What I Want To Do

Sitting here in our humid, windswept apartment on the prairie (we have no central air conditioning), I've been daydreaming about what kind of fun and/or illuminating experiences I want to have while we're living in the The Star of the North.

So, here's the beginning of the list I've been dreaming up:

1. Kayak down the Mississippi River

2. Visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN--because why wouldn't you?

3. Go to a Twins Game (better yet, BIKE to a Twins Game)

4. Do the Tweed Ride

5. Take classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts--I really, really love this place and the attached Coffee Gallery sells yummy brownies! So, it's definitely a win-win. :)

6. Participate in workshops at The Loft

7. Bike on as many trails as we can find

8. See something at MPR's Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul

9. Go to the St. Paul Winter Carnival

10. Explore the Boundary Waters

11. Visit lots of museums, like the Mill City Museum or the MIA, as much as possible

12. Find Paul Bunyan and share some s'mores

13. Get strong enough and crazy enough to do the Muddy Buddy

14. Eat Lutefisk...um...well...um...maybe just nibble a small piece of lutefisk and then move on to the lefse--Uff da!

15. Hang out with Sven, Ole and Lena and eat more lutefisk. :)

Phew, that's it for now.

The Search Begins

Spring has sprung from its icy trap and Jonathan and I can finally wander about in search of adventure. One of the "must-do-soon" items on our list is dropping our poor, dusty kayaks into some refreshing waters.

We started our investigation of the local waterways at Rapidan Dam Park.

The Blue Earth River runs along the park.

It looks both scenic . . .



. . .and tranquil.



The park has a canoe launch and a Dam Store (that's just fun to say). Apparently, the Dam Store is famous for its delicious homemade pies. We'll have to try them some time and see.

And as the name suggests, there's also a dam to walk across--which we did.



This looks like a promising place to start paddling. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to wet our toes soon!