Tuesday, September 29, 2015

a lament for discontinued products.

You know how, just when you think you’ve found that perfect shampoo or that perfect eyeliner, it disappears from the shelf: never to be seen again. You know that anguish you feel when you realize that you’re going to have to start all over in the hunt for the perfect lotion, but it will never match up to the lotion that you had but is now gone forever?

I know that feeling all too well.

It seems like it happens to me disproportionately often. My losses are mostly cosmetic-based, but my discontinued-project tribulations have crossed the line into food as well.

Sure, there have been tons of foodstuffs that I once ate that have now gone to the big grocery store in the sky: original Surge, Dunkaroos (though an internet search informs me that you can still get them in Canada), that weird purple ketchup.

But I didn’t mind, as I was just too young to care.

As I have grown older, it seems as soon as I find a product that I love dearly, it goes kaput. Maybe it’s me. And it seems like it’s happened quite often over the last few years. 

The first time I remember being truly upset about a product’s retirement was when I was in college. My mom used to buy packets of Lipton Sour Cream and Chive noodles, and that was my all-time favorite meal. Honest to God, I can still taste them. It was one of the first things I ever learned to cook (margarine + milk + water + noodle packet = voila!). I ate them for years. Until one day… they were gone. You couldn’t find them in the Brookings HyVee, which is where you found ALL THINGS. The last place we could find them was at the grocery store in Morris called Willie’s. During my sophomore year, my parents came to visit me and ended up buying out the store’s supply. 
Those noodles were that important.

But then… they were gone.

Willie’s stopped carrying the noodles, and that marked their demise. I have not seen them since.

It wasn’t until I grew up and got a job where I could afford real groceries that I noticed my favorite products slowly disappearing off the shelves. Which totally sucks.

FOOD
Kraft White Cheddar Mac and Cheese bowls
I work every Wednesday from 12-9, so my supper break is from 4-5. I am usually not all that hungry by 4, so I wanted some kind of not-too-heavy meal, but one that would also keep me sated until 9 o’clock. (Or 9:40, when I get home from work. Commuting = boo.) These macaroni and cheese bowls did just that. They were better than the little Easy Mac bowls (which were definitely not enough food), and they weren’t garlicky and smelly like the other pasta bowls in the grocery aisle. I loved them – and they were usually on sale for about $1.50. But then, they started fading away. I HyVee-hopped, trying in vain to find them. The other Kraft varieties (sharp cheddar and broccoli = gross, three cheese and bacon = gross) remained, emblazoned with red clearance stickers. But my white cheddar was gone. I am still in search of a replacement dinner for my Wednesday nights, but so far, I have failed. Why, Kraft? WHY???

Oikos honey Greek yogurt
I hopped aboard the Greek yogurt train about four years ago. I am a big fan of the mid-morning snack, and while regular yogurt is a nice healthy choice, I just wasn’t feeling it. Years of eating peach Yoplait had become dull, and all the other flavors were too Splenda-y for my liking. I ventured cautiously into the world of Greek yogurt, and Oikos honey Greek yogurt was the most delicious yogurt I had ever tasted. I tried other flavors, but Oikos honey always prevailed. And then it was gone. It disappeared from HyVees first, leaving me to make the dreaded trip to the Sioux Falls Walmarts to procure my precious yogurt. But it soon vanished from Walmart, too. There are all sorts of other honey yogurts, but none is as delicious as Oikos. Noosa honey Greek yogurt is pretty good, but the last time I was at my regular HyVee, it wasn’t there. Cue heart attack. I was able to find it at a different HyVee, but that’s always how it begins.

Ben and Jerry’s Vermonty Python


Having never had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, I bought a pint of this on a whim at Coborn’s in Morris, circa 2006. I bought it primarily because its name is undeniably awesome, and partly because its description was mouthwateringly delicious: coffee liqueur flavored ice cream with fudge cows and a chocolate cookie crumb swirl. Sign me up. I devoured that pint post haste and wasted no time purchasing more. I ventured into other Ben and Jerry’s flavors, but none held more appeal than Vermonty Python. My time with Vermonty Python was sadly short-lived, as Ben and Jerry’s retired it in 2008. Damn you, Ben and Jerry.

