Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Back to Amanda!

Okay, maternity leave is over!  Braeden is one year old, in stable condition and all around amazing.  Time for me to be Amanda and do my writing stuff which I didn't even realize how much I missed until I got back into it.

When we were at Grammy and Grampy Rogers' house two weeks ago, I had a revelation about it.  I was walking down a dark, gravel road with only the twinkling stars as my light.  I thought, Hmm, when I walk down the road in da Harbor, the street lights are shining.  This is completely void of lights from civilization.  Awesome.

Then I noticed that I should be more grateful about where I am even though I can't be in my favorite place all the time.  I should appreciate where I am all the time.  Bam!  I got an idea for a book.  And when I thought of the memoir I am currently working on, I realized, Well, I better write that, so I can get this next one going!

All the sudden, ~zing~ across the sky.  A shooting star!  And at that moment I made a wish for myself for the first time since Braeden was born.  It's been a whole year since I wished something for myself!  So it's about darn time I get things rolling.

Here's a picture of the sunset from that night.  It's so lovely there.


A northwestern Wisconsin autumn sunset

Then our little family was reunited in Crosby, Minnesota.  Where the heck is that?  It's part of a little cluster of towns in north-central Minnesota in a rural, recreational setting.  Lots of lakes, trees and trails.  Plus history from iron ore mining.  Really cool, actually.  I've enjoyed my time here.

Just a few places to note.

The Spalding House is a historic bar/motel/apartment building recently renovated in the past year to cater to the trail enthusiasts and locals.  The bar has awesome drink specials that I think my own little town could add to its weekly routine.  $1.50 taps on Tuesday nights?  Try and keep me out of there!  Okay, so maybe my town shouldn't do that. Wink.

And here is a picture of their fabulous tapper selection!  Whatever makes the wheels go round!

20 draft beers at the Spalding House

Aaron, Braeden and I sleep above it in one of their cozy little rooms.  I thinks it's cool, and the owners are super sweet.  They recognize what's happening in their town, and they are progressive about what their visitors are looking for.

I also enjoyed my Americano and sandwich at Mixed Company.  Quaint, friendly atmosphere and cute crafty things on the walls.  The owner thought Braeden was adorable, but so far I haven't met anyone that doesn't.  KJ's Mini Mart was also perfect for me to set up an impromptu birthday party for my one year old!  Plus I even got him a nice second hand blazer for his Halloween costume.    It's an interesting combo of retail, but it worked for me!

Birthday bash with the Rock Solid crew!

Another place of note it the park at Serpent Lake.  The playground there is amazing!  It's decked out like a ship with things to crawl through and pretend drive and dig and swing and slide and hang.  Man, if Braeden was a little older, we would have been there all day.  Except poor Duce felt dejected tied up by the entrance.  Sorry buddy, no dogs allowed.

B under the Serpent at Serpent Lake

The lake there was lovely.  They had a skate park with actual people using it!  And camping and tennis courts and restrooms and all that.  It was really well kept up.  If I could have let my doggy run loose there, we would have gone back more often.

Then there's the Cuyuna Lakes State Trail.  It's a paved double-wide trail that snakes between the lakes and around the little towns.  It was perfect for me on my touring bike pulling B in the trailer.  Lots of great vistas heading west out of Crosby.  And it seemed like after every turn there was another lake!   And sometimes there were lakes on both sides!

A lake along Cuyuna Lakes State Trail

I liked the feel of this town.  Nothing classy, but functional.  I actually hope that Aaron has to come back and build more trails here.  I would hang out and adventure and cook and write.  I even got to take Braeden on his first singletrack ride in the trailer.  I think he liked it because he threw up on himself!

Aaron on the job in his mini-ex

Well, I've got a couple more stops in Wisconsin, then back to da Harbor for a month!  I hope... 

See you sooner rather then later!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Longing for Home

I snuck out on you again.  I was in Spokane, Washington for a week because my little brother got married.  So happy for him -- he found a keeper.  Wink.  And Braeden did great on his first plane rides.  Whew!

And now I am in Wisconsin en route to Cuyuna, Minnesota where Aaron is building trails for the month.  All I can give you is a guess at a color report.  I bet the leaves are lovely in da Harbor right now.  Good thing I have seen some glorious ones in past autumns, or I would be sad to miss this year.  The maples were electric on my way out of town.  Nice color in Northern Wisconsin right now, too.

My computer is mostly better.  Thanks for asking.

To be totally honest with you, I may only get to be in Copper Harbor for Halloween and November.  Then hopefully January and February, but even the winter is up in the air.  I think Aaron is booked pretty much all next year too.  Ah, the life of the wife of a traveling man.  Good thing I don't have a real job right now!  I told him, Well, at least we have a house to live in when we actually get to be there!  And he said, It will make it all that much better when we get to be there then.

Like I said in a previous post, I realized how much better my heart beats there after I've been away for so long.  But there are worse things in the world...

I really wish that I could provide you with substantial information and entertainment from da Harbor, but I guess that will be to come.  Heck, I wish I provide that for myself!  Don't have high expectations for me for the next few months.  Then hopefully I can surpass them!

Man, I don't even have a picture for you right now because they are on my camera at home.  Nice planning, Wais.  I can tell you that I got some cool pictures of the moon rise the night of the lunar eclipse.  That was the highlight of my fall.  That moon was sooooooo huge, and I caught it rising over East Bluff and Lake Superior.  Seriously made my day.

I would assume that things are starting to slow down in da Harbor during the week, but I bet leaves are pretty peak right now, so weekends are probably still a bit crazy.  Just a guess.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  I prefer to be corrected than to spew false information.  

If I keep typing to you, I would just be rambling and guessing at things, so I'll close.  Plus my little man is ready to get out in this nice fall air.  So am I.  Braeden is doing amazing, by the way.  He turns one year old on Thursday.  They say the first year is the hardest, and I hope they're right because we have been in lots of hospitals.  But his strength, joy, charm and love never ceases to amaze me.