The Bad Continues

Sunday, October 27th was spent tailgating.  That was the fun part at least.  It was the border battle between the Vikings and the Packers.

The game started at 7:30 pm so we got out to tailgate right about 3 pm.  We set up our camp, cracked beers, mixed drinks and relaxed until our friends arrived.

M's friend Smitty showed up with his son, grandson and friend.  Smitty's son used to be on the Vikings and it was alumni weekend as they would be inducting Joey Browner into the Ring of Honor at halftime and we would see him again later on the field during that ceremony.

My friend John and his friend Nicole joined us too.  We accepted him even though he's a Packers fan.  We made meatball subs in the slow cooker for everyone to eat.

The line for the bathroom

The game, as expected for a Vikings fan was another miserable loss.  The game did start out perfectly with a kickoff return of 109 yards for a touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson.  It was all downhill from there.

During halftime, Joey Browner was inducted into the Ring of Honor.  Zygi Wilf was introduced to the podium by Greg Coleman and Zygi received very loud boos, for a variety of reasons I would assume; owner of a losing team, racketeering charges, PSL's, take your pick!

As it's been the case multiple times this year, we left early with about 5 minutes left on the clock.  Vikings lose to the Packers, 41-31.

Despite the loss, we still have each other, right?

Sunday Brunch

M and I went out with my mom for brunch on Sunday, October 20th.  It was a cold, rainy day and a perfect time to go out to eat since the Vikings weren't playing that day.  (It might have been a good thing to go out even if they were playing.)  

We went to Kozlak's for their New Orleans style brunch.  My sister and I took my mom there once before for Mother's Day last year.  We got there right at 10:30 am when they open which turned out to be a good thing since it was packed by 11 am.  I wasn't impressed with the buffet this time and neither was my mom or M, meaning I'm sure this will be the last time we'll go there.  There were items that were advertised that weren't available and the setup there just isn't very efficient.

It's not always easy to get pictures of people who don't like their picture to be taken so the sign inside will have to do.

Dirty Thirty

We went to our friend Jared's 30th birthday party on Saturday, October 19th.  They ordered massive pizza's, both 30 inches and had yummy party food.  Jared was kind enough to let M and I try Sam Adam's Utopias 10th Anniversary Edition which was released last year.  It's beer but it doesn't seem like it because of the high ABV. (29%)  I actually liked it.  I only had a few sips but I could see myself sipping it very slowly someday.  M also has a bottle at home that he has yet to crack so maybe someday I can taste it again.

Happy 30th birthday Jared!

Playing battle shots

Jared's beer cellar

The birthday boy

Birthday shot for Jared

Another Bad One

The morning came too soon after Sean and Beth's party so we decided not to tailgate.  Instead, we parked at a meter and hung out on the plaza for awhile.  It was crazy packed so we found ourselves a seat and people watched.  We ended up seeing a season ticket holder we used to sit by for years.  We didn't see him at all last year and we even thought he may have passed away since he's in his 70's but M spotted him in the crowd and we talked to him for awhile about the personal seat licensing and all that crap.  (Turns out that our friend is on the lower level now since he can't walk stairs anymore.)

The NFL always supports breast cancer awareness during the month of October so the cheerleaders and plenty of players were wearing pink.

The game itself was abysmal, which is par for the course this year for the Vikings.  We signed Josh Freeman as QB the week before and with Ponder and his rib "injury", Matt Cassel was the starter.  He didn't do well. I can't give you any highlights of the game either because I don't think there were any and I can sum it up by saying that the Panthers beat the Vikings 35-10.  They didn't do anything fancy to beat us and they're not that great but obviously better than us.  We ended up leaving with almost 8 minutes left on the clock.  That's a lot of time left in football time!

Fall

The season is turning from fall to winter and I'm not ready! I just want to hang on to late September/early October weather forever.

What have you been doing this fall?  As for me, my weekends have been spent cleaning, watching football and baking.  I associate food with cooler weather.  I love to start pulling out the slow cookers for meals and soups and comfort food and I enjoy getting up on weekends and making breakfast for M when we have no place to go.

I've made pumpkin bread, pumpkin banana bread and apple cinnamon bread this season already and I can't wait to make more.  I can't eat them all myself so my coworker's are the recipients of a lot of my baked goods as well as my mom.

Soon I'll be starting to think about Christmas cookies and what will be in the lineup for this year.  To assist in my baking this year, I bought myself a new gift this week.  Taa Daaaaa!

I've wanted a Kitchenaid stand mixer for years and I finally bought one.  I found it for a pretty good deal being on sale for $100 off the price and then having an additional 30% off plus a rebate.  It's the same color as the box shows called Liquid Graphite.  If I didn't care about what it looked like in my kitchen, I would have chosen one of these colors!

