Duluth Trip

So, about a month ago Brian called me from work one afternoon, to ask if I wanted to go to Duluth. OF COURSE! I freaking love visiting that place, I love visiting it so much that we tried living there for a year. (Terrible place to live. Seriously. But we love visiting!)

We left this past Friday and drove up to our friend Rudy's house. His name isn't really Rudy, which sort of tells you what kind of guy he is.... a funny one, that's for sure. I went for a walk and Brian and Rudy went mountain bike riding. I got blisters, but Brian got messed up, some sort of calf muscle strain, plus blood all over his shin, crazy. What he was really mad about was messing up his MTB frame. Poor thing, he's still tore up about it.

The next day I bailed on the guys and went adventuring. First I went to Leif Erikson Park, and walked on the lakeshore collecting beach glass.

View from the park above the shoreline, looking into Canal Park and the lift bridge

Lots and lots of little pebbles to sift through for beach glass

Blustery but beautiful - more Canal Park/Lift Bridge with bridge to WI in the far background

I even saw a barge. Sweet!

Cold but happy!

 There's something just amazing about Lake Superior. Every time I see it, I just break into a huge smile and feel like I can breathe. I don't know what it is, but I love it. It makes me feel close to the Spirit, whatever that is. I also love beach glass because I feel like it represents something really magical. Think about it: broken shards of glass end up in this gigantic lake, and through the process of pounding waves and repeated bashings against stones, they get smoothed and buffed and their sharp edges wear down and they become something rare and beautiful. It sort of feels like what I've gone through in life - I once hurt everything that came near me, and now I feel like I've transformed into something else, something better. Anyway, it has to do with that whole Spirit thing. Yeah.

After I warmed up a little, I met my friend Jennifer at Yarn Harbor and bought some yarn. Pictures later, sorry! We went over to Bixby's and hung out, knitting and talking, for over 4 hours! Pretty awesome stuff. I met Jen when I was still awfully rough around the edges, 14 years old, talking smart and breaking shit. Funny that we'd both end up mellowed out knitters ten years later! What a cool connection.

I met up with the boys at Pizza Luce for some serious vegan pizza action, ZOMG. Our friend Drew joined us as well. Silly boys!

Brian, Rudy, Drew

Hot damn we love vegan pizza

What an awesome day, from start to finish. The next day, I spent the morning catching up with a very special friend. I met Amber when she was in her late teens, and got to spend quite a bit of time mentoring her and watching her become the amazing woman she is today. It had been a year since we had seen each other, but it felt like no time had passed. She continues to make healthy changes and grow, and she is someone I am so honored to know. Brava, Amber!

<3

In the afternoon, I met up with the guys and some of their "trials" friends (it's a biking thing, idk) further up the shore while they did some biking. It was misty and cool, but I had a great time near my favorite lake! (Is it weird to have a favorite lake? Probably not if you're Minnesotan.)

"Eek! 'Interesting' is code for fun and dangerous, isn't it?!?"

Brian riding on rocks

What was at the bottom of the rocks

Yeah, it's not stopping him.

Knit a few rows.

Sock in the Wild!

Not long after, it started to rain and we headed home. It was an awesome weekend with friends and being out by the lake despite iffy weather. We're headed to Northern Wisconsin next weekend for Memorial Day, hopefully we have lots of sun and breeze!