Happy Independence Day

I love lazy Summer mornings.  Especially days like today, when the weather was perfect for sleeping with the windows open all night and the morning starts peacefully and slowly.  I'm not a morning person by nature, but I love when I can wake up without an alarm, lounge in bed for a bit, and just enjoy some quiet time to myself.  I've always felt this way.  

Growing up, Summer was always my favorite season because I could sleep in and then start the day at my own speed.  I didn't have to rush around, didn't have to worry about to-dos and commitments.  There was no daily grind, nothing to keep me from just enjoying the day.  I'm definitely that same person today.  There's just something special about how Summer mornings make me feel.  

These days, my alarm has four legs, but I'm thankful that they also enjoy slow mornings.  On Monday, we woke in Eau Claire, WI with only one goal for the day-to get home from our road trip.  The girls woke me up for breakfast and their morning potty break, so we went out for our morning walk.  The girls made friends with a couple and their two grandkids on the elevator, and then we ran into another couple with a beautiful GSP getting off the other elevator when we arrived at the first floor.  We talked to them for a bit before we continued our short morning walk.  Once we were back inside, I fed the girls breakfast and then ran downstairs to grab some oatmeal for myself. 

We took our time that morning, there was no real rush to get on the road.  So I enjoyed a little quiet time while the girls took their post-breakfast nap.  But soon it was time to hit the road.  The drive isn't bad from Eau Claire if you can avoid terrible traffic, and we had decent luck for the start of our trip, making just a couple quick stops for gas or a snack before we made it to the Illinois border and I decided to get the girls out for a walk around the Welcome Center.  

After a quick walk to stretch our legs and take a potty break, we were back in the car, and before we knew it, we were stuck in construction traffic outside of Chicago.  While we sat waiting for traffic to move, I had to grab a couple of pictures of what traveling with Mina looks like.  She never comes into the front seat, but she really wants to be touching me at all times.  This is how we celebrated the second anniversary of her coming home with me.

We finally made it through the Chicago traffic, and continued on through Illinois until we reached the Indiana border.  Nothing says Welcome to Indiana like the picture below.  Thankfully the Indiana traffic cleared pretty quickly, and we made a quick stop just outside of Gary to get gas and food before continuing on toward home.  Due to the traffic delays, we got home quite a bit later than I had expected, but it was still daylight, so I was happy with that.  After 8 days, we were home.

It was a quiet week at work with lots of people out for the July 4th holiday, and it was pretty quiet around Lansing too.  It made for a great week to get caught up from our time out of the office.  The girls spent a lot of time outside enjoying our beautiful weather during the days while I worked.  

On Wednesday after work,  I got to head out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walking club.  I walked this little cutie.  He was a sweet boy and a great walker.  It was a little hot, so we shortened our walk, and the group spent time lounging in the shade with the dogs for a little while.  I love when we can spend a little time with the dogs like that because their personalities really shine.  

July 4th arrived on Thursday, and I had decided I was going to make the drive to our annual Hayt Family reunion which is held at one of my uncle's houses.  This reunion has been on July 4th for as long as I can remember, and I haven't been there in a couple of years, so I thought it would be nice to go.  I needed basil for my passing dish, and I was excited to get into the garden and make my first harvest of the season.  It smelled so good!

I made the drive to my Uncle Tom's for the party and stayed for a couple of hours.  It was nice getting to catch up with family, especially with some cousins that I don't see often.  My parents didn't make it to the reunion, so before heading home, I visited them too.  

When I got home, I knew that I needed to get the girls out for some exercise, so we took a quick walk around the neighborhood and then got in the car to make the drive out to Eaton Rapids for some time at the dog park.  As I suspected, there was no one else there when we arrived, so the girls had the whole place to themselves.  Mina and I played with her chuck-it ball while Peaches just sniffed to her heart's content.  It's such a great place because it just feels like we're in our own private yard with no one around to bother us.  I really enjoyed watching them both enjoy themselves and the peacefulness of the evening.  

Before heading home, I made a stop along the way for a bag of cheesy popcorn so that we could continue our Independence Day tradition of eating popcorn during fireworks.  Then we settled in for an uneventful evening at home.  While the war zone of fireworks went off around us outside, we settled inside to watch fireworks on TV and eat our popcorn, and then the girls crashed for the night, unphased by all of the noise going on around us.  

