Minnesota Ramblings

My last week in Minnesota was filled with good times. Last Sunday (father’s day) we paddled 7 miles on the Root River, I was in my pack raft and friends were in kayaks. We paddled through shallow clear water surrounded by towering limestone bluffs filled with wildlife. There were few rapids and some scraping bottom but we made good time considering the conditions and an hour stop to swim and fish.

Monday it rained early and postponed any work on the paver patio, so I made a roadtrip to Red Wing MN. Here I visited the wonderful organic store Simple Abundance and then stopped next door to my favorite book store: Fair Trade Books. Why Fair Trade, here are my reasons: 1) Fair Trade gives you a free book upon entering the store for the first time, 2) You can exchange your used books for credit and use them towards buying other used books in the store 3) The selection is ever changing based on how many trades are made, 4) The owners Rick and Faye are great people you may learn a thing or two!

Tuesday through Thursday were dedicated to the paver patio, with a celebratory disc golf round on Wednesday evening. The patio was near finished when I departed Thursday afternoon, just needing some sand to fill in the gaps and lock the pavers together. Thursday night I enjoyed a relaxing evening with friends and their pitbulls near prior lake, MN.


Friday morning I made a visit to the angry catfish bike shop and café in Minneapolis. Great place, they fixed my blackborow on the spot while I had an iced coffee and browsed the gear and cycles for sale in the store. That night I met up with friends and camped at a county park on Chippewa Lake near Brandon, MN. Which turned into a primer for camping at Itasca State Park the remainder of the weekend, leading into paddle boarding around Lake Itasca on Sunday. Also managed some hammock time to continue reading the Sixth Extinction, great book for any scientists out there, especially geologists J




This week, I find myself back in ND..it’s been a month since sitting in the office at UND, time is flying by as usual and I couldn’t be happier. Tonight I’m headed to watch Erik Koskinen kick off the Museum of Art’s concert in the Garden series, hope to see you there!

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