The Bet.

One of my all time favorite thing to do in Duluth is the fall and spring trail running series.  There are soooo many cool running people in Duluth and at $1 per race you just can't beat it!  As you know, Duluth is built on a hill which means running (especially trail running) can be very difficult.  One of the hardest runs of my running history is the "Bull run" located in West Duluth... the hills are beyond anything i've ever ran.  It's just short of 4 miles and every time I want to lay down and die in the middle of it.  Seriously... it's painful.  Every year I question my sanity during that race.

This series Robby & my co-worker John have a bet to who can get the most points at the end of the series wins and the loser buys the winner pizza.  There are 7 races in the spring series and this is how the scoring works...

Scoring Rules

1. First place in each race earns 150 points, second place earns 149 points, third place earns 148 points, etc.
2. Earn 25 bonus points if you participate in all seven races.
3. Drop your lowest score (you drop zero if you missed a race). Lowest scores are marked with [].
4. Apply rules 1-4 to arrive at your total score for the NMTC Spring Trail Series.

So far Robby is ahead... and John is close behind him.  With two races left anything can happen... although Robby has all of his topping picked out for the pizza he is going to win.

The goat run! This was a fun race, lots or water and mud and even a short period of rock climbing.

Every week I'm chasing this lady... she's fast but i'm still beating her in the overall series!

Life...

I apologize for my major blog neglect.  I've been a lazy photographer and have not been very good at capturing life happenings lately.


Here is a few fun things that I did manage to get a few pictures of...

Sweet Miss Margaret is ONE!  We celebrated with great friends and giant cupcakes!

The Peterson family stayed with us... it's crazy that they are a family of five now and Elias is already one.  We were way over due for some quality time with this family and had a great time catching up.  Aren't their kids adorable! Love them!

I cleaned out my closet big time.  I'm contemplating being a minimalist so we'll see how it goes.  This is seriously all I have left in my closet (okay maybe a few more pieces that are in the laundry) but I did a major down size.  Ashby started a thrift store that is open once a month but everything is FREE.  That's right... take what you need... free!  So i'm donating a lot of my clothes to their awesome Caring Neighbors Mission!

Here is a news clip of the FREE "store" in Ashby... it seems like this little town makes the Twin Cities news quite a bit.  Something to be proud of I guess!  Awwww... home sweet Ashby.  I love watching news stories like this that makes you remember that there are so many genuine, caring and good people in this world.

Who's Legendary?

Robby just read my North Dakotan joke on my previous blog post and said in a very stately way

"I'm from North Dakota... and i'm legendary!"

I about fell off my chair laughing.

I feel like they are trying way too hard to look like Minnesota in this video.  

I guess what they say is true "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

True Minnesotan blood...

A few weeks ago I was thinking maybe I left my Christmas wreath up for too long... but I took a picture of it yesterday and it fits right in with this lovely spring we are having.  I'm so happy I left it up!

Every spring I hear Minnesotans grumble about spring snow.  I usually sit back and think... I love snow... even in April.  I LOVE IT!  Spring snow is the best because you can actually get outside and enjoy the snow in decent temperatures.  So go build a snowman... go make snow angels... go for a walk... get outside and enjoy this Minnesota spring because soon we will hear grumblings of it being too hot.

Today we are going to get out and enjoy the fresh foot of snow we got on the ski trails!  

I don't know who will be more excited... me or Beckett? 

(probably not Robby because he's got North Dakota blood which is oh so different)

The unknown.

This week i'm going to try extra hard to trust God with the unknown.  Too often I find myself planning life how I want it to be.  If anyone knows what it's like to trust God during unknown circumstances it's this lady and her family: Corrie Ten Boom.  I loved reading about her!