BEAUTY PRODUCTS
In the past few years, my favorite beauty products have been disappearing like crazy. What gives?

Dove wild rose deodorant
You may think it’s weird that I’m telling you what my favorite deodorant is, but you know you have a favorite, too. That deodorant that smells just perfect and doesn’t leave white marks under your arms and lasts all day: I’ve been wearing deodorant since I was nine, and I didn’t find the Holy Grail of deodorants until the ripe (no pun intended) old age of 24. I was that weirdo who would spend a solid ten minutes in the deodorant aisle, sniffing each one and gauging its merits. I went through countless deodorant scents, never landing on one that I thought was all that great. They were either too sickly sweet or that nasty powder smell that I 100% cannot handle. But then… there was Dove. Dove made a rose scented deodorant that came in this soft pink container, and it smelled better than anything I’d ever owned – perfumes included. I happily bought it for years until I started having a hard time finding it on the shelves. Paranoid, I started buying three or four at a time when I did find them. And thank goodness, because soon I couldn’t find them at all. This deodorant was so important to me that I did an internet search to see if it was, in fact, retired. Honest to God, I did a cartoon “Nooooooooooooooooo!!!” upon reading this terrible news. I went straight to Amazon and found that you could buy a six-pack for $30. Which I did. I have a few left, but I’m seriously considering buying more, even though the price has jumped significantly. The loss of this deodorant is more devastating to me than any other product on this list, and I am THIS CLOSE to writing a “WTF, you ruined my life” email to Dove. THIS CLOSE.

Herbal Essences Shine Spray
I am one of those unfortunate souls that suffers from static electricity during the dry winter months… so basically half the year here in the Midwest. I shock everything I touch, and my hair practically crackles. It drives me insane. I have tried all sorts of hair products to try and tame the static electricity beast, but only two have ever made a difference. (In a cruel twist of fate, you’ll find the second product on this list as well.) One of them is this Herbal Essences Shine Spray. It smells absolutely delightful, and a few sprays of this every couple of hours is enough to keep the static at bay. But go figure, it’s not in stores any more. The last place I found it was at a HyVee. A grocery store. I have two bottles left, and I’ve been saving them for winter. I’m going to need them.

Thermasilk shampoo
Long, long ago, I was a Thermasilk user. I think I first came across it because – no lie – the college bookstore put little samples in each back of overpriced books I bought once semester. This was the most glorious smelling shampoo I had – and have – ever experienced. It came in a purple bottle, and it was SUPER cheap. It was slowly replaced by Sunsilk shampoo, and now you can’t find either brand.

Aveeno calming lavender lotion 
Vaseline chamomile lotion
Having lotion at work is a tricky business. I don’t want to go lotionless, as my hands get awfully dry. But you don’t want anything with an overpowering scent, as you don’t want to offend your coworkers. These were the only two lotions I could find that fit that bill: non-greasy and super moisturizing with the slightest bit of delightful scent, but not enough scent as to cause instant perfumy overload. The Aveeno lotion is pretty well gone, but I can still occasionally find a super-sized bottle of the Vaseline… but only at the Lewis Drug on 10th Street in Sioux Falls.

Ivory body wash
Ivory used to make my all-time favorite body wash, and believe me: I have tried a whole lot of body washes looking for one as good as this. It’s so clean and crisp-smelling, and it makes me feel like a fresh load of laundry. (Weird simile, but it’s true.) But then those jerks at Ivory changed the formula on me. The body wash smells similar, but it’s not quite right. 10th Street Lewis Drug came to the rescue again on this one: on the same day I found my Vaseline, I saw bottles of Ivory sitting on the shelf. Their label was the older style, and sure enough, it was the older formula. It appears that 10th Street Lewis Drug doesn’t sell a lot from the soap and lotion aisle, but it’s working out to my advantage.

all the good Bath and Body Works soaps
  
Like basically everybody, I buy hand soap at Bath and Body Works. They have better scents than the hand soap brands at Target, and they’re always on sale. Many of the scents fall into the “this is pretty nice, but I’m not going to get worked up about it” category, but there are a few that are more like “this is the most amazing smell ever and I just want to sniff my hands all day” class. And those are inevitably the soaps they retire. My absolute favorites are New England Autumn Bouquet, Moroccan Fig and Honey, and Lemon Daisy. I was hoping that Lemon Daisy would make a comeback this summer as it’s clearly a summer scent, but no dice. That makes me a lot less optimistic for the autumn bouquet (fall scent, duh) and Moroccan Fig and Honey for winter. Sigh.

