Thursday
We did some driving today and went to Detroit Lakes. It is similar to Seaside or Lincoln City. It has shopping, restaurants, resorts, and retirees. We picked up some souvenirs and drove around the lake to look at big houses. In the evening we went to a benefit dinner for a relative with cancer. The turnout was huge and it was nice to see most of the people I met throughout the trip. I can’t believe our vacation is nearly over. We have just tomorrow before two days of driving to get home.

Wednesday
Today was a slow day. We stayed around the house in the morning and visited a relative in the afternoon. Claire played on a playground for a while with her cousins and had a great time on the slide and swing. After getting home we had some great wine before bed. It is called Riunite Lambrusco and is from Italy. It is lightly carbonated and tastes great.

Tuesday
The lake day.
We went to Sugarbush lake all day. On the way there I learned about the local wild rice farms and about leech ponds. At the lake we started with some Sunfish fishing and boating. It was Claire’s and Madeline’s first boat ride. Claire had a great time splashing in the water and feeling the wind. The weather was awesome and it could not have been more beautiful. We went kayaking for a while after lunch. It was my first time and it is cool to be so quiet and close to the water. On the last boat ride of the day we saw a bald eagle. I was a able to get some great pictures of the whole day. I will post some on Picasa when we get home.

Monday
Today was a pretty laid back day. We drove by Tonya’s old houses. She used to live in Crookston before moving to Arizona. Tonya’s cousin Will came home too. (We are staying at his parents house.) He sings and plays the guitar so we listened to him and sang along. Adyet that we went to the Mahnomen casino but only came back with a couple souvenir coins. Tomorrow: the lake.

Sunday
We made it to Mahnomen today. We will be here the rest of our trip. There was a big family reunion today. Lots of nice people and great food. I played some bocce with the boys and then visited with people. We went to bed early to catch up on sleep.

Saturday
We got up to a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, french toast, sausage, and hashbrowns. After breakfast we went four wheeling for a few hours. There were some big mud pits but pt was mostly flat and dry. After four wheeling we drove out to Lake of the Woods and up to the Canadian border. Before bed we sat around the fire and ate Smores. It was a busy and fun first day in Minnesota.

We made it!
We reached our first destination: Warroad Mn. We pulled in at 7 Friday night. Pizza for dinner and a few hours of visiting before bed. One of the highlights was my father in law telling the dog story. A highlight during the drive was Roosevelt National Park. We saw some spectacular views and took some great pictures.

Today is our 4 year anniversary. Things sure have changed since our wedding night. We have moved twice, had two kids, and changed jobs a couple times. Looking back we never would have guessed where we are now. We spent the day driving 650 miles across Montana. We will have to plan something special once we get back.

Three states, 400 miles, and an air mattress. Wednesday marked the first day of our vacation and road trip to Minnesota. We left around 5 and rolled into Idaho at midnight.

Today was my book club meeting at work. We talked about The Shadow of the Wind and picked our next book. We will be reading Skinny Legs for All. I am not familiar with the author but it should be a good book.
Tonight we are driving to my parents to drop off our dogs. They are nice enough to watch them for 13 days while we are in Minnesota.
Tomorrow is the start of our journey. More on that tomorrow.