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 Steam
    
Gender: Male
 |  | A Tribute to MSP
< on 12/25/2008 6:07 AM >
|  | | | Minneapolis St. Paul has been the generator of the best times of my life, the closest claims on my life, and the birthplace of my wildest dreams. For this I give a tribute.
Nowhere else have I been as free to live dreams as in Minneapolis St. Paul.
I have traveled through abandoned mines, been washed out of a massive storm drain, been trapped hundreds of feet under st. Paul, accidentally stumbled into a vast abandoned power plant, rafted down a forgotten river deep in a natural cave, and met some people who I will never forget.
One summer I spent living in the cities with a good friend of mine. Every day we would don our dirty clothes, grab our backpacks, and head out to discover. Not a day went by when we would come back empty handed. From discovering abandoned tunnel systems, to walking for hours through blackness to come upon massive stone staircases ascending hundreds of feet, to being surrounded by ancient brick on all sides and navigating by the light of a flickering candle, every day was something completely new. Each evening we would race home on our bikes, sometime as late as 5 in the morning, riding through parks and over highways whooping and cheering for the sole reason that life there. We would come home exhausted and sleep the sleep of the peaceful. It seemed like every day our minds would be saturated by the stories of fellow explorers: someone had found a cave downtown that was only accessible by trudging hundreds of yards through a raging tunnel of sewage, others would move through an old storm drain up rusted and ancient ladders into the bowels of a mill as old as the city itself. And here we were living just that life. One day we would lift a manhole expecting little only to find that it would take many days and weeks after to explore the resulting find, other days we would spend more that 8 hours underground just walking to the sound of rushing water. After that summer, I knew my life had changed forever. Ever since I can remember I would have dreams of walking through mazes of interconnected tunnels leading to forgotten castles, and ancient wonders. I never knew that someday I would find my dreamland: MSP. I never would have guessed in my wildest hopes that it could have existed. But it does.
One weekend long after that summer, I traveled up to the cities by myself. I brought only flashlights, water, writing supplies, and an inflatable raft. For that entire week, I biked up and down the metropolis, finding my way down to the river and not retreating till dark. The memories of rafting through half sunken storm drains, and floating down the channel off of chutes tunnel will stay with me forever. I remember finding the immaculate sandstone grottoes people had carved into the sandstone bluffs, and closing my eyes imagining the days and days of their lives they must had spent returning to those spots to carve caves, castles, staircases, and murals into the soft stone. I spent nights camping amidst the sandstone caves, lulled to sleep by the yellow glow of tea candles, and sung to by the wind.
There will never be another place that has effected me and shaped me as much as MSP, and for that I am thankful.
Memories:
One day I remember lying with my friend on to of a 40 foot mountain range of construction gravel staring out into the pit that would one day day become a building. I remember the night all around us, and staying there far too long, sliding down the gravely slopes and climbing back up.
I remember walking along the river and finding a tiny hole with a cement block in front bolted with a "No trespassing" Sign. I remember digging for hours to open that little hole up only to find that it only led to a small collapsed room with a few beer cans in it.
I remember basking in the glow of the west bank Tailraces and watching the water roar out from behind the metal grates in the walls. I remember thinking how it looked like the ruins on an ancient city, and gripping the fact that really- it was.
I remember biking past the neon sign of Pillsbury flower and seeing the pinks and blues reflected in dark puddles in the falling rain.
I remember being held in awe by the stories of others; how one found his way into sealed brewery cellars after slugging through a labyrinth of sewers, How another spent months digging from one forgotten cave to one ever more so. How yet another rallied friends and traveled through tunnels in a half sunken canoe only to find much more than he had expected.
These tails and memories saturate my life in a way that is sometimes almost too much to handle and I know that no matter what, no matter what happens I will always have these times, these day to be thankful for, and I owe it all to minneapolis St. Paul. So thank you MSP, thank you for the times of my life.
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bash
  
Location: Wisconsin/ Milwaukee/ Menomonie
Gender: Male
light up the darkness
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 1 on 12/26/2008 4:18 AM >
| | | | This sounds like a trip to heaven. Feel free to PM me with any places not listed in the database. I will be living there next year, and am greatly looking forward to sharing such times in such a wonderful city.