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So that’s the end of my lengthy lament about the retired products that have left plastic bottle-shaped holes in my life. First world problems.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

the childhood quadfecta.

From all the stories I’ve told you about my weird childhood self, you’ll remember that I was inclined to obsess. This started awfully early in life: I remember being about three years old and insisting that my new sandbox be painted red.

The color red was just one of many things with which I was obsessed at a very young age. I had a favorite from each of the major childhood learning categories: colors, numbers, shapes, and letters.

I call it my Childhood Quadfecta.

COLOR
red
Besides a few ill-fated dalliances into lime green and hot pink, red has been my favorite color for my entire life. I suspect it may have started because my dad drives red tractors, and red (Case IH) versus green (John Deere) is as divisive among farm families as Coke versus Pepsi or red state versus blue state or what have you. I was (and still am) staunchly Team Red when it comes to farm equipment, and therefore everything I owned had to be red. I had a red wagon and a red tricycle and the aforementioned red sandbox. I wanted my first pair of glasses to have red frames, but I settled for a pair with red flecks. I pouted when my parents traded in their bright red car for a minivan. Years later, I still love all things red. One of my wedding colors was red: red inked invitations, red Chinese lanterns, red fingernails, red shoes (for James AND me!), red flowers, red ties, etcetera. James has a red car, and I (with my boring silver car) am envious. We have a red couch, and I desperately want a red front door. Some things never change, and my love for the color red looks to be one of them.

NUMBER
7
Whereas I can trace my affection for the color red back to my dad’s red tractors, I can’t do the same for the rest of my favorites. Why I loved the number seven, I have no idea. Perhaps it was because I was born in 1987? Who knows. But seven was my favorite. Unlike favorite colors, one tends to grown out of having favorite numbers, shapes, and letters… but I still have an appreciation for the number seven. It’s supposed to be lucky, after all. James and I started dating on July 27, 2007… and we got married on July 27, 2013. July is the seventh month after all, so maybe seven and I have a good thing going here.

SHAPE
heart
Because of my fondness for salamanders and running through the woods and playing in abandoned buildings, I wouldn’t call my childhood self a girly-girl (a term that I kind of hate, but there really is no alternative descriptor). However, I did love some girly things. I loved dresses and Barbies and fancy shoes, and all things heart-shaped. On nearly every drawing I made when I was young, you can find some kind of heart. I had this glitter glue and fabric applique sweatshirt/sweatpants set (oh yeah, you read that right) that Mom made me, and it was bedecked in huge purple, pink, and red hearts. I wore that outfit to death. There was even a time when I carried around a shard of wrapping paper because it had some multi-colored paint splatter hearts on it that I loved. I was a weird kid.

LETTER
S
You would think that, understandably, most kids’ favorite letter would be the first letter of their first name. Makes sense, right? Of course, that wasn’t me. My favorite letter – again, for reasons unknown – was the letter S. My middle name was Shelaine, but having never been terribly fond of my middle name, I’m not going to assume that I loved the letter S because of it. It’s just one of those fluky things. My parents love to tell me about this wooden alphabet puzzle that I had as a kid. Each letter was a little wooden cutout, and you had to put the letters back into their respective places. Sure, I did that, but I also carried the wooden S puzzle piece around like a good luck charm. It was light blue and fit in my tiny hand, and miraculously, I never lost it. It was, however, way dirtier than the rest of the puzzle pieces.

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So that’s my Childhood Quadfecta. Yet more proof that I probably ate paint chips as a kid.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

vacations with Calla and James.

This summer has been busier than any summer in my recent memory – including the summer where I got married and bought a house within weeks of each other. I don’t know what the deal was with 2015, but shit just went crazy. But crazy in a good way. There was always something to do and somewhere to go, and every spare minute was accounted for.

Never fear, though: James and I made time for plenty of road trips.

