Thanksgiving dinner with my family usually involves talk of Black Friday deals. My aunts and uncles discuss where they plan to be and how early they plan to be there. I never understood the urge to go so far out of the way just to buy things. My favorite way of spending Black Friday was always staying as far away from the crowds and consumerism … Continue reading #OptOutside
The posting read “Cabin Available.” We scanned vacation rental sites for hours. State parks were booked. A few of the Lutsen ski condos were open, but we wanted something smaller, something rustic, something away from everything. Then we found it. A tiny cabin on the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais. It was three miles east of town, three miles further from Minneapolis. “Private … Continue reading Cabin Available
If you’ve read my posts on biking, you’ve surely noticed how I never fail to mention the positive effects on the environment and mental health. What I don’t always mention is the physical benefits of riding a bike. I’m on a bike six or seven days of the week–biking to work, groceries, coffee, basically anything within a few miles of my house. When I was … Continue reading Your Body Loves Biking
You can pick up a hatchet for $12 at your local hardware store. It has a nice wooden handle and will chop wood and hammer things and make your arm sore if you use it too much. You can buy a fancy hatchet online for $150. It has a colorful red wooden handle and it will chop wood and hammer things and make your arm … Continue reading The Fancy Hatchet Trick
“How deep is the water we’re on right now?” I asked the dude driving the water taxi from the landing to the resort. “Oh, about 500 feet,” he answered. My interest was piqued. Ross Lake is a lake because of a dam. The Skagit River was dammed for hydroelectric power in 1949. With that, 24 miles of river valley was flooded, from Diablo to the … Continue reading Paddling Ross Lake
Thirty-five miles separate my house in south Minneapolis and the campground of Afton State park. The road between rides the Mississippi River, before crossing farmland to the St. Croix River, which hugs the park. Most know of Afton because of the ski hill. Fewer know of it because of the golf course. Even fewer know of it because of the stellar state park. I’m OK … Continue reading Afton Overnighter
Deep in the Superior National Forest is a tiny campground on the Temperance River. It has nine campsites, gets foggy when the temperature and dew point are just right and has some seriously spoiled chipmunks. This is where we stayed. With the exception of canoe-toting SUVs, the dirt road passing by the campground was quiet. We watched a storm roll in while playing cribbage and … Continue reading Temperance
The Perseids meteor shower is an annual highlight for astronomers and stargazing enthusiasts alike. If you look to the sky tonight, you could see 100 meteors per hour. Some will be faint streaks that you could miss if you blink, while others will burn across the sky with hints of bright greens and blues that might leave a lasting streak in your eyes–the latter are my favorite to … Continue reading Where to View Perseids Meteor Shower Near Minneapolis
The trip looked glorious when we were planning. Drive the bikes and fly fishing gear to Lanesboro, set up camp, load the bikes with fishing gear to fish the many river access points of the Root River State Trail and catch trout and sip on suds until nightfall, then do it all again the next day. As this trip showed Parker and I, things don’t … Continue reading It’s The Thought That Counts
The best weekday mornings are those in which you have to clean your Jetboil at work because you had an early morning of coffee, friends and bicycles. This morning began yesterday, really, when I got a text from my friend Lucas about getting a group together for coffee. The destination: top of the hill in Gold Medal Park. A handful of others were on the … Continue reading Almost In Time For Sunrise Coffee
Birch & Flannel 