Hows my little visitor?

There is nothing quite like a summer vacation to rejuvenate the soul. Laura and I took a 1500+ mile road trip up to visit our family and friends and it was great! We started off in MN to watch our friends Jon and Kara get married. But before the big day I went out with a big group of pals for some bar crawling around Minneapolis, it was fun because I hadn't been to any of the bars we were at before, but also it was great to hang out with friends for a night.

The next morning I woke up feeling like (mostly) a champ and took the kite out with my Dad where we realized we need a bit more practice. I forgot most of my Tarifa training, and his big kite flies differently than my smaller big kite. A fun afternoon regardless.

One of our few successful flights.

Later that day we caught up with more friends and had a lovely evening in Stillwater, I forgot my camera :(

The next day we just hung around before the wedding. A bunch of us fellas got together early to get pretty and carpool to marriage ground zero, the Stillwater public library.

Jon gave me this cigar/flask combo...sweet! 

I'm being laughed at because my shirt wasn't "white enough".

Can't pass up a free celebratory cigar! 

After the wedding day Laura and I headed North to Duluth for a relaxing day with one of our favorite places. We started off by hiking around the trails by Enger tower and then enjoyed some peaceful time sitting on a rock looking over the city watching boats move around. After that we strolled around Canal Park to watch another boat and found out there is a new distillery called Vikre! They focus mostly on Gin and botanical infused spirits and they are great! Afterward we stopped by Luce for some delicious pizza and happened to run into the new bride and groom! Yay!

In case any of you forgot what Duluth looked like in the summer.

We spent the rest of our time in Washburn catching up with some friends and a surprise cameo from the monkeys! They made a last minute decision to visit family and things worked out great that we were there too! It's been a long time since I've seen them in real life so it was great to catch up with the little ones and grownups alike. They are in the midst of adding to their exciting adventures of the past year and I'm a bit jealous of their big move to Seattle, mountains, ocean, rain, trees...

Good times! due to a plug my AC drained into the car. De humidifying worked great.

Photo Credit: Alia Davis

Wet dog.

Some of the team braved the chilly water for a swim.

Venus actually sat like this for a while. 

Washburn is pretty in the summer.

Anyway Washburn was great, we got some pretty lovely weather, with some beach time, and we even got hooked up with a private tour of the future South Shore Production Brewery!

Scott hooked me up with a kefir grain! Mmmmm....

*Sorry about the poor quality photos my computer is acting funny.