It’s no secret that James and I love a good vacation. Most of our vacations are also road trips, and summer is prime road trip season. And since James is a teacher, summer is about the only option for trips anyway.

Traveling weather in Minnesota is a precious commodity, and I want to take full advantage of it. If I had my way, we’d be gone every single spring, summer, and fall weekend. But between me working weekends and James beseeching me to let us stay home once in a while, we don’t get to go on a road trip every weekend. Sigh.

Our little vacations also tend to be limited to long-weekend road trips because let’s face it – we’re not made of money. Road trips are cheap, and plane tickets are expensive. Though I get intensely jealous of the fancy overseas vacations I see pop up in my Facebook news feed, I must remind myself that James and I have done a fair bit of traveling ourselves. Most of it on four wheels.

James and I have been together for more than eight years, and in that time, we’ve put on a lot of miles. It’s worth noting that most of these road trips were taken in the last three years. Allow me to explain why:

2007 – 2009: both of us were in college. College = broke. We managed trips home to see our parents and the rare getaway to Minneapolis, but that was about it.
early 2010: a combination of me working a zillion part-time jobs plus unpaid internships alongside James student teaching meant no time/money for anything, let alone vacation.
late 2010 - 2011: James moved to Ellsworth and I stayed in Minneapolis. Several months later, I moved to Sioux Falls. James was still in Ellsworth, about an hour away. During that time of the dreaded long-distance relationship, most resources/energy were spent driving between each other’s apartments.
2012 – present: our circumstances finally coincided in a way that they never had before: we were living together AND had stable jobs! Hooray!

So it’s taken us a long time to get here, but we are finally checking locations off our “to visit” list. Before we begin, I must tell you how a place earns a spot on my esteemed list. Each place had to be a location we spent some real time in, not just somewhere we drove through on the way to somewhere else. Example: James and I went through Wyoming to and from Colorado, but you won’t see Wyoming on our list because we didn’t do anything there. I also allowed separate stops from one long road trip to be listed on their own. Example: we went to Winnipeg for our honeymoon, but we made actual stops in Fargo, International Falls, Duluth, and Minneapolis. You will see each of those sites on my list.

We have explored a number of towns near us, but not all of those made it onto our list. Pipestone, Sioux Falls, Brookings, Mitchell (to see the Corn Palace, obviously), Worthington… though we found great stuff to do in all of those towns (especially you, Brookings), they just didn’t have the feel of a road trip. You know what I mean.

Anyway. Each of our trips really deserves a full blog post to itself: mainly because our adventures always tend to morph into misadventures. Someday I’ll have an elaborate story for each one, but today, a little list and a little blurb will have to suffice. Here, state by state, is a breakdown of our trips (road or otherwise) over the years!

COLORADO
James and I took a truly fantastic road trip to Colorado in August of this year. James – having never been to Colorado save for one twelve-hour stint where he flew to Denver and then drove back to South Dakota with me the next day – loved it. And honestly, who wouldn’t? Colorado has mountains, streams and rivers, forests, breweries, and great people. We can hardly wait to go back.

Boulder
2015
James and I visited our college friend Sara in Boulder, and she took us biking in downtown Boulder, hiking, and rock-climbing. We had never been rock-climbing before and spent a few moments convinced we were going to die, but we totally didn’t. We felt like we were at the top of the world.

Colorado Springs
2015
My cousins Royal and Lori live near Colorado Springs, so we stopped to visit them. They are Rocky Mountain National Park pros, so they gave us all sorts of insider tips for our trip there. We also wandered through Garden of the Gods, which was as fantastic as its name implies. Next time on our Colorado Springs to-do list: Pike’s Peak.

Fort Collins
2015
I put our Colorado stops in alphabetical order, so they’re not in chronological order. Fort Collins was our first stop on the Colorado tour, and we saw my cousins Adrienne and Greta and their families. James and I camped at a KOA in Fort Collins – my first positive experience camping in a tent – and went white water rafting on the Cache le Poudre (which was easily my favorite part of the whole trip). We wandered around downtown Fort Collins that afternoon, and we both felt like we really REALLY wanted to move there.

Golden
2015
Brian and Laurie, my uncle and aunt, live in Golden. We visited them and, of course, went on a tour of the Coors Brewery. We also went on an ill-fated whitewater kayaking attempt that involved me capsizing and very nearly losing my kayak in Clear Creek. Oops.

