Nisswa Family Vacation 2010

We just came home Saturday morning from our annual Nisswa vacation with Beth's family. We've managed to get unpacked and settled back in at home again after a nice relaxing week with the family. Thank you to Beth's parents for making the trip possible.

This was our fourth year at the Good Ol' Days resort in Nisswa on Lower Cullen Lake. The resort has recently changed ownership, so the original husband and wife team that used to run the resort are no longer there. Everything is basically the same... nice amenities, great activities for kids, but it doesn't have quite the personal touch that it used to. Still, we had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Because of the larger families now we rented two adjoining cabins and opened the door that connects them. Beth and I took a big room upstairs in one of the cabins that had a queen and a twin bed, and space for Nathan's pack and play. It worked out very well for the three of us. This was also the first year I was able to take the whole week off work and didn't have to come home early, which was an added bonus.



Nathan enjoyed his first family vacation, and especially enjoyed playing with and laughing at his cousins, and swimming with Beth and I almost every day. He also seemed to reach some developmental milestones during the week. He slept through the night without needing to eat a few times, started pulling himself up on the couch while sitting in my lap, and started eating solid foods instead of gagging on them. He also started rolling front to back a lot more often than before. We can tell he's starting to getting up on his knees to crawl.




Beth and I brought our golf clubs and managed to get out for a game mid-week. Our first attempt was a bust however. We left during Nathan's morning nap, and drove up to the clubhouse and there were 30+ boys under 12 with their parents all waiting to golf. The guy running the front desk said it would be at least an hour. We figured it must have been some kind of junior golf league. So instead of golfing in the morning we came back and watched our nephew win 2nd place in the Worm Races back at the resort. We went back later that afternoon and got right in for 9 holes at Wild Wedge in Pequot Lakes. This was my first game of golf since my surgery almost 4 months ago, so it would be a test to see what my range of motion was like. Much to my delight, it felt great to golf again. After a little coaching from Beth on my swing, I had some awesome drives. On one hole I even landed on the green 125 yards away with my first shot, and made par for the hole which is rare. It ended up being one of my best games in a long time.



Each family takes at least one night to cook dinner for everyone else. Ann & Mike made us some chicken on the grill covered with bacon and cheese, mashed potatoes, bread, etc. Beth and I made a variety of pizzas (my personal favorite being chicken teriyaki) and foccacia breadsticks. We also hit a couple restaurants while we were there, Rafferty's Pizza and Ganley's, which has two of my mom's prints hanging in their dining room.




We filled the time with lots of activities for the kids, and activities of our own... ladderball, swimming, playing on the beach, playing cribbage, phase 10, fishing, taking walks, touring the lake on a rented pontoon, trying some new beer and sharing homemade wine, and taking advantage of the wireless internet access. I also brought a small hobby electronics project to play with when the kids were sleeping. All in all, it was great week and I look forward to next year.

Nisswa with the In-Laws

I recently got back from the annual family vacation in Nisswa with my wife's family. For the third year in a row now, we've stayed at the Good Ol' Days family resort on Lower Cullen lake. It's not the "rustic cabin" kind of place like I used to go to as a kid, but a great vacation nevertheless. The rest of the family stays up there for the entire week, but this year (like every year so far) I came home early to conserve my vacation days. We had a great time hanging out with our family, playing with the kids, eating good food, and just relaxing. The resort has a lot of nice amenities, and lots of planned activities for the kids.

Each year everyone makes a dinner for the family. This year we made Brandt-style fish from the sunfish and Walleye I brought home from my BOTCO fishing trip earlier this summer. It was our first time making it. With the help of some good instruction from Mom, the fish turned out great, and made for an excellent dinner and some good leftovers.

The niece & nephews were fun as always, but with the first trip with the twin babies, the logistics changed quite a bit. Babysitters were always needed, and having two infants on differing sleep schedules made things interesting. Overall though everyone did quite well.

We almost went fishing while I was there, but the weather was too cold & windy out on the lake. I got as far as re-spooling some new fishing line on my poles though. I had meant to do that a long time ago, so at least it was nice to get that done. The plan was to catch some panfish and show the guys how to fillet without scaling the fish, but... no fish, no fillet. Maybe next year.

Many thanks to my in-laws for another nice vacation!

BOTCO 2009

I had another good BOTCO fishing trip this year. For those of you who aren't familiar, the BOTCO fishing trip was started over 50 years ago with my grandpa & five of his buddies. We've continued the tradition every year at the same lake. The trip promises good times & good fishing, and this year was no exception. We rented out three cabins, and this year had 12 guys make it up for the trip, spanning 3 generations.

Dad and I and my brother in law made the drive up to Big Lake in Bemidji on Saturday morning. We had a little rain during the drive and when we first arrived. The rest of the trip was beautiful - sunshine & clear skies until we left on Tuesday after breakfast.

We enjoyed some good Walleye fishing and made a couple trips out just for sunfish, and were able to land enough so I could come home with a limit's worth of sunnies. My walleye catch wasn't much, but Dad landed the Walleye King traveling trophy this year.

My cousin Billy ran his annual bass tournament. Over the two-hour timeframe our boat managed to land a few small bass, which are fun to catch. We didn't recoup our $5 entry fees but left with a few door prizes Billy had gathered up for the tournament. My uncle Tom landed the largest bass at about 4 lbs.

