Minneapolis
I finally arrived in Minneapolis at about 11pm and was greeted graciously by Ed Johnson, Citizen Outreach Director for the Fund for the Public Interest (who we hire to run our canvass offices). Here's Ed (who is a fellow Duke grad by the way, so can do no wrong...):
I headed to the office the next morning for my briefing.The office is located in "Dinkytown," which is the cute college town bordering the University of Minnesota.
Here's Carl, one of the directors, with their Rush:
After my briefing, Ed recommended I head to Al's for breakfast, rumored to be among the best greasy spoon breakfast joints in the country.
Breakfast was quite good--and they have this cool system of yellow debit books: you can give them some cash up front and open a tab, kind of like in Cheers (but unlike Norm I think you actually have to pay). Here's a shot of the yellow books piled up behind the counter:
After breakfast and a few precious minutes online, I headed across town through U of M to meet my law school friend, Minnesota native, and former St. Olaf hoops player Tim for lunch in downtown Minneapolis. We had an interesting (to us nerds) conversation about judicial philosophy and confirmations. Here's Tim in front of City Hall:
From there I was off to the airport. I think Minneapolis set my record for fewest hours in a city/state: 15.
Los Angeles
I arrived in LA a bit after 7pm on Tuesday. My friend Ryan picked me up at the airport and we camped out at a nearby hotel to grab a drink with Laura, another law school buddy.
Our LA office is in Koreatown on Wilshire Blvd. Here I am in the office with their Rush:
After the briefing, I had lunch with my boss Wendy at a local noodle shop.
Then it was off to the airport again. Contrary to popular belief, LA does have public transit. Here's Wendy next to the metro stop (I even took the metro, and a bus, to the airport):
About 22hrs in LA...
Palo Alto/Mountain View
I arrived at SFO at about 6pm, and Summer, one of the directors in the Palo Alto office (which is really in Mountain View) was kind enough to pick me up and take me home to stay with her beautiful family. Here is Summer with Kaleo (right), Tiara (left), and Jamar:
Tiara and Kaleo in the car EARLY this morning:
Here's me giving my briefing this morning in the Mountain View office (Johnny Cash-style):
My attentive audience (or part of it):
The other half of my audience, including directors Sean and Ranmit (sp?):
And here I am with Summer and Kim, the star field mananger who raised nearly $300 last night on her first night canvassing for Progressive Future:
OK, now I've got to get to San Francisco for a tenth anniversary event for US Action tonight. Tomorrow I fly to Seattle.