Rocky Mountain National Park
2015
Rocky Mountain National Park was truly amazing. James and I had intended to spend a couple of hours there and then head on our way home, but our couple of hours turned into many hours. How could they not? We drove/hiked up to 12,000 feet. We saw a moose and alpine lakes. We got our picture taken at the Continental Divide. We saw the sun set over the mountains. Nothing can compare.

IOWA
Even though we technically live closer to Iowa than we do to South Dakota, James and I both kind of forget that Iowa is even there. I go to South Dakota for work every day, so that’s what I’ll blame… but James teaches in Ellsworth, a town in which one of its borders is literally (and I don’t use the word “literally” lightly) feet from the Iowa border. We have only made a handful of trips to Iowa, and here’s hoping we’ll stop neglecting our neighbor state so much.

Le Mars
2011
We went to Le Mars just for Blue Bunny ice cream. Honest to God.

Okoboji/Spirit Lake
2011
It was Memorial Day weekend, and I had driven from the cities to spend my long weekend with James. He had just wrapped up his first year teaching in Ellsworth, and I was searching for a job closer to him. We spent one of our three days touring Iowa – we wanted to go to Lake Okoboji, as we’d heard it was a magical and wonderful place. But guess what? We totally failed. All we found at Lake Okoboji was a tiny little patch of beach. As it turned out, the rest of the beaches were private. We subsequently gave up and went to Spirit Lake instead, which was friendlier.

Orange City
2015
James’s band marches in the Orange City Tulip Festival every year, and I usually can’t go. They march on a Friday, which tends to be a work day. However, this year, I worked on Saturday and therefore had Friday off. Mom and I went to Orange City to see James march, and the Tulip Festival was nothing short of fantastic. We looked at glorious tulips, saw a wooden shoe carving demonstration, had street food, watched the parade (which some of the most spectacular floats I’ve ever seen), and ate poffertjes (little Dutch pancake things). Poor James missed all the fun stuff because he was on-duty, so he and I went back the following weekend so he could see Orange City. The tulips were a little wilted by then, and most of the stores were closed for the weekend, but we still got to see Windmill Park.

Sioux City
2011
Our Sioux City road trip stands as our ultimate failure. I had just moved to Sioux Falls, and James and I decided that we wanted to see what Sioux City was all about. Neither of us had ever been there, and it was so close. Why not? We got there and promptly found… nothing. Just nothing. We saw the Floyd Monument and the Argosy riverboat casino (which is no longer there) and could find nothing else to do. We even stopped at a gas station for recommendations on good Sioux City food, and were given suggestions such as Taco Bell and Perkins (“or there’s Olive Garden if you want to spend some big money”). We ended up crossing the border into Nebraska to eat at the Crystal Café.

LOUISIANA
Where do I even begin?

New Orleans
2008

2013/2014
James and I first visited in 2008 on a college jazz trip, and I absolutely fell in love with New Orleans. I lived there for three months at the end of 2009, and James and I went back at the end of 2013 for our honeymoon. We ate so much delightful food, and we spent our days wandering the French Quarter. We rode around on street cars and met all sorts of delightful southerners. We went on a riverboat tour and rang in the new year by watching fireworks lit off a barge on the Mississippi River. New Orleans feels like home.

MANITOBA (yes, I know it’s a province, not a state)
James and I got married in July 2013 and decided to put off our “real” honeymoon until December (see: New Orleans). Instead, we took a road trip to Canada. Thanks to a couple of failed study abroad attempts, I’d had my passport since 2008, and I was thrilled to finally get to use it. Five years later. To go to Canada.

Winnipeg
2013
Our main Canadian destination was Winnipeg: a quick seven hour drive. We didn’t know what to expect, but I LOVED Winnipeg. It had great parks, great architecture, and the friendliest Canadians (true to the stereotype). And the food! I began a love affair with Tim Horton’s, and I still pine for their yeast donuts. We hated to leave Canada, and I’d like to think that Canada hated to see us go.

MINNESOTA
As I have spent nearly eight of the last ten years living in Minnesota, it’s naturally the place we have explored the most. Most of James’s family lives in Minnesota, and there’s also a whole ton of stuff to see and do.

