Birthday Axe Bash

 Hard to believe but I am now 64 years old. To celebrate I had an axe throwing party. Drinking and throwing axes! It went better than you'd think.

Here is a video of the fun.

Cozumel Thanksgiving

Going to make this kinda short because the video is kinda long. Please take a serene few minutes to watch the video recap of the trip here.

Two weeks in Cozumel over Thanksgiving and the week after. Jenny Batten flew down with me and stayed 10 days.

Jill Rendall joined us after Thanksgiving and stayed until our departure on December 3rd.

This was a totally stress-free vacation. We didn't rent a car and mostly stayed at the Coral Princess where the snorkeling was off the charts good. Water was crystal clear. When it rained, it rained over night or briefly. I got in several runs and even had Jenny running with me a few times. And she gave me swimming pointers.

We went to a new-for-us beach club, Buccanos, that was so fantastic. The food was amazing and the beach and water were crazy nice.

We hit our favorite spots...Hotel B, Casa Denis, key lime pie store, Casa Mission, Guido's, and Pancho's Backyard.

Jill and I took a snorkel sailing excursion with an amazing group of women. The photos and some videos of jib flying are here.

Boundary Waters 2022

This year's Boundary Waters trip was very different. Our original paddle and portage trip was cancelled. So we opted for a late Fall trip up north to Jenny and Andrew's cabin situated next to Gust Lake just off The Grade.

We had no idea the weather would be as amazingly fantastic as it was. It was very late in the season, and it could have as easily been freezing temps instead of 60's.

Our foursome became a five-some with the addition of Maggie, my cat. Maggie has been to the cabin before, so she fit right in.

Brian cooked awesome meals...meatloaf one night and an incredible frittata another night. I made an apple pie with Jenny's apples. Reading (our normal BWCA activity) and puzzling were always active.

There was an excursion to Grand Marais on Sunday. We collected rocks for a project Jenny was working on. Also, a stop at the local bookstore resulted in several purchases,

I climbed up the mountain the hard way :-)

A hiking adventure at Oberg Mountain on Monday brought us back the big lake - Lake Superior. The park rangers had arranged a "monster" hike along the path. It was very clever and educational.

There were high hopes for northern lights (aurora) as the ratings were very high all weekend. However, no luck seeing northern lights, the stars were out in full force especially with the moon setting very early.

As is my thing these days, I created a video of the trip. Click here to view in YouTube.

Leaf Peeping

Landscape Arboretum

Had the opportunity to visit the University of Minnesota's Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota. Friends Bud, Pam, and Susan strolled the Three Mile Walk enjoying the amazing sunny day with all the Fall colors.

Also, there were pumpkins, scarecrows, and a stop at the apple barn.

Highland Park Water Tower

The following day, Bud, Susan and I went to the Highland Park Water Tower in St. Paul. It is open to visitors just twice a year. Once you climb the 150 steps to the top, there are spectacular views of both Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) and surrounding areas.

Click here to watch a video.

Fall Biking - Camping Trip

 I forgot to write my usual story to accompany photos and the video. So here is a hopefully a short story of last week's biking-camping trip.

First a clarification...we did not bike with our camping gear. We drove to the bike trails and drove to the camp sites. Two guys in their sixties do not need to be overdoing anything :-)

We (my friend Bud and I) first went to Albany, Minnesota. It is just off I-94 between St. Cloud and Sauk Centre. Albany is along the Lake Wobegon Trail which has a side route that connects to the Soo Line Trail. The Soo Line Trail goes through Holdingford and Bowlus to the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River.

These are rails-to-trails -- old railroad rights of way converted to cycling, walking, and snowmobile use. Because they are old railways, they are super flat and nearly completely straight. While the countryside might go up and down a bit, the trails just glide right through. Perfect for biking. We also learned what State Rail Bank Property is (there are signs all along the trails)

We saw lots of different farms and fields but the rail rights of way also provide for trees to grow along the trails. I was surprised there weren't more flowers (asters, black-eyed susans, etc.) along the way but they mow along the trails and the farm fields don't have much of a buffer.

We stopped in Bowlus at Jordie's Trailside Cafe and ate the biggest sandwiches I've ever had. Our destination and turn around spot was the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River. It is much bigger than I thought. It produces hydroelectric power.

On the return trip, we stopped at BoHo Cafe in Holdingford for a beer and pretzel bites . It is only a year old and has a winery feel to it. Holdingford has a charming covered bridge over the trail. It is not as old as one thinks.

The first day ride was 40 miles! -- 20 out and 20 back. We were very sore but made it to our camping destination - Sauk Centre. We set up our tent at a campsite right in town next to a small lake. We were the only tent and were surrounded by giant RV campers. It was kind of comical.

We ate at the local Mexican place in Sauk Centre. The food was very good. Back at camp, we were the only ones with a campfire which felt good on a cool night. We could see stars but there were street lights and lots of car noise. Even so, I slept really well after a day of cycling.

