Minnesota is for Wisconsin Lovers

How Many Cottage Visits This Summer? Well, This Time We Went to the Vilas County Fair

2026-08-16T21:27:00.000-05:00

You probably thought: "You guys can't be going to to the cottage again? And you already went to a fair!" Well, you'd be wrong. After a delayed return from Utah, we headed back to Three Lakes.

After missing the turn to get on 35W north we found ourselves on 94 East and decided to keep going that way. Since we'd be on 29, you know we had to stop at Marieke Gouda again. This time we could browse around.

We got some cheese for up north and the kids and I got ice cream cones, again.

The water levels had really dropped.

Much of the Upper Midwest was in deep drought to end the summer.

Even the pond was dry.

Well, at least the lake was mostly full.

Straight to the water with these kids.

Theo and I were at the farmers market earlier this week and Theo said he wanted corn on the cob. I told my dad to pick some up at the farm stand on the way up to have for dinner.

What a goof.

This view never gets old.

With swimming lessons now completed, Theo has been become quite the advanced swimmer. And now he wants to swim anytime he can.

I paid for my fishing license, so might as well get my money's worth.

Oh yeah, Brittany and Marina also joined us this weekend. My dad suggested we take the boat to Sunset Grill for breakfast. We hadn't been there in a few years so jumped at the chance.

It's changed quite a bit with more dockside tables then ever before.

We decided to sit inside.

I think because it was the only way for us to all sit together.

We saw the campground across the street was having a craft sale and made our way over there. Passing my childhood beach.

There were some cute crafts and then some AI crap.

Not much at the sale so then we relived our campground days by walking around seeing if we could remember where everything was. As a kid, everything seemed so far apart, when in reality everything was so close.

This was where I learned to ride a bike.

We tried making ourselves more obvious that people swim in the lake.

The big duck ought to do that.

I then convinced the kids to take a walk with me.

I worked on fixing Brooke's bike.

After going to two fairs this summer we weren't really in a rush to get to the Vilas County Fair.

We also all agreed it's more fun after dark.

We wanted to see the 4H stuff before they closed the building for the night. Loved this mushroom doll.

They didn't have my favorite ride this year but the rides were pretty good compared to other fairs.

Somehow G.G. never played the coin dozer. The signage was confusing I guess.

I got a brat, but should've got a corn dog.

This ride ruled.

Meadow used our last points on the carousel.

When we were at Ladysmith's Mardi Gras in July, we really wanted to get funnel cake, but the stands were all closed. This time we couldn't pass it up.

Man, I'm gonna miss fair season.

Meadow and Marina went for a boat ride before we had to head home.

And Theo got in one more swim.

Don't worry, we'll be back in a few weeks for Labor Day Weekend.

On the way home we decided to try to eat at Tomahawk's Dog n Suds for what feels like the 10th time.

Finally, we were in luck! This location even served frozen custard in their famed root beer floats.

I remember going to one of these on the Wisconsin/Illinois border as a kid with my dad.

Theo said this was the best burger her ever had.

It was as good as I remembered.

Willow River, Ben Comes to Visit and a Quick Work Trip to the Wasatch Valley

2026-08-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday

The kids and I stopped at the Uptown Farmers Market the other day. And much to our surprise was a bakery selling Japanese Milk Bread. Of course I had to make our favorite breakfast.

For this weeks farmers market run, the kids and I tried out the St Paul Farmers Market. After hearing about it for years we finally made the trek. Getting here and finding parking was an adventure in itself.

Well, that's because it's not located in a car sewer.

Love all the pretty colors.

Popcorn for these kiddos.

I'm not sure how you all aren't sick of popcorn.

We also got okra, cucumbers, cauliflower, spread cheese, green beans and potatoes.

Then we stopped at a Hyvee to get food for a picnic lunch, camp meals for our upcoming trip to Ontario, and school snacks.

Then to take advantage of our new Wisconsin State Park pass, we went to the uber popular Willow River State Park. All the picnic tables were in use so the ground it is.

The only other time we have been here was in the winter. I had been wanting to go in the summer and take the kids swimming. Apparently everyone else does this.

I think next summer I'll have to take them on a Friday.

Meadow would soon regret not bringing her swimsuit.

I later saw a boy hugging Theo. Turns out one of his friends from school was also here.

They played for a bit before heading home.

How sweet!

