A postmodern pilgrimage ...

I'm here in the Twin Cities for 3 days of training on Adobe Creative Suite 3. Great software. So-so training. A worthwhile experience overall.

I wasn't really looking forward to the drive from Winnipeg to Minneapolis/St. Paul, but this time it turned out good. Here's what I think made the trip an adventure:

• On the way out of Winnipeg, I stopped at Starbucks on Pembina Hwy. where I grabbed a grande Caffe Americano. An Americano is essentially espresso coffee plus water. In the grande size, it's a triple-shot of espresso. That's 174 milligrams of caffeine, which is more than two cans of Red Bull or four cans of Coke!
• When I crossed the border, the U.S. Customs official asked me the usual questions: citizenship, destination, occupation, etc. When I told him I was a pastor heading to Minneapolis and La Crosse, Wisconsin, he asked me, "What's in La Crosse, Wisconsin?" I enthusiastically replied, "La Crosse is the home of Dave's Guitar Shop." That piqued his curiosity: "So, are you a musical pastor?" I responded, "I'm a rock 'n' roll preacher" ... at which point he insisted on searching my trunk. There he found something he had never seen before. "What's a Pignose?", he asked. After a short explanation, he let me cross.
• Filled up the gas tank at the BP in Grand Forks. Mid-grade for the same price as low-grade. Cool.
• I offered up a prayer of thanks as I crossed over the Red River from Fargo to Moorhead, Minnesota. Moorhead is the home of my pride and joy: a Fender Custom Shop Vibro-King. Blonde tolex on oxblood grill cloth, birch ply cabinet, 3x10" Eminence speakers, hand-wired, and 60 watts of all-tube power. My friend, Jeff Homuth, was the original owner of the Vibro-King from 1999-2004. He put about 10 hours of use on the amp and 5 hours on the matching 2x12" extension cabinet. It gets used proper now.
• My goal was to eat cheap on this trip, so when I hit Alexandria, Minnesota, I made my usual stop at the Wal-Mart. I found lots of great food for my three days in the Twin Cities: canned tuna, canned corn, canned fruit cocktail, all-bran crackers, Perrier, and spring water. Sweetness!
• Before I left Winnipeg, I loaded up my nano with my "Minnesota Road Tunes" playlist. Lots of Eric Clapton, Rick Elias and the Confessions, Arlen Roth, John Mayer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, and Manitoba Hal. I ran my nano through the car stereo and cranked 'er up. Wow, the miles go by a lot faster with good music. Before I knew it, I was passing the smiling water tower at Freeport, which meant I was just 100 miles away from the Mississippi River in downtown Twin Cities.
• Did you know there's a red-barn DQ in Albany, Minnesota? I bet the beef and chicken is REALLY fresh at that DQ! Just down the road from Albany is Middle Spunk Creek (great name).
• As I drove the last stretch to my hotel, I passed by Medicine Lake. This is a bona-fide lake in the middle of Minneapolis, with houses along the shore. Wow. Beautiful. (See below.)

People often associate Minneapolis with the home of the Twins, the Vikings, Target, and General Mills. For me, Minneapolis is the beginning of Highway 61, which becomes the blues highway south of Cairo, Illinois. (The blues highway was travelled northwards by black folk leaving the south and looking for a better life in Chicago.) You can take Highway 61 all the way down to Memphis, through Mississippi, and on to New Orleans. In Clarksdale, Mississippi, the junction of Highway 61 and Highway 49 is known as "the crossroads" where legend has it that Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil.

Travelling Highway 61 to the south is my idea of a postmodern pilgrimage. It's the discovery of a rock 'n' roll religion rooted in the musical idioms of blues, gospel, and country music. It's the search for a sound that is equally adept at expressing spiritual and sexual ecstasy.


And sitting at the start of this journey is an inauspicious store, which furnishes pilgrims with their provisions for the road. Dave's Guitar Shop is celebrating its 25th anniversary this week and while I may not be able to travel all the way down the blues road this time round, I will make my way to this wonderful shrine. The first floor features the latest wares from Fender, Gibson, Martin, etc. Walk upstairs and you'll find the holiest of relics: vintage guitars and amplifiers from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Who knows? I might even find the Holy Grail this time at Dave's.