Vacation day 6

Our last day of vacation started a little earlier then the previous day.  When we woke up we hoped in the steam shower and lounged around for a while until breakfast.  For breakfast we had some fruit again followed by some orange pecan scones. We also had an egg bake with sun dried tomatoes and some sausage and breakfast was finished by homemade vanilla ice cream with blueberries. When breakfast was done we sat around on the porch talking with the owners and another couple watching a storm roll through.  Eventually we headed back up to our room to pack and headed for home.

On our way out of the cities we stopped at Trader Joes and picked up some cookies and baklava. After that we shopped a little while longer in the area until lunch time.  For lunch we stopped at bucca de beppo.  We had some fried mozzarella, white pizza, and manicotti. Some how we were able to finish it all.  After lunch we continued on our way home.  Erin drove as we listened to more of Dracula.

2011 Perham Harrier Half Marathon

This morning Erin and I got up early and drove out to Perham so I could run the second annual Perham Harrier Half Marathon.  When I signed up for the event I was hoping to break 2 hours, but training hasn't been going very well lately and I didn't keep up with my running over our vacation so this turned from an A level event to one where I was just going out to have fun.

Terry and I before the race, the DBRC twins

The alarm went off a little after 4:00 and we were both fairly tired.  Erin was at a bachelorette party the previous night, and even when she got home she was texting all night because her twin sister had gone into labor.  We stopped for gas on the way out of town and headed east.  We arrived in Perham a little ahead of schedule which was nice.  We drove to the park and I was able to pick up my packet.  We ran into some other runners from Fargo we knew: Terry, Mike and Paul and chatted with them for a bit as we got ready.  They went off to warm up but I just waited with Erin in the car.  I'd have plenty of time to warm up over the 13.1 mile run.  Just before the start of the race I went to the bathroom one last time and Erin and I walked over to the starting area.  Since it was the same as Turtlefest this year it was all familiar.

Look closely for the hydration pack, you'll see

I'm not exaggerating about being dead last

When the race started, I jumped out to an early lead with the pack trailing me by quite a bit...  Ok, maybe not. I was dead last for the first 4.3 miles.  I settled into my running rhythm within a mile and started to pick the pace up slowly.  Even though I was last there was still some crowd support along the way.  There was a residential area we ran through and there were a few driveways with people standing near the road cheering. It was nice of them to stay out until we all had gone by.  I was starting to embrace the roll of being last place.  I had a biker and police car following me and had the road to myself.  Where else am I going to be pampered like this on a run?  After 4 miles, I started to close in on the person ahead of me.  When I approached I saw he was a teenager that looked like he was in a little over his head.  I asked him how he was doing and received a grunt in reply.  I couldn't think of anything inspirational to say and my legs were feeling good and I quickly left him behind.  After I passed him I started to hear something in the distance that I couldn't quite make out.  After going along for a bit I was able to determine it was music.  Eventually I passed a volunteer in a suburban with the doors and back hatch open blasting music.  He was standing outside his truck with a cowbell playing along with the music.  It was greatly appreciated and I thanked him as I went by.

As the music faded, anther sound became noticeable: thunder. I could see some nasty looking clouds to the west and watched the lightning as the storm rolled in.  Eventually I turned east and it was rather eerie listening to the thunder grow closer behind me without being able to watch the clouds.  I started to catch up to another runner right about the time it started to rain and we ran along together for a while talking until the wind picked up and the heavy stuff started to fall.  When the storm intensified I pushed the pace a little.  The heavy rain and strong wind stung my skin but I wasn't too worried.  Last year I had gone running with Connie and we were caught in a similar storm. I had made it through that when we didn't have anywhere to take shelter, but here if I got concerned I could get a ride with the race volunteers. My clothes were completely soaked by the down pour and the leading edge of the storm had some impressive lightning.

As the rain started to let up I was expecting some more fireworks on the trailing edge of the storm and I was not let down.  I was passing what looked to be a radio tower as it was struck by lightning.  I'm guessing I was less then a quarter of a mile away when it happened.  Just a couple minutes after that a van pulled up beside me and stopped.  I gave the thumbs up sign and continued on only for it to pull up along side me again with the window rolled down.  The volunteer said they were pulling everyone from the course because of the lightning. I wanted to continue, but would have been on my own for the rest of the race.  I decided to take the ride back.  Even though I was disappointed, I could see that this was the right decision to make after seeing the lightning strike so close to me.  I rode back to the starting area and found Erin who was waiting in the car.

After changing out of my soaked clothes we went to the lakes cafe for breakfast.  I had some pancakes and bacon while she had cheesy hash browns with toast and bacon.  The food was very good. After breakfast we headed home.

Later in the day Erin's twin sister, Elisa, delivered her baby, our first niece. Emily Rae Eastburn, 6 pounds 13 ounces.  I think I'll concede to Elisa I had the easier day today.

Emily Rae

Vacation Day 5

We slept in on day 5 getting up just in time for breakfast at 9:00.  We ate out on the porch of the bed and breakfast.  We started with some fruit and then had some wonderful scones, followed by an egg bake with feta cheese, potatoes and artichokes, and we finished with a chocolate sorbet.

After breakfast we walked down to main street and did some shopping.  There were a number of large antique stores that we visited as well as a spice store and a candy store. We had a late lunch at a small place on main street.  We each had a burger and split some cheese curds.  We picked up some candy as well as some gifts from one of the antique stores. When we walked back to the B&B we arrived in time for some lemonaid and wine with some fresh bread and various spreads.  After a light snack we took a short nap.  When we got up we walked to Nelson's Ice Cream .  I had a waffle cone with  carmel turtle cheesecake ice cream and Erin had a waffle cone with wildbery yogurt.  We each had the child's size which was enormous and then walked back to the B&B.  When we got back we lounged in the hot tub and listened to Dracula before heading off to bed.

