While we were in Iowa, Sydney and I had the chance to take an overnight trip by ourselves, so we headed north. It was great on many fronts: we revisited Stillwater, MN, a town full of used book stores and foodie shops that’s also gorgeous and right on the water, picked up a set of Suarez volumes for Sydney at a fraction of the usual price, ate out (Jamaican, and delicious!), hiked each day we were gone (a huge part of my satisfaction), birdwatched (Sydney’s, of course), visited the Seed Savers Exchange to pick up heirloom pepper and tomato plants, and stayed at an incredibly beautiful inn where we were given our choice of rooms and had the house to ourselves.
It was very relaxing, and reminded us how much we loved trips when we could take them at a more leisurely pace than 1) is common for academic functions or 2) happens with short-legged, short-tempered creatures in tow.
Erin
Alan Schmierer