North Shore Part I

M and I headed up to Duluth the morning of Thursday, June 6th.  M had the annual MS150 ride but before he rides, we get a little vacation time together.

Instead of taking our usual route up 35 the entire way, we got off 35 near Askov and took Hwy 23 all the way up to Duluth.  I think the number of miles is less than the freeway but the speed limit is 20 mph lower so it takes longer.  It was fun to take another route!  I would learn after I came back that we passed my cousin's house in Bruno as he lives right off 23.  

The weather was cold and damp but we saw a pretty creek on the side of the road so we took some pictures. The temperature on the car said 42 degrees!  It was really cold.

We had so much fun and laughed so hard about nothing I can even remember on the drive up.  We are truly best friends.

We made it to Duluth in what I would call the "back way" because I had no idea where we were and we went through parts of Duluth that I had never seen before.  It looked a lot like going through Superior, Wisconsin.  We also went through a part of the city called Morgan Park.  

We checked into our hotel room in Canal Park which had a great view of Lake Superior.  It was windy and the waves were crashing onto the rocks.  

We went to Grandma's for a late lunch and then went to Canal Park Brewing Company for beer.  They opened in November 2012 so this was our first time there.  We shared two flights and I was feeling pretty good and my cheeks were plenty warm when we left.  The sun had come out at that point but it was still only 48 degrees and very windy.

Alcohol cheeks

We went back to the hotel for a nap and ventured out later to Bent Paddle Brewing Company, another new brewery in Duluth.  M had a quick couple small beers and then M dropped me off at Canal Park because I wanted to walk around while he went back to the hotel. I saw a ship departing but it was too cold to hang out for long.  I went back to the hotel and we watched TV and ordered Pizza Luce.  

Sad Day

Today is Father's Day.  It's a sad day for me.

My dad loved Father's Day.  He enjoyed getting together with all of us, sitting on the deck and having a BBQ.  We did that for so many years and I wish he was here so we could do it again.

Last year's Father's Day was the last one I went to and I barely even made it there.  The date was Sunday, June 17th and I had just gotten back from a long motorcycle trip weekend.  While getting stuck in the rain in Red Wing, my dad left a message for me on my cell phone. For some reason, I never erased that message and realized it after he passed away so I converted it to mp3 and now I have it forever.  The message was telling me that they threw together a quick dinner and wanted to know if I could come over if I felt like it and if I was back in time as well as how much he would like to see me. When I got home, I took a shower and ventured right back out to see my dad.

My dad hadn't been diagnosed yet (that would be another 11 days away) but he was in a lot of pain so it wasn't the happiest of Father's Days for him.  I KNOW he appreciated seeing me though as he loved being my dad.

So today, I listened to that voice mail and I wish I could go over to their house for a BBQ today but instead,  I went to the cemetery.  I left the cemetery about noon and throughout the day, I saw a couple of signs that made me feel that my dad was around.  I ran an errand after I came out of the store, there was a butterfly on my car.  It made me smile.  The other was a cardinal in the tree right outside our living room window.  He was singing and chirping so loudly that I thought it was the TV.  I went to the window and he was sitting right there.  Believe what you want to believe, but the butterfly and bird made me feel better.

My penny is still there

The cardinal in the tree

I miss you, Dad.

She's Catching Up

It's was my sister's 34th birthday on June 4th but Saturday evening, June 1st, we went out to celebrate.  We went to the Mall of America first for dinner at Kokomo's Island Cafe.  We had a party of eight under the name "Jamie" for 7 pm.  M, my mom and I were the first to arrive so we attempted to check in.  They told us that someone already checked in for Jamie, party of eight so we thought that a couple people might already be there but the hostess told us that all eight people were already back there. Two things could have happened; there was another party of eight under Jamie or they took our reservation.  Either way, things actually worked out better because we had a cool little room all for ourselves. The drinks were fun and almost everyone liked their food.

After dinner, we headed up to the 4th floor to Rick Bronson's House of Comedy.  We hung out in their bar for a drink before we went in to see comedian Michael Malone for the 9:30 pm show.  I had never heard of him before but he was pretty funny.  He had most of us rolling in laughter and tears multiple times.   

Happy birthday Jamie!  We had tons of fun.

My mom and I went over to the next day so she could open our presents and also to go out to lunch.  