When not fishing or relaxing, we enjoyed some excellent meals. The highlight each year is our afternoon fish fry. Much of the walleye catch from the first couple days was breaded & deep fried for the group on the afternoon of day 2. along with cooking the fish, we fried up a big batch of chopped potatoes, onions, and bacon, some baked beans, and a variety of homemade wine and sweets.

Overall, a nice getaway. I came back with a tan, lots of fish for the freezer, and had some relaxing time off from work.

Jamaica Recap

Well, we've been back home form Jamaica for almost a week now and the time off was wonderful. Beth and I got to spend 5 days in the warm sun on the beach, and see some of the sights of Negril, Jamaica.

Day 1 was our travel day. We left Minneapolis early Monday morning, flew to Memphis, and boarded our final flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Once we arrived they shuffled us through customs & immigration and out to the appropriate shuttle bus for Negril. We arrived late that afternoon at The Rooms in Negril. We had a nice big room with a balcony. After settling into our room we explored the beach, and ended up finding dinner at Margaritaville. Jerk Chicken pizza & Fajitas... yum! The sun set around 6:30 and we made it back to our room, and just relaxed the rest of the evening.

Day 2 was another relaxed day around our hotel. The continental breakfast was at our hotel's outdoor restaurant: fresh watermelon & pineapple, toast, muffin, and cereal. With a heavy dose of sunscreen we ventured out to the beach for some swimming in the ocean and just relaxing in the resort's lounge chairs. Beth read some books and I enjoyed some podcasts. Lunch was found at another restaurant down the beach, Jerk Chicken & Fries with some tasty suger-cane sweetened ketchup. That afternoon we met with our contact from the tour company. Kemeasha scheduled our return trip to the airport, and scheduled a couple tours for us for the next two days. After some more relaxing on the beach, we found dinner at another place down the beach, and watched the sunset from our table.

Day 3 started like the day before... a refreshing continental breakfast and a swim in the ocean, followed by relaxing in the lounge chairs in the shade of a palm tree. We got to see them knock down a few coconuts, too! We sampled some more of the 7-mile-beach dining options for lunch. I had some more jerk chicken, and Beth a tasty grilled cheese. Mid-afternoon we were picked up for our first (smaller) tour. Palmer was our driver, and we were picked up for a shopping & dinner trip around town. We met some nice couples from Delaware and Minnesota as well. The Time Square shopping center provided some nice souvenir shopping, and was not as high-pressure as the merchants on our beach. The next stop was the local craft market. The wood carvings were fun to look at, but beyond that, not much else resembled anything hand-made. Most of the 'shops' all had the same stuff for sale. Our final stop was Rick's Cafe, known for being the best spot for watching the sunset, as it's on the westernmost tip of Jamaica. However it was too cloudy for a good sunset, but we enjoyed some excellent dinner while we watched cliff divers jump into the ocean from the cliffs surrounding Rick's cafe. Beth pampered herself with some lobster, and I had a plate of steak, chicken, and red snapper. Once the sun set, we cleared out and hopped back on our bus and made the trip back to The Rooms.

Day 4 was our last full day, and our biggest tour. We woke up bright & early and were picked up by Palmer again, along with some of the same couples from the day before, and took off for the southern area of Jamaica. Our first stop was the Black River Safari. The smooth pontoon ride and fresh air was a welcome relief after a long bumpy bus ride to get there. We were brought up and down the river and saw Crocodiles, birds, Mangrove trees and more up close. Very interesting and fun. The next stop on the bus tour was the YS falls, a natural-spring-fed waterfall in the middle of a beautiful forest area. A short ride into the woods brought us to the falls. Beth and I got to jump in, catch our breath after hitting the cold water, and swim around while our guide took photos of us with our camera. It was very fun & refreshing. We also saw people sliding by on the zipline above us, having taken the "canopy tour." After drying off and looking at our photos, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the Appleton Estate Rum tour. A short drive through narrow mountain roads brought us to the Appleton Estate Rum factory. A tasty lunch was served with chicken stew, rice, and some cool rum punch. Our stomachs filled, we were taken around the plant to see how they make the rum from the sugar cane grown nearby. We were surrounded by the smell of molasses, and got to taste the product at various stages in the process... fresh -squeezed sugar cane juice, and "wet sugar" (sugar granules & molasses). At the end of the tour I sampled some rum, and we picked up a small bottle of a rum/cream liqueur. A long bus ride back and we enjoyed some dinner at our hotel's restaurant... Rasta Pasta for Beth and some more Jerk Chicken for me. I wanted to get a good overall sampling of the famous Jamaican dish after all.

Day 5 was our last day, and the trip home. Breakfast was delicious, and we made some time to walk on the beach and enjoy the water after we packed up our stuff. We hopped on our bus (driven by our favorite tour guide Palmer again) at about 10:00, and made the trip to the airport, picking up other travelers along the way. The airport process was slow and we cut it awfully close getting onto both of our flights home, but we made it home. We were stressed and hungry after a long travel day, but were glad to be home.

As our first "big" vacation. it was wonderful. We had just enough time to be away, had some fun, relaxed a lot, and enjoyed each other's company in a new place. So did we have a good time?

"Ya, mon!"