Just Another Day

I have an awesome dad, and these babies have an awesome grandpa.

And we have other awesome dads in the family who will come and pour concrete on a hot, gorgeous father’s day.

And I love an excuse to bake.

We had a great time at the Twin’s game. The stadium is beautiful, and it’s always fun to see your team win!

Bill and I got our own private tour of this 200 ft. deep cave. So cool!

Here is a fun little tourist stop. They’ve constructed the buildings in such a way that gravity doesn’t seem to follow the normal rules. Now, a more scientific mind than mine will have the place figured out quickly, but as our tour guide suggested, I left my theories behind and focused on the fun of it all.

What an amazing monument and story!

I’ve been through Western South Dakota before, but I’ve never had the time to really explore the area. It’s beautiful.

We had to take a detour at Mt. Vernon off of I-90 because the interstate had water over it. It rained pretty much the whole drive out to Rapid City and then most of the time we were out there. When we checked Weather Underground we saw flash flood warnings for the area we planned to camp at in Colorado so we opted to stay in South Dakota for another night. As we drove out to our campsite in Spearfish, we learned that there was a flood watch for the area we were in. It rained pretty much the whole night, but we stayed warm and dry in our tent and packed up early the next morning. Having had enough of the water, we decided that a Twins game and a hotel stay sounded like a good idea. And so, here we are, back in Minnesota, dry and comfy in our plush hotel (thanks to priceline!) and ready to make our first visit to Target Field tonight. It’s not exactly where we thought we’d end up, but isn’t that what vacation is about? Doing what you feel like?

It was kind of strange to be back in Mitchell, SD on the first part of our road trip. I hadn’t been back since I left 6 years ago on my final day of work. It was fun to be able to show Bill where I lived and worked. Unfortunately, I had a hard time remembering how to get to different places in town and never did find the elementary school I worked at. How is that even possible??? Anyway, it was a quick, but fun stop. April and I really do need to take a trip back there together.

The World’s Only Corn Palace

Here’s the apartment April & I lived in and the middle school I taught at.

For the past 6 years I’ve had something big to transition me out of the school year and into vacation. There were trips home from the North, traveling abroad, new jobs to prepare for, U-Hauls to unpack, a sister’s wedding… but this summer’s start has been different. This summer I dropped Bill off in the Boundary Waters on my first day of vacation, and I came home to an empty schedule.

The past few days have reminded me of how I used to struggle with the first days of vacation when I was younger – when I was “stuck” at the end of Raps Road without a license. I remember wandering over to Gram’s house and whining to her, “I’m bored!” And she would be quick to tell me how there was no possible way I could be bored out here. Once, she even sat down and wrote a list of all the things I could keep busy with. She was right; there is plenty of fun to be had during the summer months.

So, that’s my goal this summer. Instead of worrying about how quickly these weeks are going to fly by, I’m going to work to appreciate the endless possibilities that summer brings.

It seems like just yesterday that Bill and I were finishing up our last minute wedding preparations. I suppose I’ll never be able to wrap my mind around how quickly time flies.

We decided that instead of going out to a restaurant for dinner we’d pack a little picnic and head out on the lake. We had beautiful sunshine for our time out, but we decided to try to beat the dark skies home. We made it just in time to listen to a little downpour hit our rooftop.

What a wonderful evening and a perfect reason to celebrate.