Thursday morning we had coffee and breakfast at camp. I made scrambled eggs with my new camp stove. We drove to Brandon which was further north on I-94. Our destination was Chippewa Park in Douglas County. There was only one other camper set up when we arrived. This time we had a spot where only tents were allowed. It was very spacious. We went ahead and setup the tent before going on our bike ride.

Thursday's bike ride was on the Central Lakes Trail - another rails-to-trails path. We started in Brandon and headed north 15 miles to Ashby. Again it was very level and very straight.

Lots of lakes and ponds along this trail. In Ashby we found City Restaurant. We got there just 20 minutes before the end of lunch. Grilled cheese and chili were perfect. And best of all, homemade blueberry pie!

We got back to the campsite and were the only ones there. It was a bit creepy to be honest...out in the middle with no one around. There was no place to eat in Brandon. We had passed through Evansville on our bikes which was a bigger town. We ate at the Backroad's Bar and Steak House. I had a steak salad with a really nice balsamic vinaigrette. We were entertained by the stories being told a the table across from us.

Lantern holder?

By the time we got back the campsite, an RV camper had setup with a large family and a huge tent was setup 2 sites down from us. There was plenty of room and honestly it felt good having other people around.

I was hoping for clear sky for star viewing but clouds kept coming and going. The clouds ended up coming for good because it rained over night early in the morning. It stopped raining by the time we got up. We made coffee in camp and decided to close up camp, have breakfast somewhere, and head back to the Twin Cities. I had planned on making eggs goldenrod but it seemed a bit complicated and making toast was going to be a problem.

We had breakfast at the State Street Cafe in Garfield. We highly recommend the fritter French toast.

We took a scenic route back to Minneapolis and successfully avoided the interstate. It was nice driving through the towns and seeing more of the country side.

The video of the trip can be viewed by clicking here.

Home Decor - backsplash

 I've had this idea to use one of my Cozumel underwater photos somewhere. The photos often look abstract but on closer viewing, the details of fish or coral appear.

Sink side completed.

I have used a www.wallmonkeys.com wall decal before so I decided I would make my kitchen backsplash an underwater photo wall decal.

I cannot recommend www.wallmonkeys.com enough. Their work is fantastic and not as expensive as you might think.

I submitted my photo on their website with the request to have the largest wall photo decal which is 72" wide. I requested a proof and also the final dimensions. The final height meant I needed only one decal that I would cut to fit both the sink and stove walls.

They responded in just a few days. I approved the proof and received the decal in a couple of days.

Template in place waiting for
outlets and switches to be cut in.

At friends' suggestion, I made templates for the walls. With the cabinets, outlets and switches at various places along the walls, the templates were invaluable.

It was a leap of faith to cut the photo decal into the sections needed. The sink side is actually wider than 72" so I had to add 3" sections to each side. Because the photo is somewhat abstract, you cannot really see the add-ons.

The wall behind the stove is exactly 72" so you couldn't ask for more. Getting the decal behind the stove and under the microwave was very tricky but because the decal is removable, it can be positioned multiple times.

The decal is also a vinyl material so is waterproof and washable. Previously, the walls were just painted.

The finished project.

I love the outcome. And it looks particularly special with the under cabinet lights on.

This is the photo wall decal in full.

Northern Minnesota

A quick trip to northern Minnesota up the North Shore and inland a ways to Jenny and Andrew's cabin at Gust Lake.

A typical northern Minnesota vista

Gust Lake at the cabin

The season up north is about a month behind the Twin Cities so in Duluth and the other towns along Highway 61, the lilacs are still blooming.

I have been up here in June before. The wildflowers and lupines are amazing. (I found out after returning to the Twin Cities that these lupines are not native to Minnesota and are considered an invasive species!) 

(non-native) lupines

(native) wild flowers

With all the rain up here, the rivers and lakes are full. But also the biting bugs are off the charts. Mosquitos and, what I've been told, sand flies are insane. Normally during the sunny part of the day, the bugs are not too bad. That is not the case this year. No matter when you were outside, the attacks were relentless.

Even with the bugs, it is just so beautiful. There are amazing views of lakes, rivers, trees and the sky with puffy or menacing clouds.

Raced to the end of the dock to catch this sunset before getting eaten by the mosquitoes

There was a fantastic storm Wednesday night

There were some interruptions of the relaxation with Jenny's work but we didn't let it interfere with our taking in all the outdoor beauty, piling firewood for the winter, and grilling.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Maggie enjoyed the catwalk for running and napping!

Maggie napping in the bottom bunk

Racing across the catwalk

We made it to Grand Marais a couple of times and had great weather while there on the shores of Lake Superior. While deciding between Java Moose coffee and The World's Greatest Donut shop, a seagull opened its bomb-bay doors and let go of a huge dump on my car! I was just so glad we were not outside the car at that moment.

Just a small portion of the seagull bomb drop

We were happy to be along the shore and not under the seagulls

Maggie and I drove back Thursday and had time to stop in Beaver Bay for a short bike ride. I need to figure out a way for Maggie to come along on the bike excursions.

Beaver Bay - top of the bike path taconite plant

Beaver River