Vacation/Holiday Part II: The Lake

So you can imagine after our whirlwind, amazing weekend in London, we were pretty spent. The type of spent where all you want to do is go home, unpack, cuddle up in your own bed and read a Sunday paper. But that's not how Mr. and Mrs. B. travel. We prefer to pack as much in as possible - you can catch up on sleep on the plane - and get there as soon as possible. (See below for sleeping tips.)

To spare you the logistical nightmare details of our trip back from London, I'll just set the scene up this way. I was "home" for 12 hours for class and to change out the suitcases and Mr. B had a whopping three hours in between his international flight arriving and our Minnesota departure. (Yes, we flew back separately.) Like I said, we live on the edge.

For once, the travel gods blessed us with good travel karma and we didn't have a single hiccup or hitch with our ri-donk-u-lous itinerary. (Horrible flashback to Christmas 2010 when we were stuck in Ireland for three days and then I flew from London to JFK to Los Angeles with the flu.)

I told you we catch up on sleep on the plane and I wasn't joking. Poor Mr. B had been awake for goodness knows how many hours at this point. And I, the loving wife, couldn't miss a photo opportunity like this.

He's going to be really mad I posted this. HAHAHAH.

We arrived in Minnesota on time and "relatively" rested. We were greeted by beautiful sunshine, crisp late summer air, and best of all, Mama H and Mr. H. Commence family vacation (minus one member of the family, Junior, who arrived on Saturday.)

In the land of 10,000 lakes, our lake was - and no disrespect - pretty much like a lot of the other lakes in the area. But it's special to my family as it's where we spent some summer vacations, my father summer vacationed as a youngster and my Aunt and Uncle met there working one summer at a resort. You could say we know the area well.

My Aunt and Uncle were generous enough to share their amazingly beautiful lake house with us for the week. How could you not relax with scenery like this:

I wish I could say we did all kinds of adventurous, outrageous, wild and crazy things, but sorry to disappoint you friendly reader, we didn't. The purpose of this vacation was to r.e.l.a.x. Not an easy thing for me to do since sitting still for me is about as fun as watching paint dry. We spent lots of time reading, fishing, golfing, sleeping, eating and staring at the scenery. Perhaps the most "active" part of the day was the evening booze cruise.

This was Mr. B's first time fishing and he did a pretty good job. So good, he's named himself the Fish Whisperer and thinks he has a legitimate shot at one of those ESPN bass fishing competitions. You may make your own judgements when you see the "fish" we caught.

Mr. B, Me and Junior. Perhaps we ought to take Mr. B to a more reputable fishing lake before we quits his day job and buys a boat. 

We spent lots of days and evenings cruising around the lake with some solid tunes and refreshing beverages. Miss Annie, the pup, made the traveling team and enjoyed the wind in her face too, when she wasn't asleep.

Dad, our trusty navigator, and if you look closely, you'll see Junior doing what he does best.

Me and the pup enjoying the wind.

And then her passing out.

Mr. B giving us full throttle in what was most likely a no wake zone.

Considering we were far, far removed from civilization, the golf course was surprisingly challenging and in excellent condition. For those of you wondering, yes, I do play golf (really enjoy it as a matter of fact!) so it was great to play with the boys.

Mr. B and Senior teeing off.

The view from the ladies tee.

Senior with his tee shot right next to the pin. Don't be deceived by the proximity to the pin - it was perhaps the ugliest tee shot of all time and he'll readily admit he got lucky. (It bounced off the cart path but Pops defends it well: "Doesn't matter how it gets there as long as it does.")

We sampled some of the local brewskis too. Dad has a mild obsession with the way beer used to be made in the heartland so it was thanks to him we were introduced to some new brews (and subsequent reminiscing). Taste aside, extra credit goes to Schmidt's for their ridiculously outdated, yet highly effective packaging. I'm sorry yall, but nothing says 'Merica like a beer with a grizzly bear or huge bass on the can and box. Don't need the mountains to turn blue or a wide vent for gulping. Just a wilderness scene. It's a real treat to reach into the case and guess what outdoor adventure you'll score next.

We spent a chilly evening by the bonfire with some Robert Earl Keen and James McMurtry and a bottle of red. I've been bugging Mr. B. to make us a bonfire in the backyard for a while now and I think that project is going to have to get bumped up to the top of the honey-do list, especially now that fall is in full effect in our neck of the woods.



After writing this post, it feels like we didn't really do anything, but that was the point. And in case you're wondering, Mama H. and I were actually on this trip, despite the photos telling a different story. She took lots of pictures - including some family shots - but since she just had shoulder surgery - I'm not going to pester her for those pictures now. Promise I'll share them another day.....

All in all - it was a wonderful week at the lake. I'm thankful for time spent with family and I hope we can do it again next year. (Which means we'll need to start coordinating a date, say, last week.)

Our Vacation/Holiday fun didn't end in Bay Lake though. From there, we traveled to Fort Collins, CO for Whit and Nate's wedding. But that's another post for another day!