When we have each other, we have everything.
First birthday that I couldn't celebrate with you. Life has gone through many changes since you left us and I wish you were with me. I need your unfailing elbow nudge telling me you want attention and your constant willingness to cuddle. I miss my friend.
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Left Minneapolis...landed in Atlanta...left Atlanta....landed in Roatan, Honduras. Spring Break 2017 was a memorable one! We loved Roatan! We are already planning a return trip back next Spring Break. We enjoyed a few drives around the island, swimming with dolphins, Ben tried flyboarding for the first time, consumed tons of DELICIOUS food, and of course...reading and beach time. Poor Ben was sick over the trip, so he couldn't enjoy the amazing diving that Roatan had to offer. The corral was abundant and I saw two turtles and a sting ray. Quick week, but loved every minute! Enjoy the video for more! We spent a little under a week in West Yellowstone with my dad and friends, Mike and Ali LaLonde. What a great time it was! We played games, snow-mobiled, skied, read, slept in, watched movies, and enjoyed the company of friends and family. West Yellowstone is the perfect place to spend the holidays. It is truly a winter wonderland! Here is a video if the pictures aren't enough! Australia, what a place! This trip came about with a bit of luck after finding $500 round trip tickets to Sydney from Minneapolis. Unheard of! We almost pay that to fly to Seattle! Along with my parents, we booked a trip to down under. After a 3 hour flight to San Francisco and a 15 hour flight to Sydney, we made it! We spent two days in Sydney exploring. We went to the zoo, saw the Sydney Opera House, explored the wharf area, and took a "Sit on Top" city bus tour that was actually really cool! I had never done one, but you actually learn a lot and save your feet from all of the walking! We had some serious jet lag and were a little more down to earth in those first few days. From there, my parents flew out to Port Macquarie to stay with some family friends and Ben and I headed to Cairns and Port Douglas, Australia. We stayed in an Air BnB called the Artist Studio. It was the perfect size for just the two of us and close to town and the marina that we went to for diving. Port Douglas is a quaint and picturesque ocean front town. Great restaurants and fresh fruit/vegetable smoothies. We enjoyed going to the farmer's market and getting reflexology massages in town. While there, we did a lot of driving / exloring. We took a cable car and train through the Daintree Rainforest. The oldest rainforest in the world. We drove the self-guided tour through the Tablelands...very pretty countryside. We explored the tourist town of Cairns and went diving twice with Calypso. Diving the Great Barrier Reef was exceptional. The coral and small marine life was abundant. The colors were not like any other that I had ever seen. While diving, we saw some bigger marine life...a reef shark, a sting ray, and dolphins. I didn't have any issues diving this time, which I was very grateful for! All in all it was a relaxing trip. We would say that it should be on everyone's bucket list. After going once though...not sure we would go back. The crazy wildlife that they have there really restricts certain activities that we like to do. You can't openly swim in the ocean or lounge on the beach because they have salt water crocodiles that will attack and jellyfish that are deadly. You can't really hike because they have extremely deadly snakes and spiders. It was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but we are too adventurous to be confined by crazy dangerous things that want to kill you :). Enjoy the pictures and watch the video if you want to see more! MEA Break was the perfect time to travel to Denver, Colorado to visit Dan in his new home. We had a great few days of relaxing, catching up, hiking, and sightseeing. Denver is a beautiful place and I am happy to see Dan in a place that he loves! Fall is here and the colors are in full swing! Fall is my favorite season and we enjoyed it here at the lake, up on Lake Superior with the Berglunds, and Lake Vermillion / Burntside Lake. We hit the prime time weekend up north last weekend, but it sure was cold on that pontoon! Ben got a new toy ... a Ford Focus RS ... this isn't just your run of the mill Ford ... 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds! We drove all the way to Pennsylvania to get it! Long drive and 10 months of wait time for him, but he finally has it! In other news ... and perhaps the biggest ... we are moving off the lake. The lake has been a real gift to live on and we feel so fortunate to have enjoyed such a beautiful lot and great memories with friends. However, the amount of work involved with a lot this big combined with the desire to travel to see families more in the summer ... led us to our decision to sell. The house/lot sold within a week and we will close on November 30th. We will also be closing on a town home in Long Lake, MN (10 minutes from where we live now). We are looking for low maintenance living and are excited about the possibility of locking the door and not being worried about any exterior maintenance. Knowing Ben and I ... this will be a highly short term living situation ... but we always embrace adventure! We will be going from this ... to this ...