Friday I had a full day at work, so the girls got to spend a lot of time outside enjoying their day.  They both really love to hang out under this spruce tree to watch the world go by, but I think Peaches loves it best.  

I had promised them a trip to the ice cream social at Preuss Pets on Friday after work, so we made the drive there shortly after 5:30pm.  We got our voucher for the ice cream from Preuss and then made the one block walk down to the Artic Freeze which was providing the tasty treats for the dogs.  Then we found a nice spot in the shade for the girls to enjoy their treat.

After they finished their ice cream, we headed inside the store.  It was crazy, but the girls loved it.  We ran into our friend Betsy, and the girls made a few new friends with both two and four legs.  And after I got them into the car, I got to make a new friend too. 

On the way home a storm system moved through the area and we had quite the down pour.  I made dinner and then we settled in for a quiet evening at home.  

After a slow start to our Saturday, I decided I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful mid-70 degree temperatures to get the girls out for some fun.  After a little research, I decided to head slightly Northwest to Montcalm County.   There were some small towns and fun looking spots we could visit that would make for the perfect afternoon adventure.

After a short stop in the town of Sheridan, we headed to Sidney to visit the Montcalm Heritage Village and Kenneth Lehman Nature Trails at Montcalm Community College.  While I didn't expect crowds of people, I was shocked that we had the whole place to ourselves.  The girls were crazy and so happy to be checking out some place new.  Thankfully they eventually settled down and I could enjoy a bit of our walk.   

After our time in Sidney, we made the short drive up to Stanton.  I was surprised to see sunflowers in bloom already.  Our Summer really needs to slow down!

This is such a nice area and we all enjoyed our little adventure.  It was such a peaceful day spent in the country.  While I had hoped to spend time walking the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail which runs right through this area, the sun came out making the pavement too hot for the girls' feet, so I guess we'll just have to go back for another visit.  

Mina has been busy helping me.with my writing this morning, but I think it's time for us to get moving for the day.  But first.I have to share a picture of Fiona from the 4th.  She wasn't happy that her mom was taking "smiles."

Now I'm off to clean and garden and maybe even have a little fun with the girls today.  I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Let's take a road trip and end June with a bang!

Good morning and happy Sunday to you all.  It has been an interesting week, starting with a work conference in Minneapolis followed by some fun adventures with the girls.  I'm coming to you from the room in my hotel where the girls and I are making the most of our quiet Sunday morning on the road.  

On Monday morning the girls and I left Eau Claire Wisconsin to head to Minneapolis.  Since we had done the majority of our drive on Sunday, that gave us a little time to explore before heading into town, so we made a couple of stops along the way.  

 

The best stop was Vermillion Falls Park in Hastings, MN, about 30 minutes south of Minneapolis.   We enjoyed the waterfall and the walking trails which shared history of the flour mill which used to be located at this site.  

It was a warm morning, and after a 1 1/2 mile walk, Peaches was ready to get into the car for a little break.  We still had a little time to explore, though, so after a short drive, we stopped to take a walk along the Mississippi River in a cute little park in town.  When we were done, both girls happily jumped into the car for a little rest.

Sadly, our little adventure had to end because it was time to head back toward the city.  So off we went to make the drive to Minneapolis where the girls would spend the next few days at Lucky Dog Pet Lodge while I spent them at our Mid Year Leader meeting. 

After dropping the girls off, I made my way downtown to check in to the hotel and do a little work before out team dinner later that evening.  I even managed to get in a walk around downtown and visited the iconic Mary Tyler Moore statue.

After a long day of travel, fun, work, and dinner with the team, I finally settled in for the evening. 

Tuesday was spent in meetings all day followed by our evening recognition dinner.  We also got to partake in an 80s themed murder mystery.   David on my team got picked to play the part of one of the suspects.   

It was an interesting experience and my table didn't win, but the view from the 50th floor of the IDS building is always pretty spectacular. 

Wednesday brought more meetings.  Luckily after sitting inside all day, Wednesday evening we got to partake in a fun scavenger hunt around downtown Minneapolis.   It was a great time and we got in a great 3 1/2 miles too.  This was my fun team.

After the scavenger hunt, we had dinner and enjoyed a little down time with the group.  It had been a long couple of days, so I was happy to be in my room early to rest up for the final day of our conference. 

The final day is always short, and when we adjourn everyone scatters quickly to get to the airport for the trip home.   I was so excited to head out to get the girls, and they were pretty excited to see me too.  After they were settled into the car, I stopped to pick up lunch at Andale Taqueria, filled the gas tank up next door at the Speedway, grabbed a Mt. Dew, and then hit the road.

