lxforever

“Well, all bears who wear clothes look weird without them!”

—Jeff, 10/9/11

” ‘When are you leaving?’ / ‘Tomorrow’ / ‘I’ll miss you.’ “

—Lost In Translation

time 9:47 PM feeling relaxed, happy, thankful wearing Twins shirt music EITS in prep for tomorrow’s concert! ready for Froot Loops next Froot Loops

I can’t possibly do this past weekend justice so I won’t even try. Jeff took me to the North Shore, where I had never ever EVER been, believe it or not (what kind of a Fake Native am I?!) for a grand 30th birthday excursion of “ROMANCE!” And that it was.

In fact, the word I would use is MAJESTIC (though Jeff kept insisting on ‘mystical’, I would prefer ‘majestic’ and/or ‘magical’. Anyway). Driving into Duluth, I felt enchanted somehow. It seemed like a very far away and different and amazing land, and walking around the town and along LAKE SUPERIOR (worth every ounce of its name, indeed) only further confirmed that. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Grandma’s consisting of terrific ranch-y fries + a wild rice burger and continued up to the north to our lodge.

THE LODGE portion of the weekend was incredible. Jeff booked us quite the fancy room and it totally blew me away. We looked right out onto Lake Superior and I even watched the sun rise from my bed one morning. Blissful. The room was well-appointed and the staff very attentive and friendly (duh, they were ultra midwestern and semi Norwegian, of course). The first night there were terrific waves due to windiness and it just felt almost surreal. An ocean that is not an ocean? I can’t get over how beautiful and MAJESTIC Lake Superior is.

There was a cove on which our lodge was situated that we enjoyed hiking about a few times. We got out to the point on the big old old rocks and sat and watched the water. We enjoyed a real “Scandinavian” breakfast each morning (complete with pickled herring + cukes, oh yes!) and had very tasty pizza and then take-out sandwiches (yep a smoked whitefish sandwich for me – hey people, when in Rome AKA North Shore…) for our dinners. We watched our dear Lost In Translation (HOLLA Tokyo Worlds! Side note, yes I followed team prelims on Twitter Friday night/Sat AM a bit…yep) and did a lot of Hanging OUT! Which is our favorite thing of All Time Ever. Jeff playing Zelda, me reading.

(SIDE NOTE TIMEOUT: I just finished The Corrections this morning by the lake and, yes, cried AGAIN while finishing a book. What is happening to me? Ahahaha. That said, this was an incredible book and if you haven’t read it, please go out and get it right now. RIGHT NOW! Right Now!!! And read it [duh]. It was terrifically dysfunctional [and mildly offensive, OK maybe a lot depending on who you are…watch out] and reminded me of what matters most to Me which is People and Family. Love. OK, now, TIMEIN!)

We had a really awesome, really challenging bike ride along Lake Superior to the lighthouse and then Gooseberry Falls. The ride was very hilly, very windy (in our faces on the way there WHEW!) and it was a terrific workout. Which we also both love, heh. The weather was inexplicably gorgeous, sunny and 70s, and we soaked it up (literally and figuratively). Gooseberry Falls was also magical and MAJESTIC and I can’t wait to go back. We found a spot on the edge of one of the lower falls and just sat and watched water and people for almost an hour or so. True relaxation. True bliss. True love!

(^ that time at Gooseberry Falls = perhaps the Highlight of 2011?)

Today we came back to reality but what a gorgeous trip. We are already plotting our return, which is good since it’s much easier to get back there than it is to, say, Amalfi! (Though this did remind us of Positano + our wayward/terrific night there in 2010…). It felt like much longer than it was and we are both still basking in the glow of it (much like when I got back from South Dakota in June). Without being too creepy or emo, this has been the best year for us relationship-wise in our 8-year relationship and certainly in our marriage. No, things haven’t gone our way, but we’ve found the best thing out of all of it which is each other.

Thank you Jeff!