On our way home we stopped at the smallest Walmart I've ever seen to get more litter box bags. While here we saw the blanket aisle. On our last RV trip we bought a cheap blanket at Walmart. It was too big to bring home so we donated it. Theo has been asking to have that blanket again, ever since.

Our adventures for the day went longer than I thought, frozen pizza for dinner.

I have no recollection as to why I didn't go with nor eating this pizza. Apparently I stayed home becasue I'd gotten sick at some point.

Sunday

I was hoping to feel better before our longtime friend Ben made it to Minneapolis. He just finished a randonneuring (biking) tour through Wisconsin and Minnesota's driftless area.

We picked him up in Apple Valley and then Scott whipped us up a nice backyard cookout.

Monday

Ben was only going to be with us for 24 hours so I took the day off work. Scott showed off more of his cooking skills by making crepes for breakfast.

Ben wanted to do a 60 mile ride today. Mind you, he had just finished a 1200K bike ride.

We settled on something in the 20 mile range.

We also made him use my old Schwinn so he could bike at our pace.

Ben said he loved this place called Bricksworth in the North Loop. Scott and I had never heard of it before. The pizza was really good.

I had other ideas for lunch, but this turned out great.

Ben wanted some coffee to take back home with him to Seattle. We stopped at Backstory Coffee Roasters.

Since we're totally not coffee people we asked our buddy Nate.

This space was pretty cool.

Then Ben wanted another beer.

And then another.

Before his send off to the airport we made one last stop at Pat's Tap for apps.

At Utepil's we talked about going swimming after biking all day. I told the kids to get ready not realizing Ben wanted to get one more drink. By the time we got home Scott and I were pooped but the kids had been waiting to go swimming.

Brooke wasn't feeling up to it, so I took the kids and let them swim while I chilled on the shore.

Whatever virus Scott had caught had finally got to me.

While we were eating that killer Detroit-style pizza with Ben, I got a message from one of my clients. Something had come up and they needed a photographer out in Utah. I happened to have a couple days open, so booked everything last second.

On the night I arrived at SLC, I drove down to Provo, Utah where I'd be staying the night. There weren't many hotels near my shoot plus there were wildfires closer to the shoot. So, this seemed like the best bet.

The old Mormon temple at the edge of downtown was something.

Provo was pretty nice. Utah is a tidy state. Everyplace is almost picture perfect.

I got up way too early to drive the rest of the way down to the Wasatch Valley.

After I shot a boarding school in Mount Pleasant, Utah, I got lunch down in lovely Spring City, Utah.

My campus guide thought I'd like this town. Both for the food at Das Cafe and the old time charm.

A main dining room lead into the old Victory Hall.

The downtown is only a few buildings, but even they are rad.

I had to bring home some of these fancy lollipops for the kids.

Then I drove randomly through town.

Large stone bricks are featured in many of the varied homes.

And some classic cabins.

Amazing!

I just couldn't stop driving around aimlessly.

These days the town is an artist's enclave.

I'd totally like to come back someday and explore some more. I had to get back to SLC to fly home. Or at least I thought I did. Ended up getting delayed until early Friday morning. Ah, well.

A Nebraska Family Work Trip

2026-08-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

Scott had a job in Nebraska City (in nearby Peru, Nebraska, actually). I had never been to Omaha and thought we could tag along and make a weekend out of it.

A family workcation for once!

The route took us through Le Mars, Iowa. I insisted we stop for ice cream at the Ice Cream Capitol.

They're famous for Blue Bunny ice cream. I could've passed, but we had to recreate this photo.

They had renovated since we last were here, so it wasn't quite the same.

I was a little disappointed to see they had changed the interior.

Having read the whole Lewis and Clark journals, I wanted to stop at every historical site; starting with the the memorial for Sergeant Floyd in Souix City. Floyd was surprisingly the only member of the expedition that died.

I guess that gets you a mini-Washington Monument.

Tiny Peru, Nebraska (where my shoot was) had no hotel in town, so we booked the Lied Lodge at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City for a couple of nights.

Scott always books our accommodations, it's always a treat when we show up because I never know where we are going to be.

Theo living his best life.

Swimming in the hotel pool then back for screens.

We went grocery shopping for lunch and breakfast food for the kids and I. For lunch the kids and I had sandwiches.

Apparently they had bought hot honey ham. Whoops.

Across the street was Wildwood Park which had a disc golf course. You could check out frisbees from the hotel but we brought our own.

We found a unique geocache along the way.

Look at that form!