Loved traveling to Montana with Katie and Ali! We stayed in our rental cabin in West Yellowstone. It is amazing all of the activities we completed in just 5 days! Monday was mostly a travel day getting from Minnesota to Montana. Our flight was delayed 4 hours, but we arrived safely, picked up groceries, and headed into the mountains. After a relaxing evening, we had a full day on Tuesday. We were in the park from 8:30 am - 10:00 pm! It was a full day with the Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful, a 6 mile hike to a lake, and viewing animals. We were headed out of the park and we were stopped in a traffic jam by a herd of bison. One of which charged the biker in front of us and made them jump! Then we stopped again after seeing a bunch of people pulled over with scopes. We were able to get amazing views of 3 black wolves and 1 white alpha female wolf. We watched them for a long time and headed out to get dinner. Dinner ended up being at 10:30! Wednesday was a low key day. We started the morning with yoga and hot tub time! We headed into the town of West Yellowstone for some shopping for "tourist" souvenirs. We shopped till we dropped and were ready for lunch back at the cabin. We decided to spend the afternoon kayaking on Hebgen Lake. We ended with an evening hike on a trail behind the cabin. Thursday was another full day in Yellowstone National Park. We completed the north loop from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm. We started our day with Mammoth Hot Springs. From there, we went on a 5 mile hike...may have been lost for a bit...and loved the constantly changing scenery. After the hike, we enjoyed a lunch on a grassy patch and headed out toward Tower. We took lots of pictures of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and conquered the stairs leading to the upper and lower falls. On our way out of the park, we saw two large elk and experienced one calling for a female to come out of the woods. Couldn't have been more perfect! Friday we packed up to head back to Bozeman. We stopped in Big Sky...spent more money :) and completed another 6 mile hike to Lava Lake. This is probably one of my favorite hikes in Montana. The lake is stunning and surrounded by the Spanish Peaks. This is a harder hike with an ascent of 1600 feet, but it is well worth the climb. On a side note, Ben and I did this hike a few years ago with Lucy. It was nice to go back and think about a time when she was healthy and happy, but hard at the same time knowing she won't hike with us again. I miss her dearly. When we got to the hotel for the night, we relaxed with the water slide pool and hot tub. Early bed time to get up for a 5:45 am flight on Saturday. Awesome trip with amazing ladies! Can't wait for the next one! We said goodbye to Lucy today. She gave us an awesome 7 years ! From hiking to boating to traveling...she did it all with us. So this is where we part, my friend, And you'll run on, around the bend. Gone from sight, but not from mind, New pleasures there you'll surely find. I will go on; I'll find the strength. Life measures quality, not its length. One long embrace before you leave, Share one last look, before I grieve. There are others, that much is true. But they be they, and they aren't you. And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought, Will remember well all you've taught. Your place I'll hold, you will be missed, The fur I stroked, the nose I kissed. And as you journey to your final rest, Take with you this...I loved you best. Jim Willis 2002 An amazing trip to Norway with Ben's parents from June 23rd to July 4th! We started the trip in Alesund. From there, we traveled to Velle to stay in a cabin that belonged to a family friend. Beautiful rolling hills and farm fields were plentiful! Gjende Lake was next and we traveled hut to hut here. We started at Gjendesheim hut and then stayed at the Memurubu hut for two nights. The panoramic views were stunning and abundant. The hiking in this area was challenging as some sections of the trail were narrow and steep. However, we were able to make it to one of the most popular sections of the trail for pictures! We ended the trip with Geirangerfjord. This is a cruiseship stop and it was easy to see why! The fjord is made up of steep walls and winding waterways. The craziest hike of the trip occurred here when we had to use a cable to inch around the edge of a cliff! We loved the food, weather, and scenery that Norway had to offer! We will be back! |
AuthorsBen, Julie, and Amelia Archives
June 2022
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