The Great Road Trip, part 2: From the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports...

Ah, the adventure continues... Post-Karen's wedding, Mike, Kristi, Jason, Collin, Karen and Bill all dispersed, leaving Larry, Steph, me and Milo to contend with the empty house. Partly to get out of their hair, partly to take advantage of proximity, Milo and I headed north to Duluth, Mike and I's home for almost 4 years while he was in grad school, pre-pharmacy school.

We departed just before nap time Tuesday afternoon, barely made it out of the cities before Milo got a little sassy, and I was in need of some caffeine, so I decided, in the essence of my mom this time, to swing thru the outlets. One iced latte and $30

later, we left with 2 new polos for Dad, 2 new dresses and a pair of sandals for Mom, and a new hoodie for Milo, since in true Minnesota fashion, the temperature had drop about 20 degrees in about 12 hours.

Back on the road, Milo fell asleep, and I started a new book on CD. I called my friend Kristin as we approached the Twin Ports area (Duluth, MN & Superior, WI), and we agreed on a picnic of

subs in a park with slides and swings for Milo. Great to catch up with another one of my "little chickens" from the days with the youth group. We laughed and caught up, eating and pushing Milo on the swings, until he reached his limit about 30 minutes past his bedtime. We dropped Kristin at home, with plans to grab a quick coffee in the morning so I could meet her guy before

they headed down to the cities.

We pulled into Knuths driveway (see early posts re: living in the RV in their backyard :) about

1.5 hours post-Milo-bedtime. He had fallen asleep in the car, but what can I say, he's a champ and turned on all the charm for Mike and Kim Knuth. And they are such gracious hosts; they

make me feel like I am doing them a favor by

inviting myself over to impose on their

beautifully quiet sanctuary! We chatted, caught up on life, watched Milo scoot around and harass Oreo, their little dog, and turned into bed shortly thereafter. Milo and I slept until about 7, missing the departure of our hosts but enjoying a gorgeous morning on their back deck with

a breakfast of Mike's coffee and Kim's muffins made with wild blueberries picked on their

vacation!, and headed to Canal Park where we walked along the canal, drank coffee, and chatted once more with Kristin and met Zach, a very friendly and polite young man who knew well enough to sass me just enough.

Milo, being about negative 2 hours of sleep from the night before, and about an hour late for

his morning nap, was in need of reprieve, and I was looking for an excuse to drive up the shore, so we hit the

scenic highway towards Two Harbors. We didn't make it all the way, but he got a good hour nap in before we grabbed lunch and headed to

west Duluth to see Svobodas. Jen and Eric are one of those rare couples where we wives like each other at least as much as our husbands do, and now, as we add kids to the mix, it's fun to see them play and interact with each other. Zeb and Jayven took Milo under their wings, sharing their trucks with him, playing with him on the swings at the park, digging holes in the sand for him to sit in, they were great. All too soon, Milo and I needed to hit the road once more. We said goodbye to our buddies and hit the road, thinking a short nap could hold the munchkin over...

I was on the way to my friend Amanda's house when I realized I had to stop by and visit the flower ladies. The women at Dunbar Floral were my stand-in family when we lived in Duluth, letting me and Mike in on kids' hockey games, graduation parties, and life in the family business in general. They also taught me almost everything I know when it comes to floral design. And they have not yet met the kid... We walked in the door, and Sandy (sister-in-law) says, "well I'll be darned!" and Sherri (owner) walks up to where the light from the front

door no longer blinds her, and starts to tear up. Sherri's not one to cry, don't get me wrong, she can be a big softy, but I never thought just introducing my son would bring tears. She explains that just that day she had found out that a dear friend had past away suddenly in her sleep at 47 years old, and that Milo and I couldn't have picked a better day to stop by. They oogle Milo, showering him with a new stuff lizard selected from the shelf on the salesfloor and a balloon with Simba on it. That's another amazing thing about these gals: their generosity. They would never hesitate to give anything and everything they could, especially to a flirtatious 1-year old, giddy with lack of sleep.

After many hugs, we departed the flower shop, heading to our old neighborhood, where ironically, Amanda bought a house less than a block away from our old house. And the house is fantastic! Amanda and I are kindred spirits; we have such similar tastes, that I realized as I walked into her house, it felt like walking into the best version on my own home. She picks out things from the same stores that I would pick from and uses them like I would, actually better. After meandering thru her new pad, we packed Milo in the backpack and walked a little ways down the road to a little cafe and laughed and ate and remembered and just loved on each other. She's that kind of friend. All too soon it was once again past Milo's bedtime, and though he was being a real champ, I could tell that the short morning nap and the total obliteration of his afternoon nap was paying a toll. We said goodbye to Amanda and headed back to Knuths.

Kim was waiting for us, and this heavenly aroma oozed out of the house as she had just baked coffee cake for us for the next morning. We packed Milo off to bed, and she and I sat at her

dining room table, organizing her final project as a high school mom. She's responsible for all the sweatshirt orders this one last time as her youngest graduated. She made patient calls trying to explain that you can have either a red or a black sweatshirt, not a red and black sweatshirt, or that really, your son probably doesn't want the girls style of sweatpant because it really is a girl's style of sweatpant ;) and trying to be somewhat helpful, I stamped checks and filled out deposit forms. All too soon, we too went to bed. We shared the delicious coffee cake in the morning, and Kim too loved on my kid. A little before nap time, we packed up and hit the road once more. Milo fell asleep before we hit Martin Road and slept until we got into Minneapolis, poor little guy. Only about 36 hours, but lots of catching up.

Where did we find these friends? These fantastic people who love us and our kid, even when we don't see them for over a year? Who give and give to us, when we feel so undeserving? And how in the world do you thank people like that? How do you thank someone for being good for your soul?