seemed more rare in Minneapolis

Two people biking on the Dearborn protected bike lane past a Divvy station

Two men on Divvy bikes waiting to cross Michigan Ave on the sidewalk

And we also have a lot of older painted lanes on key arterials that.. suck. First photo is from a memorial ride for CDOT planner Reilly O'Neil, who died after getting doored and then hit by a semi right near that spot

The Halsted Ave painted lane with people biking and a door open into the lane

The very bad painted lower Randolph bike lane to downtown

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We also have one really major bike trail that acts like your greenways, which is the lakefront trail, and covers nearly the whole city North to South but all the way East at the lake

Me biking on part of the lakefront trail by some tennis courts

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I would say we are starting to have more protected lanes, but they're typically narrow and one on each side - there's almost none curb level. We also have a lot of contraflows to create two way neighborhood green ways, which are easier politically

A bit of the Lincoln Ave protected bike lane in Chicago

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I also paid a visit to some of the memorials of important and dark days in Minneapolis history. It's devastating, but I couldn't come back to Minneapolis without stopping by.

A blue planter with George Floyd's face stenciled in white and a black power fist in black with marigolds growing above

A mural of George Floyd, with his picture in the center in a sunflower, with "Say Our Name" and a long list of names of victims of police violence

Flowers and artifacts in a fenced off area memorializing Alex Pretti's killing, with illustrations of him, mosaics of his name, a bike seat, and lots of flowers

A wide shot of the memorial showing an ICE OUT sign with fake blood coming off it

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And so much fun street art - I already shared the last one, but let it be known that Minneapolis LOVES loons. I ironically thing I saw everything but loons...

A vertical street art piece on a building with a number of birds in colorful pastelle circles

Street art on columns by Target field, including a bicycle, a loon, and a map

A mural of some pink and blue fish on a black background

A big loon with its wings spread wide and my Brompton in front

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And of course so many people biking on the key protected routes. These snaps are all just from an hour of walking on Bryant Ave this morning

A person just after crossing the street on Bryant Ave bike lane by Canteen coffee, in the sunrise

A person on an ebike riding towards camera on Bryant with the focus on a bike repair stand

A man biking towards camera on Bryant with a large park on the left with soccer fields

Three people intersecting on Bryant in front of some homes

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And I'm sorry but obligatory car posting because I can't resist a classic car

A vintage black 1960s Lincoln Contintental, with a low wide front with four headlights

The back of the Contentinental showing some side damage, a chrome bumper and some red tail lights

A vintage teal Ford F-150 or similar truck, with Chrome bumper

The back of the teal Ford, looking in good shape with massive clear white FORD lettering

And I remember the colorful power boxes from last time, but being in Uptown more I saw even more, and I mean come ON. Stunning, A+, Chicago let's steal this

A set of three colorful power boxes along the Bryant Ave bike lane

A colorful psychedlic power box with a sun with a face, an eye and lips on it in front of Lake street

A more abstract geometric power box on Lake street

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I mean truly, flowers everywhere, including a beautiful pollinator garden with monarchs and moths in front of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and even flowers between the Bryant bike lane and the sidewalk! I'm curious if these are parkways like Chicago, where the property owner can plant stuff

Some flowers in the sun poking out over a sidewalk

A house with several foot tall flowers out in front, behind the Bryant bike lane

A monarch on a pink flower among other flowers with the Minneapolis Institute of Art entrance behind

A woman biking past some stunning yellowish orange flowers between the Bryant Ave bike lane and the sidewalk

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Did you think I was done Minneapolis posting because I'm back in Chicago? Here's some bonus photos off the camera, more artsy and less infrastructure focused. First off, something striking about Minneapolis is how lush it is - way less lawns, way more beautiful wild gardens! 🧵

A large house on a corner with lush plants around on the sides

A fire hydrant with plants growing around

A house on Bryant Ave with a manicured but lush garden including shrubbery and lots of colorful flowers

A stormwater sign over Bryant Ave bike lane with lots of vegetation

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Also at Bryant Lake Bowl I was talking to a lovely lesbian couple about how there are more people just walking around Chicago, and 7:30 downtown on a weeknight feels busier than mid day walking around most places in Minneapolis. Might be density or walking culture? 🤷🏻‍♂️

We're so back (in Chicago, I feel it)

A Brompton in a clear bag next to a suitcase on a bridge over looking the Chicago River

The Brompton and the suitcase next to a blurred L train, on a photo taken from a camera screen

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Can I confirm as I rocket back into Chicago from Minneapolis, and got eight hours of chill to get work done!

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I also love that every time I take Amtrak people are like wow this train is so convenient and relaxing, I want to do this more! The people don't yearn for automation, they yearn for trains 😤

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Amtrak views started with reflective wetlands and lakes in Minnesota and now beautiful clouds in Wisconsin My favorite part? An Amish kid and 60 year old Minneapolis resident going to a Brewers game both experiencing their first train ride!

A view some green and blue wetland under a clear sky

A beautiful partly cloudy sky with a mix of sun peeking through thin clouds and denser clouds

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There we go, had GPS on for the photo! Just Northeast of 4th & Cedar

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Oh one other thing I noticed on Bryant - drainage! Since the bike lane was part of a full street redesign, it slopes down to the roadway, with drains on both sides. I didn't get to see any large amounts of rain, but I'm guessing this keeps the bike lane from flooding like Chicago often has

A wide shot of Bryant showing drains on both sides of the road, one next to the curb level bike lane and one across the one lane road

A close-up is the two slatted drainage grates

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The St Paul Amtrak station is also very beautiful and has a coffee shop/bike shop I remember from last year and a bookstore with an adorable shop cat. And so close to the E line! So long Minneapolis, and thanks for all the fish 👋🏻

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