Summer, of course, has come and gone again. And despite October being here and all, I figured a recap is necessary for all that happened in the season of sun.
These precious few months of warmth (and there was a lot of that… thank you, global warming?) were totally enjoyed from an ultimately beachy perspective. Our shack on Park Point served my beaching habits well.
From Sarah Krueger’s nifty camera
Park Point morning
June
But with the new abode and a shit-load of rain, comes… yes… “the devastating June floods that ravaged the Northland.” (Heard that line before?) On our region’s busiest, craziest and most hectic news day of the year, I was bailing out my basement from more than two feet of water.
Still smiling… I think
No live shots, stacking rundowns or newsrooms logistics for me, but thanks to amazing help, several frozen pizzas and a couple of beers, I managed to keep a smile on my face for most of the day.
No less than a day later, I embarked on my first (planned) adventure for June; sailing in the Apostle Islands. I’ve been to Bayfield, Wis. a dozen or more times, but never considered chartering a vessel.
The Boca in the Apostle Islands
Thanks to the bright idea of my friend Leif, my five college friends and I made the Boca home for three nights and four days. That’s right. Six smelly, loud, beer-crackin’ hooligans SAILING on Lake Superior.
Skipper Leif
The sea caves of Devils Island
Manager of the bow
We tooled around to Stockton, Devils and Raspberry Islands and my pictures were great… until my camera fell in the lake. These are some of the 700 photos Alice took on our amazing outing. Good bless the big lake.
The crew
I rounded out June with another successful girls’ weekend in Nevis, Minn. on beautiful Lake Belle Taine (did you know TWO my friends went to high school with Miranda Lambert??),
Third annual Nevis weekend
ran my fifth half-marathon (second go at the Garry Bjorkland/Grandma’s event) to a successful finish with my buddy Steve,
Half-marathon hoo-ha
and even made it to Charly and Rob’s wedding reception in Hudson, Wis. with fellow (past and present) WDIOers. Here’s to good friends.
Love will bring us together
My friend Sam is pretty, isnt’ she?
July
July was packed from beginning to end. I didn’t spend a single weekend in Duluth, instead going to places like Ryan’s family cabin, and getting to know the wonderful people he calls familia just a little bit more.
Thanks to Ryan’s mom, Delana, for this one
The Fourth of July came and went quicker than I (and the rest of the country) probably would have liked. And when I stopped to think about it, I realized this was the first Independence holiday I’d have ever spent in Duluth. To truly do whatever the hell I pleased, I took the whole day of work, (gasp) and spent it with the most British person I know.
My dear friend Adam
My dear and amazingly-talented friend Adam (who happens to be working on the Obama campaign—let me brag, OK?) came to Duluth to celebrate one country’s freedom from another (ahem… moving on) with me. We gallivanted through a perfectly Duluthy day, and I took in the fireworks from the backyard.
Later in July, I also kayaked the Brule River in Brule, Wis. with these babes
My GGW gals
and generally rode my bike, walked to the beach, suntanned, and traveled to other Minnesota destinations as much as humanly possible for the rest of July.
August
This is the month where I start to realize sand is in every corner of my house, I’m sick of sunscreen, poor, need more gas money, and forgot I live in a cool city.
Duluth is a cool city
I decided to stick around for one weekend, and took in a ridiculously cool concert from the past (that’s the 90s for me). If the Summerland tour comes through again, and you’re into Everclear, Sugar Ray (my first concert) and the Gin Blossoms, we recommend.
I did some other out-of-town crap I can’t remember, but I’m sure was fun.
That brought me to the second-to-last week of August, and a big trip still remained—a road trip to South Dakota and the Black Hills with this guy.
Beach night with Ryan
After a year of delightful shenanigans, Ryan and I decided to up the ante a bit and see if we could…TRAVEL TOGETHER. Just kidding. That was totally fine. But, seriously. We were both sorely in need of a bigger getaway and ready to see something magnificent. I took three days off work this time (double gasp) and away we went. We made our first night of camp here, at the Sage Creek campground in the Badlands National Park. This, for me, was the highlight. A seventy-five degree night, millions of stars and a big-ass box of wine. Take me home, I’ve seen enough.
Hotel Walrus at the Sage Creek campground
The rest of the trip was fun, relaxed and spontaneous. From the monuments to Deadwood, Wall Drug and quick stop at Grandma B’s house… we did a lot, and begrudgingly headed back home.
Custer State Park in Black Hills, SD
Center Lake campground in Custer State Park
Needle’s Eye
And for one final hooray over Labor Day weekend, Noah’s Ark Water Park was the destination. Friends, camping and water slides. Need I say more?
Underwater cameras are fun
Bye bye, Jack
Cowabunga selfie
Rocky Arbor campground in Wisconsin Dells
And that was summer in a nutshell. I’m tired from typing it, and can’t believe I did it all. Whew. Guess that’s a fin, and I’ll see you next summer.