Since our year has been so crazy and we haven't had a vacation at all this year, I had decided we were going to have some fun before making the drive home.  So with the girls pooped from their week at Lucky Dog, we headed North to explore some new places.  

We made a few quick stops along the way, and finally made it to our stop for the night in International Falls.  We checked into our room at the Falls Motel, had a nice walk around town checking out some of the sites(including the largest Smokey the Bear statue in the US), and then picked up dinner from Sammy's before heading back to the room.

After dinner and a short potty walk, we all settled in for the night.  We were all going to be well rested for our upcoming adventures!

After our busy week, we were all exhausted and must have needed some rest because none of us were uo before 8:30 on Friday morning.  Once we were up, I got the girls out for their potty break, fed them breakfast, and then sat down to do a little work before starting our day.  

When we were finally ready to head out, they watched me closely as I packed the car to ensure they wouldn't be left behind.

Our travels led us along MN11 following the Rainy River with some pretty views along the way and Canada in view, just across the river, most of the trip.

We stopped along the way at the former Grand Mounds State Park site but didn't stay long because the mosquitoes were voracious.   We also stopped to see the Falls along the Rapid River. What a pretty area.

We made a stop in Baudette to get gas and lunch,  and decided to stretch our legs with a visit to Willie the Walleye and walked around town.

Then we were back in the car to continue our rainy day drive North.  Finally we arrived in Warroad and crossed the border into Manitoba, Canada.

It was Mina's first visit to Manitoba, and the second time Peaches and I had been there.  They weren't very happy that I wanted to take their picture in the rain.

From here, we continued our journey to the unique little town of Angle Inlet Minnesota,  the Northernmost most point in the contiguous US.  The thing that makes this town unique is that it can only be accessed by road through Canada.  

I've wanted to visit this quirky place ever since I first heard about it on CBS Sunday Morning a few years ago.  So off we went to make the approximately hour long drive to the town.

The final 20 miles of the drive are pretty rough gravel/dirt roads, and they were in pretty rough shape because of the rain that had been falling all day.   But despite the mud and bumps, we powered forward.  We finally arrived at the US border,  but still had about eight miles to go until we reached town.

When we arrived at Jim's corner I had to go inside this booth and use the iPad inside to report my arrival back into the US.  It was pretty quick and easy.

Then we drove a couple more miles to the Northernmost Point marker.  The view of the lake was pretty here, but it was so windy, we didn't Stan around long.  There is a resort/campground, fishing charter company, and restaurant here, and I decided to go into Jerry's to order take out so I could eat my dinner on the drive back.

Then we drive a few miles to the other side of town where the year round residents live.  Here are the girls at the Northernmost US Post Office.

This is the view from the "neighborhood " and school. 

We probably spent nearly 2 hours in the area, but I knew it was time to head back South.  So we stopped at the Border control booth across from the school to report our re-entry into Canada.   This is done using a phone on the outside of the booth, and I stood outside in the wind for about 10 minutes waiting for someone to answer, but once they did, the process went quickly and we were off.  I waved goodbye to Jim's corner as we drove by.

Luckily the rain had stopped and the drive back wasn't quite as rough and went pretty quickly.

Of course I had to get at least one picture while in Manitoba.  It was such a fun adventure!

Our re-entry to the US at the border went smoothly and quickly, and then we were off to figure out where to stay for the night.  I was trying to be a little more spontaneous and flexible so I didn't have any hotels planned for this trip.  I thought this would give us the opportunity to explore and stop wherever we felt made sense.  What I discovered is that traveling without an itinerary and solid plans for a place to stay is really not my strength.  So we wandered across northwestern Minnesota trying to find a small town with a mom and pop place to stay...but we finally ended up in the closest city nearby...Grand Forks, North Dakota.  

It was not at all where I expected to end up and it took a bit to find the right place to stay, but I finally found a place, made a reservation online, and drove through the edge of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning to get there.  It was getting dark and I watched as the storm moved across the farmlands of western Minnesota as I drove.  We arrived during a break in the rain and made it into the hotel without getting wet, but as soon as we got into the room, I discovered we were in the middle of a Tornado Warning.  Luckily the storm moved past us quickly and we were safe and sound.  It had been a long day and we were happy to settle in for the night.