It was hot and humid today. Theo needed to cool off after disc golfing.

We took a break in our hotel room to cool off and had plans to go on a tour at the Wildwood House. Theo wasn't having it. When Scott returned from work, Meadow and I went on a walk to see their gardens.

We hung out for a while in the gazebo enjoying the view. Wish I could have gone on a house tour.

Then relaxed in the seating area at Lied Lodge.

Theo was worn out by the ladies. He was fast asleep.

For some reason we decided to go to one of the last Valentino's buffets. This Nebraska chain was once known for their buffet, but most are just delivery joints these days.

If there is a buffet, we will be there.

It was worth checking out for sure.

On the edge of town there's a Lewis and Clark Museum. It had closed already for the day but had some exhibits outdoors to explore. I hadn't realized their boat was this big. They only used this boat for the first portion of the expedition and later moved to pirogues or canoes.

We then explored the trails.

A traditional earth lodge.

This was a gorgeous spot at sunset.

Next we hiked to the Missouri River Overlook.

I can't believe they paddled and sailed up a river with this current in that huge boat.

Back at the lodge, the kids and I played games in the lobby.

I was busy getting the photoshoot from Peru State back to my client.

Loved this place, would stay here again.

They also had hiking trails that we didn't get to.

Did I mention their amazing olympic sized pool? Theo and I got a swim in early before having to check out.

So you're probably wondering why the Arbor Day Farm is in Nebraska. Newspaper publisher and politician, Julius Sterling Morton, came up with Arbor Day. He was a huge advocate for tree lined towns and cities. His wife and him created a tree lined Shangri-la on his Nebraska prairie estate. He proposed that a day be set aside to plant trees in towns and cities across the country. On the first Arbor Day in 1872 they planted 1,000,000 trees throughout the United States.

As a part of our hotel stay we also got free admission to Tree Adventure.

This place was really cool. The kids would have loved it when they were little, but they still had lots of fun as big kids.

It's a huge outdoor tree-themed playground.

The water feature had been busy with kids all morning. Finally it was free and they ran over to play. They loved a similar feature at Presido Park in San Francisco.

The highlight of the park is the tree houses. Each are connected by bridges.

I might have been bouncing every bridge.

Theo was terrified on one of the higher bridges. I was proving to him that you don't have to worry about falling.

Fun for the big kids too.

As it was lunch time, most people had left. The kids beelined to the water feature again while they had it to themselves.

We settled on Tacos El Pueblito for a late lunch.

This was so good. A grandma was the one doing all the cooking.

Abuela sure could cook.

Next we went over to the Arbor Lodge mansion. Who knew there was this much to do in Nebraska City?

It sounds like it's quite a popular destination in these parts.

Morton founded the local paper and built a simple cabin for his family.

Then they just kept expanding the house to where it is now. The original cabin is still in the center of the house.

He'd eventually become the US Agriculture Secrectary, but he was most famous for founding Arbor Day.

Also fun fact, the son was Joy Morton, the man who started the Morton Salt Company.

Their other son, who died young, founded Argo Cornstarch. Quite the family.

I was showing Theo that this is what our bathroom would have looked like when our house was built.

There was just room after room in this house.

His wife, Caroline, was well known for her crazy quilts. They were so cool. She was also quite the painter.

Naughty, Theo.

J. Sterling wanted to prove that pine trees could grow in Nebraska. He was right about that.

Did you know that if settlers had never come to North America, pines would likely have spread all the way to the Dakotas? But probably not down to Nebraska.

We could've stayed all day, but we had a date with Omaha. Queue my favorite Saddle Creek Records classics.

After our original hotel had some technical difficulties we made our way to the Old Market in Omaha.

Thankfully Capital One Travel helped me find a new hotel. Once in the area, we settled on a place nearby. And we got a $150 credit. Ka-ching!

We were walking by the Amazing Imaginarium and had to stop in.

This place ruled.

Oh my gosh they had Kitchen Littles!

This brought back so many memories.

Did Theo do a good job being scary?

It wouldn't be a Tuska vacation if we didn't get ice cream everyday.

Hello, Ted and Wally's. Home of the Ultra-Premium Ice Cream.

Cute space too.

Across the street was the Fairmont Antiques and Mercantile.

Which also houses Hollywood Candy. This neighborhood kind of rocks for a family trip.

We then made our way to the Gene Leahy Mall at the RiverFront to play on the playground.