Vacation Day 4

Day 4 we woke up and headed back to the original pancake house for breakfast.  I had the tall stack of buttermilk pancakes and Erin tried the apple pancake.  The apple pancake was thinly sliced apples sauteed in butter and brown sugar before adding the pancake batter and baking.  Erin enjoyed it, but even with me taking a few tastes of it she barely had half of it.  My pancakes were just as good as the last time.  After breakfast we drove back to the campground and packed up the sleeping bags and the air mattress.  Since we still had some time to kill we went swimming one last time.  I played the ring game with Erin where one of us would throw it in the pool somewhere and the other would have to get to it before it hit the bottom then that person would throw it and the cycle would repeat.  At first Erin was a little nervous diving down in the deep end, but when we finished she was just as comfortable as I was with it.  We showered after getting out of the pool and packed up the rest of the camping stuff.  One of the few times we've been able to pack up a dry tent on a camping trip.

After leaving the campground we headed to REI near the mall of america.  We had seen it a few days earlier and  wanted to check it out.  I was impressed, they had a wide selection of some really nice gear. Erin got a new pair of goggles, a nose clip, bandanas, and some injinji socks.  After REI we headed to Stillwater and the William Sauntry Mansion. We arrived right at 4:00 and checked in.  After getting settled in we went downstairs for some hors d'oeurves and wine and had a chance to look through menus of local restaurants. We picked out a few that sounded good and then headed out for a short run around Stillwater.  This hills were challenging, but we had a good time.  When we got back we cleaned up. There was a steam shower in our room that had a ridiculous number of settings and options. Then we headed to the Lake Elmo Inn for supper.

When we arrived at the restaurant we noticed that we were by far the youngest people there.  The decor was also a little odd in that the walls were covered in old salt and pepper shakers.  The service wasn't the greatest either, but our food was good.  I had some lobster ravioli and Erin had some fried sunnys which they advertised as one of their specialties. When we finished eating the waitress eventually showed up with some heated towels and a couple of chocolate covered strawberries. It seemed like an odd way to end the meal.

Erin and I before the gondola ride

We had some time to kill after eating so we went back to the hotel and bummed around a while.  I hooked my phone up to the radio in the room and we listened to a chapter of Dracula. Eventually we headed out and drove down towards the river for a gondola ride that Erin had booked. She had booked the 11:00 to midnight time slot expecting a nearly full moon. We were a little early and thought we had found the right place but we're weren't sure.  I called the phone number on the reservation and someone assured me that someone would be along shortly for the ride. After a bit a guy showed up and we headed out on the dock to climb aboard. The sky was overcast obscuring the full moon, but other then that the weather was perfect. It was warm with just a slight breeze. Our 1 hour ride took us across the St. Croix and under the lift bridge.  We could watch the lights from Stillwater reflected in the river.  I really enjoyed the ride and would recommend it to anyone. After the ride we went back to the B&B to get some sleep.

Vacation Day 3

I wanted to start the third day of our trip with a morning swim but unfortunately we were up before the pool opened.  After finding the pool closed Erin and I showered and looked for a place to get breakfast.  We found a small diner a few miles away in Belle Plaine called Cindy's Kitchen.  It was your typical small town diner and we were one of the few people in it for breakfast.  I had some pancakes and bacon and Erin had some toast and eggs.

On the way back to the campground we decided to stop at a candy store we passed on our way to breakfast called Jims. The selection was amazing. They had almost any candy you could think of and many we were seeing for the first time.  In addition to candy they had a bakery, a wide selection of pop and some specialty foods. We picked up an abba zabba, some zours, a mallow cup, some apple strudel, cheese cake mix, cheese cake gummies, banana taffy, ginger chews, a white chocolate toblerone some apple bon bons and a pecan roll.  We also each picked up one of the specialty sodas they had, I had some honey lemonaid and Erin had the cream soda.

We didn't need to pee, but at least we had the option

After the candy shop we returned to the campground and went for a swim.  We had the entire pool to ourselves which was nice.  We swam laps until we were tired and then headed back to the tent.  Erin read some of the Zombie book she had picked up the previous day.  After that we took a nap and it sprinkled outside for a while.  When we woke up we decided a late lunch/early supper sounded good and we'd head back to a place we discovered on our morning trip, the OK Corral.



When we got there they hadn't opened yet.  They were only open for lunch on Fridays and weekends.  The hostess noticed that we were there and opened up for us 20 minutes early which was super nice of her. I had a blue cheese burger, Erin had a pulled pork sandwich and we split some onion rings. The onion rings came with a apricot horseradish mustard sauce that we both enjoyed, even though there were things in the sauce that we each didn't like.

See, it says right on the sign they serve lunch

After we ate we went back to the campground and I setup for a campfire later on.  I collected a lot of small branches that had been dumped near where our campsite was so the fire would start easy. After setting up for the fire we went swimming again.  This time there was a lot of people there.  Erin decided to bring a book along and not get wet.  I swam laps as best I could until the pool started to clear out.  I found a diving ring that had been left behind by someone and played a game with Erin where she would throw it into the pool anywhere she wanted to and I would swim over and get it before it would sink all the way to the bottom.  It was a great workout and fun to play.  Eventually I decided that I'd had enough of the pool for one day and we headed back to the tent for our fire.  We say by the fire eating candy until long after it had gotten dark then we went to bed.