Saturday morning, I decided that I liked our hotel so much that I wanted to stay and explore the area more, so I headed downstairs to book our room for another night.  I was excited that we'd be staying in the area another night even though it would mean a longer drive for us on Sunday.  

We started our morning with a walk around the campus at the University of North Dakota.  It is a beautiful campus, and it was so nice since we had it mostly to ourselves.  There isn't much better than a quiet walk on a college campus.

After exploring, I stopped for lunch at Taco John's before heading west out of town on US-2 where we stopped at the Airforce Base which had a nice little display of some aircrafts outside the entrance.  The girls loved this stop, and I found it pretty interesting, too.   

Next we drove about 10 miles north to the small town of Gilby.  Gilby is a small town, but it well-known in the geocaching community as the "Disneyland of Geocaching."  I had never heard of this town and discovered it completely by accident.  Boy am I glad I found it.

We spent the afternoon exploring the farmlands in the surrounding area and picking up some geocaches along the way.  We ran into some fellow geocachers and had a nice conversation with them about the town and even found a couple of caches together.  It is always nice to run into others who enjoy this little game.

We took a walk around the town of Gilby, and the girls enjoyed sniffing everything.  It was such a beautiful sunny day, and it was nice to explore the town.

Then we headed across the border into Minnesota to explore some of the small towns nearby.  When we were in the town of Warren, MN, we stopped to visit the outdoor exhibits at the Marshall County Fairgrounds where the local historical society has a model town square to visit.  I thought we would be stopping for a quick walk around the exhibits, but as luck would have it, we arrived while one of the volunteers was there doing some work on some of the buildings.  He immediately opened the Museum, which is normally closed on the weekends, so that I could go inside and check it out.  He was especially proud to show me the UFO car which he was sure I must have heard of before (I had not).  Then I got the girls out for their walk, and the volunteer opened a couple of the historic buildings, including the depot, and let the girls check it out with me.  I spent more time there than I thought I would, but I was so appreciative of the opportunity to unexpectedly check out the displays.

We visited a couple of other small towns on our way back to the hotel, ordered dinner for take out, and then settled in for a quiet evening.  The weather was perfect for opening the windows.  We had had a wonderful, fun-filled day and I was so happy that we had decided to stay here another night.

We woke up Sunday morning to another beautiful sunny day, and the girls really made the most of our comfy hotel bed.  We took our time packing up and enjoying our peaceful morning.  But soon it was time to hit the road to start heading eastward.  

Along the drive, I had plans to stop to visit Uncle John’s Giant Champion Cottonwood about 15 miles outside of Fargo.  I was so excited to visit this giant tree, but was disappointed when we arrived to find the road to the park closed.  I tried valiantly to find a way into the park, but all roads were blocked.  I got withing 1/10th of a mile only to find this...so I finally gave up and we continued our journey.

Next we headed to a little visited, out of the way spot down a two track dirt road in the middle of corn fields.

After a short drive, we arrived at this marker in the middle of nowhere, marking the spot where the borders of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota all meet.  I love Tri-State Markers and was excited to get to this one.  This was officially a new state for both girls, since neither of them had been to South Dakota previously.  

With a couple of other short stops along the way, we finally made our way back to Eau Claire, WI for our final night on the road.  I stopped for a quick dinner, and then we headed out to check into our hotel.  When I arrived, I was informed that they didn't have any hot water and that it wasn't expected to be fixed for a couple of days.  Of course they cancelled my reservation without penalty and suggested a couple of other places to stay nearby.  I quickly found a new place to stay and drove across town to get checked-in.  

Since we hadn't gotten out for any long walks, I got the girls out for a quick two miles.  It was a nice area to get out and stretch our legs before settling in for the night.  And then we were treated to a beautiful sunset from our room.  

I was sad that our fun had come to an end and that we had to head back to reality the next day, but I was happy that we had had the chance for some adventures together.

During our travels, Mina made it to two new states-North and South Dakota- and one new Canadian Province-Manitoba, while Peaches only added South Dakota to her list of new places.  We saw a lot of Minnesota that we had never before visited and met so many friendly, helpful, kind people along the way.  The last couple of days were a lot of driving, but well worth it, in my opinion, for the adventures we shared.  It certainly felt nice to be back on the road and visiting new places.  I have really missed a good old-fashioned American road trip.  It has been a roller coaster of a start to the year, and I feel like we ended June and the first half of 2024 on a high note.  Here's to a better end to the year.