Base Camp - Bummin' In Duluth

When Robby took off for a guys trip and to celebrate Easter with his family I thought my weekend would be pretty low key in Duluth by myself.  I jokingly told dad that if they continued their trip up to Duluth they could ski in five states in one trip.  To my surprise he said "ok, yeah we might do that!".  I love how spontaneous they are.  About 4,020 miles into their trip the ski bums landed in Duluth to celebrate Easter.  We had such a fun weekend together!  The first night we all camped in Base Camp... which was AWESOME!  I could live in Base Camp and that is not a joke my friends.  The wood stove is such a nice touch and makes it extra cozy.

We spent Saturday on the "mountain"shredding it up.  It was such a nice day... sunny, warm and perfect spring skiing conditions!

After a fun day of skiing we indulged in burgers at the Anchor Bar!  Delish.

We had our Easter morning worship celebration right on the shore of Lake Superior.  We celebrated Easter and ate a fantastic brunch with Mimosas (and Strawberries that almost sent Mary on a 12 hour drive).

After the ski bum's left town, Duke & I decided we needed to close down Spirit Mountain by carving out a few runs on their last day open.  I had the BEST time skiing with my uncle Duke on Easter day!!

 
When Robby got home from Bismarck on Easter night I was so tired I could barely talk.  The Balgaard's sure know how to keep you moving and I LOVE it!

Base Camp - A Ski Bummin' Adventure!

A dream came true for my dad this month.  He became an official ski bum with his "baby".  I think my dad has always been a ski bum deep down inside but for Mom to join him in this lifestyle for a few weeks was a dream come true.  First, remember my school bus blog post about a year ago? (click HERE to refresh your memory).  Well, the "heart" of that bus + a 1967 Dodge Travco became a ski bummin', mountain huntin' travelers dream.

Meet BASE CAMP... or you can call it BC (which i'll be referring to it as in this post).

Dad (and MANY other helpers) put lots of hours into making BC a reality.  Many repurposed items were used to restore it.  My favorite was an old door off our house used as the storage door on the outside.  Isn't my dad so creative?

For the auto geeks that read my blog (Jonas)... the engine is a DT466 International Navstar.  The main donor (drivetrain and axels) is a 1996 Navstar School Bus. (Yep, a yellow one)

The first trip Base Camp went on was in it's "under construction" phase.  Dad had "the trip of a lifetime" on this trip and turned a 20 year dream into reality (more to come on that later).

Here she is on her FIVE state ski bummin' adventure.  Yes, that's a 1966 Honda 305 dream.  It's true, you meet the nicest people on a Honda.

The ski bum's.... fresh into bummin. Yes, that's a Canadian Tuxedo with a Denim Diva ready to shred it up.

From Ashby, MN to Aberdeen, SD to Reiter, SD to Bozeman, MT to BIG SKY, MT (Ski State #1)

(to meet up with some temporary bums)

From Big Sky to Yellowstone to Jackson Hole, Wyoming (ski state #2) for some "Ho Back" Mountain skiing.

From Jackson Hole to Park City, Utah (ski state #3) for some big city skiing.

From Salt Lake through Moab, UT to Glen Canyon from the top end of Lake Powell following the Colorado River over 300 miles to Kremmling, CO (a favorite hunting destination).

A visit with Kris & Susan along the way!

From Kremmling, CO to Summit County to Keystone, CO (ski state #4) for some Mary Ida style skiing.    Here is a picture of them with a statue of Max & Edna Dercum the founders of Keystone.

From Keystone to the Black Hills to see faces in rocks and to the largest bar in the world at Sturgis.

I know you're excited to know what ski state #5 is!  From Sturgis, SD to Duluth, MN to ski Spirit Mountain for some down home skiing.  That's right friends 4,020 miles later and after 4 states of BIG skiing (saving the best for last errr first) Spirt Mountain, MN made the cut to complete skiing five states in one trip!!

You get to sign BC's wall after a memorable outing.  The first was a very memorable one for dad... after 20 years of archery hunting elk... his 5X5 dream came true!  

The second was celebrating Easter by Lake Superior.  "Like wheat that rises green, Love lives again." Thank you, Jesus.

To be continued...