Alexandria
2014
James and I would go to Alexandria all the time when we were in college. It had the nearest Target, nearest WalMart, nearest anything. Alexandria didn't become a road trip until after we'd graduated and we made it part of a 2014 trip to Morris. We went to the fabled Carlos Creek Winery, which boasts a (delicious) line of wines called Minnesota Nice.

Duluth
2010

2011

2013

2015
Duluth, obviously, is a favorite. James and I first went there in summer 2010. I was living in Minneapolis, and James had lived with me for the summer and was about to move to Ellsworth for his new teaching job. Ever since a family trip to Virginia when I was 15, I have loved huge ships – and I’ve loved water all my love. Duluth has both. We got to watch those monstrous ships come in, and we stuck our feet in the frigid water of Lake Superior. We have been to Duluth several times since that initial trip: in 2011 for more exploring, in 2013 on our way home from Winnipeg, and in 2015 for a friend’s wedding. One of these days, we’re going to make it up the North Shore.

International Falls 
2013
International Falls was one of our final stops in the northern leg of our honeymoon trip. It was beautiful up there – so many trees and so much wildlife. We canoed on Rainy Lake and visited Voyageurs National Park. James also locked us out of our cabin at 5 in the morning when we got up to watch the sun rise over the lake, but you know. Minor details.

Lanesboro
2014
You remember our ill-fated journey to Lanesboro: James had convinced me to try tent camping, and we nearly drowned thanks to torrential rains. Lanesboro was indeed a pretty area with a lot of character, but it’s hard to appreciate it when you’re in a permanent state of cold dampness. We did explore a cave and discover a delightful winery (Four Daughters) on our way home, so there’s the bright spot. Plus, who doesn’t love a good “everything that can go wrong did go wrong” story?

Mankato
2011

Mankato wasn’t as much of a fail trip as Sioux City, but it came close. James and I planned to meet in Mankato right around Valentine's Day when I lived in Minneapolis and he lived in Ellsworth – it was pretty close to halfway for both of us. We got there and found out that there just wasn’t a lot to do in Mankato. Had we been thinking, we would’ve met in St Peter instead. Live and learn.

Morris
2012

2014
Oddly, James and I haven’t made many trips back to our alma mater. We returned for Jazz Fest 2012, which was a blast. We also went to Morris the week after homecoming 2014 – not to be antisocial, but because I worked during UMM homecoming weekend. I don’t know why we don’t go back to Morris more often, because it brings back so many good memories. We ate at Bello Cucina and Don’s (of course!) and got coffee at the Common Cup. We visited the wind turbine and wandered around campus and reminisced about how young we were. Ahh, the good old days.

New Ulm
2010

2014
New Ulm is a favorite of mine. James and I met there for Oktoberfest when he lived in Ellsworth and I lived in Minneapolis, and I really enjoyed Oktoberfest – even though that was before I drank beer. Now that I like beer, I like Oktoberfest even more. I went to Oktoberfest with Mom in 2012, and James and I went in 2014 with my brother Mitch, James’s brother Jesse, and Jesse’s girlfriend Megan. In New Ulm, we always 1.) eat German food, 2.) go on the Schell’s tour, and 3.) climb Hermann the German. It’s tradition, after all.

St Cloud
2014

2014/2015

James and I don’t make a lot of trips specifically to go to St Cloud, but we did last summer to go river tubing. Ever since river tubing on the Salt River in May 2014, river tubing is my new favourite past-time. James and I went river tubing on the Platte River with Jesse and Jesse’s roommate, and it was – per usual – a blast. We also went to the Benton County Fair, which was a-ok, but you can't really compare it to river tubing. Our last trip to St Cloud was for New Year’s 2015. We brought my brother and sister and had a typical disastrous/hilarious New Year’s.

Stillwater
2015
Our trip to Stillwater was short, but oh so sweet. Stillwater is pretty darn close to Wisconsin on the St Croix River, and it just adorable. I loved the little shops and the cliffs you could climb, and of course, the view of the river and the ships on said river. We also had some really excellent food there, which is a huge bonus.