You cannot begin to live until you cease to just exist. |
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Dr. Magnus
Location: MSP (Upper Echelon)
Gender: Male
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 2 on 12/27/2008 1:27 AM >
| | | | I love the Twin Cities.
Elite: exclusive, noble, gilt-edged, tip-top, choice, pick, greatest, top drawer, cool, super, out of sight, top-notch, crack, top, out of this world, topflight, elect, aristocratic, selected, upper-class, world-class. |
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Gramma
Location: North Esdaile, WI
Gender: Male
CREEPY
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 3 on 1/29/2009 7:32 AM >
| | | | That is some really interesting stuff. I must say it sounds a bit final. Like a self authored obituary. Either way a real good read.
Props
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cr400
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 4 on 1/29/2009 3:39 PM >
| | | | Sounds a little sad and lamenting the fact that you had such a wonderful time and place, sounds like you had lots of time and little expenses, and maybe that has changed, and you're missing that past time and place. I hope you get a new one.
You can see a million miles tonite, but you can't get very far.
Honorary member of UER lifetime acheivement award winning, 2Xplorations and Guide Services, Texas. |
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Gahein
Location: Minneapolis
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 5 on 2/2/2009 8:18 PM >
| | | | it's so great to read such beautiful words about this city, and what you say is truly the magic of this place. day or night, there is always a new adventure here, I hope you're still exploring, I know I will be for a long time.
What I am, where I am, who I am, that I am, does not exist.
http://stevegahein.tumblr.com |
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Shakes
Location: Mpls, MN
Gender: Male
| |  | | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 6 on 2/21/2009 7:43 PM >
| | | | Posted by Steam
I remember walking along the river and finding a tiny hole with a cement block in front bolted with a "No trespassing" Sign. I remember digging for hours to open that little hole up only to find that it only led to a small collapsed room with a few beer cans in it.
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That is the worst sand crawl I've experienced.
www.tccrawlersyndicate.com |
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Dr. Magnus
Location: MSP (Upper Echelon)
Gender: Male
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 7 on 2/21/2009 7:58 PM >
| | | | Posted by Shakes
That is the worst sand crawl I've experienced.
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Lolz, you got bukkaked!
Elite: exclusive, noble, gilt-edged, tip-top, choice, pick, greatest, top drawer, cool, super, out of sight, top-notch, crack, top, out of this world, topflight, elect, aristocratic, selected, upper-class, world-class. |
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Steam
Gender: Male
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 8 on 2/23/2009 12:14 AM >
| | | | Posted by Shakes
That is the worst sand crawl I've experienced.
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You did it too eh? Hahahah. It was so disappointing after it took us so long to open it. I wonder what it used to be... FRL air vent perhaps?
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Shakes
Location: Mpls, MN
Gender: Male
| | | | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 9 on 2/23/2009 12:51 AM >
| | | | Posted by Steam
You did it too eh? Hahahah. It was so disappointing after it took us so long to open it. I wonder what it used to be... FRL air vent perhaps?
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Maybe, I couldn't tell you. I just remember cleaning sand out of my ears for the next week. It was such a cock-tease for how miserable it was.
www.tccrawlersyndicate.com |
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Dr. Magnus
Location: MSP (Upper Echelon)
Gender: Male
| | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 10 on 2/23/2009 1:18 AM >
| | | | Posted by Shakes
cock-tease
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Yer mom.
Elite: exclusive, noble, gilt-edged, tip-top, choice, pick, greatest, top drawer, cool, super, out of sight, top-notch, crack, top, out of this world, topflight, elect, aristocratic, selected, upper-class, world-class. |
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TUGG
Location: North Minneapolis
Gender: Male
| |  | | Re: A Tribute to MSP
<Reply # 11 on 3/25/2009 2:41 AM >
| | | | I was born here, at Abbot-Northwestern (right after abbot closed, now it's pretty good sights inside).
I don't think I'll ever leave, I hate winter but the cities make up for it.
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