My mom decided to give me a Christmas present early because of my new purchase.  She bought me these adorable mini loaf pans.  I love them!

I put apples in them for reference

Do you have a Kitchenaid mixer?  Do you love it?  Do you use it a lot?

What hobbies are you doing this fall that you enjoy?

North Shore Trip #2 Dad's Day

I woke up on Saturday, September 28th before the sun was up.  I got dressed and headed out the door to the beach area where everyone else was staying.  I found a nice rock to sit on and I waited for the sun to rise.  My phone said it was supposed to rise at 7:00 am but I found it coming up closer to 6:57 am.  You have to be precise when it comes to sunrises since they happen so quickly.

There are no effects on these pictures.  SOOC- Straight out of camera (and when I say camera, I mean my phone)

Breakfast was served at our cabin.  Jamie and I made breakfast; scrambled eggs and cheese and bacon and eggs nests, all in a muffin pan.  We also had sausage and a heaping pile of toast.  

We were out the door shortly sometime in the 10 am hour and headed to Lutsen, about 30 miles north. From there, we turned onto the Caribou Trail and headed inland to our destination.  The colors of the leaves were nothing spectacular coming up north and there was still plenty of green but once we went inland a bit, the colors were spectacular.  There was only a few miles were the colors were good before they started to dull a bit the further we went in. 

Ok, these pictures are doctored a little bit but that's how the colors looked to us.

After taking almost and hour to drive 23 miles on the back roads, we arrived at our destination, Lichen Lake. 

So why Lichen Lake?  It was a request of my dad's before he passed away that if we were ever in the area, he wouldn't mind being there. And so a day before what would have been his 59th birthday, we spread some of his ashes there.

Lichen Lake is in a remote area just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the Superior National Forest and within Pat Bayle State Forest.  I know I'm getting a little crazy with the maps, but this is more for family in case you want to know exactly where my dad is.

Exact spot we spread his ashes

In reference to the BWCA, Lichen Lake is closest to the 39th entry point

Let's talk about the weather that day.  The whole weekend was supposed to rain.  It rained a little on Friday and we knew rain was coming sometime after 2 pm on Saturday.  We were there shortly after noon and it was cloudy and very windy and probably around 50+ degrees.

This was our first peek at Lichen Lake.  This isn't where we put his ashes but the first time we were able to see the lake from the road.

We wouldn't drive that much further up the road before we found the spot.

Do you see the heart shape nature makes?

We spread my dad's ashes on the ground by the lake and in the lake.  We had a packet of ashes to share for all of us.  My mom, sister, nephew and myself all spread his ashes around.  My nephew threw Grandpa's ashes towards the lake and into the wind, which in turn, came back directly on his black pants. Watching him furiously try to wipe the ashes from his pants, you can't help to make light of the situation and laugh.

Lichen on the rock

It was a very emotional time for me, as you can imagine.  I wished everything would have been storybook; a sunny day, no wind, a bear and a moose watching across the lake but instead clouds, chilly and the onset of rain.  Despite this, it was perfect.

A sad Dana and a loving Michael

We each had a penny that we threw in the lake in honor of my dad.  The penny thing is an inside joke and my dad would have appreciated our gesture.

M decided to put the penny in the tree around the lichen

My mom wanted a nice flat rock with lichen on it.  M found her the perfect one and with the addition of some branches with lichen on it, it makes for a nice tribute to my dad on my mom's coffee table at home.

As soon as we were done, we got into the car and it started to rain.  Things really did work out perfectly. We drove back a different way through the back roads to the Gunflint Trail and came out in Grand Marais. It was raining pretty good and we didn't really get a chance to explore.  We went to Ben Franklin, the Trading Post and drove back the 43 miles back to the cabin.  

It was supposed to be raining the entire night but instead, it started to clear and even started to get a little sunny again.  We had another fire on the shore and let a sky lantern go in honor of my dad and his birthday.

The night sky was clear and we saw multiple planets, many satellites and the Milky Way in the sky.  M and I were the last by the fire again.

We woke up to a bright, sunny day.  It's always hard to leave one of the most beautiful places in the world but we packed up and were on the road at 9 am. 

Later in the day, M and I took a motorcycle ride to the cemetery to say Happy Birthday to my dad.  Upon arrival, we saw two deer right by his grave.  We tried to get a little closer which scared them and realized there were seven deer right at my dad's grave.  I think they were having a party for him.

I told my sister of the deer.  She was only 10 minutes away so when she got there, she saw some of them back in the area too.  These pictures are from her. 

It was a happy family weekend with sadness mixed in.  I WISH my dad was here to have been with all of us on Lake Superior.  At least he was in spirit.  I love you, Dad.