I know I haven’t written in a while. I should just stop trying to explain since by this time you all know this is my MO, but HEY! I was being responsible.

The rest of Minnesota was wonderful! Thank you Tom and Cheryl for sharing your MN life with me ….. oh, and for letting my camper rest in your garage for a while. We did fun things like play volleyball, boating, and BINJO (This is NOT a typo! I think they are trying to avoid licensing and copyright infringement)

We also spent 5 days at the cabin on Fox Lake, and you know you’re in MN when you hear these guys

The sound of the Loons is amazing. They let me get this close when we were kayaking. I had to work with that view out the window every day – shucks! Some other highlights from the cabin

I got stuck in the muck getting that flower picture!

Of course there was a bar with two volleyball courts in the back. We had some good games – especially against 3 high school players who thought us old people would be no challenge (our ages: 59-73-75). We beat them the first game 27-25!!! Woo Hoo! In the rematch they won 25-23 but we gave them a tough game. This is Zorbaz where no ‘s’ are allowed.

Cabin sunset and these are the lakes we cruised. Was it 21 lakes Tom? Of course we didn’t see them all but it was fun. We had an interesting visitor

I’ve never seen a porcupine in the wild! I guess it’s a myth that they can shoot their needles, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

Cardboard boat races! Fancy boats to be made out of cardboard. It was pretty funny to see some of them disintegrate and sink. The ice cream boat was in high demand.

All in all, MN is not a place I would choose to live, but it’s pretty dang nice in the summer time! Even though I STILL haven’t seen Northern Lights 😦

I took a time out to be responsible and attend a conference in San Diego. It was weird packing a suitcase and getting on a plane while my rig stayed in MN. Great conference though – I actually learned a lot and hopefully met a new client or two! Anna Kendrick is the new celebrity face of LPL Financial, so she made an appearance, and we got to see Maroon 5 at the Rady Shell – very cool venue!

As a bonus, I got to spend some time with my niece Lauren, her husband Aaron and her beautiful girls – 2 year old twins and a 4 year old. It was crazy but wonderful!

I am now heading west and recently made a very boring drive through South Dakota. I realize it becomes ‘the west’ about half way across. Remember all the green and water I was talking about? That’s all gone now. I think I realized I was back in ‘the west’ when I started sneezing constantly – my allergies have returned! Maybe that’s another sign that it’s time to move. I’ll share all the excitement of SD next time.

Take it easy!

Tip of the day: Be braver than you believe you are, stronger than you feel, and smarter than you think. I think Winnie the Pooh said this and it’s a great reminder to believe in yourself.