We were hungry at this point and decided on the endless pasta at Spaghetti Works. We were wondering if it was once an Old Spaghetti Factory, but they just happen to have the same business model. I miss the Minneapolis location.

The Gene Leahy Mall was once all sunken like this, but they raised the area closer to the downtown core adding a waterfall cascade and integrating it into new the riverfront parks.

Thank goodness for the malfunction at Hilton.

This Courtyard by Marriott was much nicer.

For breakfast we went over to the Brunch Box near our hotel.

The kids meal comes with froyo. Mango for this mango loving boy.

This place was honestly kind of odd, but it would do.

There was another Lewis and Clark visitor center near the river in Omaha. Walking towards the building and seeing the size, I was excited for a big museum.

There were so many outdoor activities to do here.

Welp, turns out it's actually the National Park Service Midwest Headquarters with a tiny portion dedicated to Lewis and Clark.

We got to watch a film at least.

Whoops. I guess we really should've made time for the museum back in Nebraska City.

Next to the vistor's center is the Bob Kerry pedestrian bridge that crosses over to Iowa.

First we had to cool off in the splash pad.

We did exactly that and actually made it over to Council Bluffs for a hot second.

An adventure tower and treetop walk was being added on the Iowa side.

After walking to Iowa we went back to Nebraska and took the Lewis and Clark trail to another playground.

This whole area is a part of Omaha's the RiverFront, which stitches together blocks of parks to downtown.

This park just kept going on and on.

It's honestly one of the best parks in the Midwest.

Being in the hot sun all day we were ready for a cold drink.

But first we stopped for a pic.

We were just going to get drinks at Upstream Brewery and decided to get some apps too.

This would hold us over until dinner.

This was when we realized a weekend in Omaha might have been too much time.

A day would've probably been fine. But also we were being a bit cheap.

We tried to go see the Japanese gardens at Lauritzen Gardens when we realized it was a little more than we wanted to spend. Instead we checked out the Union Pacific Locomotives up the hill.

One of the OG Union Pacific Big Boys! Impressive.

We got more super premium ice cream at Coneflower Cremeary in the Blackstone District.

Ice cream weekend.

I kept annoying the wife and kids with my deep thoughts of the early 2000s indie rock scene in Omaha. I'm surprised I never came down here to witness the booming music scene IRL.

Scott and I did consider dropping the kids off at the hotel and going out for drinks at Conor Oberst's bar.

After ice cream, I convinced the family to walk over to the Josyln Castle.

She's a beaut.

The castle, too.

Then we wasted more time at the RiverFront.

This was probably Theo's favorite part of Omaha. We were near our hotel so we let him get soaked.

What a goof.

For dinner we ended up back on the same block as breakfast. Akarui was much, much better.

Not a $5 bowl of ramen like we had in Japan, but it was still good.

Theo was in heaven.

IYKYK.

The night was still young so we walked over to the Heartland of America Park.

Just another part of the RiverFront.

First the kids wanted to try the giant slides.

We finally found a hammock that was available. Theo wouldn't let me share with him.

And then walked around the strange corporate lake.

I did love all the playgrounds and outdoor things to do here.

They also have an ice skate loop that you can roller skate or blade on in the summer.

On our last morning we attempted to get breakfast at the Saddle Creek Breakfast Club but there was an hour+ wait. We tried out a bagel place for our bagel loving guy instead.

Know Good Bagels.

This was the best meal of the weekend. Well, so far.

On our drive back to Minneapolis we stopped at one more Lewis and Clark activity. The Louis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux Falls, Iowa.

Now look at that. I love when folks build custom Lego sets like this.

Before leaving Iowa we had to stop at the highest point. It's kind of hilarious because you basically just pull over into someones farm. Not even a big hill.

Basically it's the highest point because you're nearly in Minnesota.

There were signs to all the highest points in the country.

Brooke loved it. I was ready to be home at this point.

I saw that there was an old bar turned Mexican and Honduran restaurant in tiny Heron Lake, Minnesota just northeast of Worthington. We had to stop. The restaurant was covered in murals depicting Mexican culture.

Theo ordered the shark in a bucket for his drink. Sadly they were out of sharks and he got a duck instead.

I got this crazy breakfast torta that could've fed the whole family. We'll have to stop by again to get some of the Honduran menu items. The Mexican half of the menu ruled.

A Blasé Weekend in Late July

2026-07-26T17:04:00.000-05:00

We have a busy August. This Friday looked like the last Friday before school starts where we are around. I suggested getting breakfast at Al's Breakfast. I also wanted to go here before the college kids weren't back in school yet.