Taylor's Falls
2010
Honestly, I didn't even remember that we had taken a trip to Taylor's Falls until I started raiding my old Facebook albums for pictures for this blog post. I think we just checked out the waterfalls, crossed the border to say we'd been to Wisconsin, and went home. Who knows.

Twin Cities 
more times than I can count
I’m not sure how to even make a dent in describing all our trips to the Twin Cities. We go there ALL the time. We visit friends and family, we eat our favorite foods, we explore our favorite lakes, and we enjoy our favorite places (especially our favorite lakes). We to go Twins games and the state fair. We learned how to kayak. We discover new foods and new places. To say we love the Twin Cities is an understatement.

MISSOURI

Kansas City
2015
We went to Kansas City with my parents and sister for a Twins game, and it was the GREATEST. None of us had spent any time in Kansas City, and it was the neatest place. The food was amazing (barbecue, obviously), and the city itself was just charming. The Twins lost and we got puked on a little, but that’s not important. The important part is that we all fell in love with Kansas City and are anxiously anticipating a return trip. 

NEBRASKA

Omaha 
2012

2013
Omaha is a fun city, and it’s only three-ish hours from us. James and I spend so much of our time driving to Minneapolis that we forget that Omaha is there… and slightly closer. We’ve been a few times: to see the zoo, to see the Sue the T-Rex exhibit, to explore downtown, to attend a wine and beer festival. And each time, we feel like we’re missing so much. Omaha definitely deserves more of our time.

NORTH DAKOTA

Fargo
2013
Fargo is kind of a stretch, but we stopped for a couple of hours on our way to Winnipeg. I would love to spend more time in Fargo, but in our quick stop, we found all sorts of cool shops and restaurants. Fargo: we’ll be back.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Black Hills
2009

2012

2014

2015
Who doesn’t love the Black Hills? We stopped through on our way from Denver when James flew in to drive back with me in 2009, and we did some fun touristy things like Keystone and Wall Drug. The first time James and I went there on an actual vacation, he proposed to me at Dinosaur Park. So fond memories, obviously. We went back in 2014 for our first anniversary, and we borrowed my parents’ Mustang convertible. Now THAT was a road trip. We stopped back through Rapid City on our way home from Colorado this summer, and there’s always something interesting to see or do. We’ve been zip-lining and to the Prairie Berry winery. We’ve been swimming in Horsethief Lake and kayaking on Canyon Lake. We’ve driven through the Badlands and given ourselves heatstroke. We always run out of time to do everything we want to do – are you noticing a trend?

Lake Poinsett 
more times than I can count
Lake Poinsett is always my favorite summertime destination. Nothing beats a beer on the beach, or a sunset boat ride. We have our annual shrimp boil at Lake Poinsett, and we always watch Fourth of July fireworks from the boat in the middle of the lake. I learned how to waterski last summer, and I want to make up for years of lost time and waterski ALL THE TIME. Clocking in at an hour and forty-five minutes from Luverne, Lake Poinsett is one of the closest of our top road trip choices. (Orange City, Le Mars, and Sioux City are all closer, but I’d choose Lake Poinsett any day.) On one (and only one) day on Lake Poinsett this summer, James and I skied, rode a Jet Ski, tubed, kayaked, and boated: five water sports in one day. That’s my kind of summer.

WISCONSIN

Hudson/Apple River
2015
Remember how I love river tubing? James and I met his brothers Jay and Jesse along with Megan in Wisconsin this summer for tubing on the Apple River. It was the perfect day for riving tubing… except that we ran out of beer. Except for losing your cooler completely, this is likely the greatest tragedy that can befall you while river tubing. We had a great time, though – especially after fellow tubers took pity on our souls and shared their beer!

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I know that this list is relatively short, and there are so many more places that I want to go with James. I know this is a very millennial thing to say, but I have a serious case of wanderlust. Staying home in Luverne = death.

Summer has more or less come to an end, and that means that James goes back to school – which really cuts into our available vacation/road trip time. We’ll have a few fall weekends to work with until the snow and ice set it, at which point travel for fun basically ceases to exist. We have a trip to look forward to in December, so that will get me through the less exciting November/December months. I’ll pout through January and February and start dreaming of road trips in March. Here’s to the 2016 road trip season: may it get here quickly, because I have lots of places to go!