Jamie's cute new sandals from my mom--they sparkle and bling in the light 

This about sums up Colton

Growl...er

The June/July issue of The Growler, a beer dabbler publication, was supposed to have a picture of mine featured in it but due to space constraints of the magazine, I was bumped.  

My photo, is however, on the Growler's website.  

Check it out, peeps!

Check me out, I'm famous!

It's always exciting getting these types of requests.  This is my second time my photo has been used commercially.  Pretty fun for an amateur like myself!

Back to Back Games

Friday, May 31st, M and I went to the Twins game.  I won tickets through the City of Bloomington for the Step To It Challenge.  Our seats were in the Powerball Pavilion and we were pretty much right in center field.  I had never sat there before so it's always fun to see a different perspective.  The Twins played the Seattle Mariners and the game itself was pretty boring.  Twins lost 3-0.  They had fireworks after the game but we didn't stay for them.

While I was at work on Friday afternoon, I was asked by one of the managers if I wanted Twins tickets to Saturday's game.  M and I had plans of doing a different animal walk in the morning but we hadn't signed up for it.  We also were invited to my cousin's daughter's first birthday party as well. But, these tickets were offered to me for good performance so I felt like I should take them as well as I wanted to take them.  And so I did.  Good or bad, we bailed on all other plans to go to the Twins game.  I've sat in these seats before and they are really great.  They're in between home plate and the visitor's dugout just 3 rows higher than the Champion's Club on the aisle.  It was M's first time experiencing them and he said that it was the best seats he's ever had at Target Field. 

This game was a little better than the night before.  The Twins were down 4-2 in the top of the 8th when it started to rain.  The radar showed continuing rain so we decided to leave along with a lot of other people.  Too bad we did.  The Twins came back in the bottom of the 9th with a walkoff two-run triple from Doumit to win the game, 5-4.  

Doumit's Walkoff Triple

By June 1st, I have already been to 4 Twins games this year and have only paid for one.  My dad, in the form of his t-shirt, has been to three games.  :)  

Friend Week

The week of May 27th was what I consider friend week.  Instead of writing about each encounter individually, I thought I'd combine them all in one.

May 27th was Memorial Day but the next day I was back at it at work.  For my lunch break, I met my friend Brenna for lunch at People's Organic in The Galleria.  I ran into her at the grocery store a couple of months ago but other than that, it's been a really long time since we saw each other.  It was so nice to catch up with her and see how's she's doing.  We both have fuzzy cat babies so we always talk about them. No pics this time.

The next day, I met Tanya for dinner at Dancing Ganesha. It's an Indian restaurant in downtown Minneapolis.  She had been there multiple times before but this was my first time.  I'd heard good things about it before.  We both had the Tikka Masala with chicken.  I never crave chicken and actually don't care for it much but I was in a chicken mood that night.  We also ordered the garlic naan.  The dinner was fabulous.  I loved what I ordered I can't wait to go back.  Fortunately, I already have a dinner date scheduled for there again at the end of the month.

The next day, Thursday the 30th, I met my friend Heather for lunch at The Good Earth in The Galleria. We both work in the area and we decided to get together for a quick lunch since I hadn't seen her since her in  a long time and to mix a little business with pleasure.  No lunchtime photos with Heather.  

That same evening, I had a happy hour scheduled for the Alphabet Gang.  The weather wasn't supposed to be good with an evening of rain.  We had planned on walking around one of the Minneapolis lakes but since the weather wasn't going to cooperate, we decided to go to Psycho Suzi's instead.  It was just four of us girls this time (Beth, Catha, Deanna and me) and we sat out on the patio.  When we were there, it got cloudy and it rained for just a quick moment and then the sunshine came out and it was hot and sunny.  I hadn't been to this location since they moved from across the street.  The patio was big and nice but the bugs were crazy!  The patio is right on the Mississippi River so I'm sure that's where they're coming from.  I didn't get any pictures of the girls.  I forgot.  Somehow I don't think they minded.  Some in the group aren't fond of getting their picture taken.  

Lastly, to round out the work week, M and I met my friend Justin for a quick beer at New Bohemia in NE Minneapolis.  Again, my first time being here but M's been here a handful of times.  It's a cute little place and not how I pictured it at all.  The community tables might take some getting used to, especially if it's busy.  

It was a really busy week catching up with friends but fun of course!  My busy schedule would continue through the weekend.  (Catching my breath)...until then.