I tried getting Theo to order the pancakes, but he got the waffles. I think everyone was happy with their breakfast. Still the best breakfast in Minneapolis.

Theo woke up early this morning and was willing to go on a walk with me.

Based on the photo above, I think you woke him up.

He scored some good books at a little library.

Later, I took the kids swimming at Weber Park. It was cloudy and dark at home and up in North Minneapolis it was clear and sunny.

I finally convinced Theo to tie back his hair when he goes swimming so his hair isn't in his face.

Later Brooke and I went and picked up a hoosier cabinet for our kitchen landing.

This custom shelf the old owners made would have to find a new home in the basement. This was nice enough but the microwave stand next to it was janky as all heck.

Much better.

The microwave is a little awkward there but we don't really have anywhere else to put it.

Theo outgrew his camping chair so I stopped at Sierra to get him a new one.

She also got me one.

Pecan is liking our new cabinet.

We have tons of saved recipes from the last 20 years. Scott and I each went through them all and only kept the ones we actually use and like.

A Smoky Weekend at the Cottage and a Stop at Ladysmith's Northland Mardi Gras

2026-07-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

This summer we decided to go to the cottage any weekend we had nothing else going on. This week, due to fires in the Boundary Waters and Canada, the air quality was pretty terrible. We debated if we should still go, but it looked like it would clear up by Saturday. So we took the chance.

And by terrible, we mean the worst air quality we'd ever seen.

Along the way we decided to stop at John and Heidi's Happy Daze. We've passed this place probably 100 times. It was about time to stop by.

I ordered the prime rib sandwich special.

Yummy. The sandwich that is.

Everybody's food was really good, but Brooke's was the star of the show.

I want to get back here asap.

Now if only this pesky smoke would go away.

The smoke had changed where instead today it was going to clear up then come back again tomorrow.

Hour by hour it was looking better.

We did some indoor activities while we waited for it to clear up.

Theo and I played some Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch. Sadly our Switch 2 can't use our mini dock. Someday we'll upgarde to the Covert Dock 3.

Much better.

We picked up some Nueske's summer sausage at the town market. Not quite as good as Trig's Smokehouse, but it would do.

Finally, a nice day.

Over the 4th of July weekend the kids were playing with my dads nice fishing net and lost it in the water. Leave it to my dad to build a contraption to find it.

Typical Gostisha boys.

He got some driftwood and seaweed, but no net.

We've been hearing great things about the Nutty Squirrel up in Eagle River for years.

We've been told by multiple people to check out their fish fry.

This time we showed up after 7 pm in hopes that it wouldn't be busy. We still had a small wait. Thankfully the smoke had cleared up so we could wait outside.

This place was packed to the gills.

Lucky us, we got sat right next to the game shelf.

Pitlik's is still my favorite fish fry.

That or Moondance. RIP Twelve Pines. That place was the GOAT.

By next morning the smoke had rolled back in.

Yuck.

I needed to get a birthday gift and since it was smoky again we took a trip to Eagle River.

There are lots of new shops since I've been down here last.

A craft fair was going on, which I was honestly surprised was still happening. And that so many people came out for.

I kind of wish I had got this. You add a state to every place you've been. There was also a Minnesota State Park map.

The next morning we cleaned up and headed out.

In what became the theme of the weekend, we stopped at another restaurant long on our list, yet never checked off.

JaeDee's was just OK. No wonder it was for sale.

This place is so 90s.

As we were driving through Ladysmith we saw they were having their Mardi Gras of the North Festival.

That's Northland Mardi Gras to you. But I feel like I've seen both on their signage.

Theo really wanted to go on some rides, but Meadow wasn't interested.

The little runt got me to go on one with him.

Theo was all about all the rides.

A rare Brooke sighting on fair rides.

We got some extra tickets from another festival-goer and got on a few more rides.

Could've spent the whole day here, tbh. Too bad we had just ate.

We had just missed the Bingo, dang it.

We did get to watch a few rounds of the speed boat races.

We'll have to come back to this next year and spend a whole afternoon.

You'd think we'd be done with treats, but we were not. We stopped at Kurschner's Super Premium Ice Cream.

They had an appropriately named ice cream flavor of Boundary Waters burning or something like that.

That seemed a bit too soon, but their ice cream was dang good. Slightly out of the way, but it was worth the detour.