Unusual Weekend

Today marked something unique for my wife and me. We stayed in International Falls for this weekend. To some people this may not seem like earth shattering news. However, the events in our lives have created a tendency for us to travel on the weekends. Most of the time we are bound for St. Cloud to visit family or to Duluth to get some shopping done. This was a rare weekend where we needed to do either!

So what is there to do in this town on a weekend? First and foremost is sleeping in. The alarm clock in our bedroom is a unique one. It stand about 16 inches tall, weighs 24 pounds and has four legs. It is also very fuzzy, loves to snuggle in under the covers and occasionally cracks off a foul odor of gas. This is our dog Kodiak- a Shiba Inu. Kodiak's biological urges rarely exceed the hour of 8:00 A.M.. His routine is to attempt getting both of us up, succeed in waking my wife, go outside to conduct business, come back in, be hyperactive for three minutes, walk back to the bedroom, and snuggle into my side. Kodiak is then woken up after I shake off my nightly coma, which is around the hour of 10:00 A.M..

Today my spouse and I explored the local gym, which is called Northsite. We had intended on touring the gym much earlier into our northland life. But, about a month or two after we moved in last July, the gym had a fire. The remodel was not completed until this past February. At that point I was reffing hockey on a nightly basis and getting exercise, and saw no reason to join. However, since hockey ended in March, the higher powers that be increased my appetite. Now, I have good cause to join: general unfitness.

After exploring the gym, we returned to the Northsite to play racquetball. We played for about an hour and a half, then tried out some of the other equipment there like the Elliptical Runners, treadmills and stair steppers. We came to the conclusion that we will probably end up becoming full fledged members. It isn't the Quality of Gold's Gym or Anytime Fitness, but it is more than adequate for a town of this size.

Our final business of the night took us out to Thunderbird Lodge for a retirement party. One of the members of the legal community had his final good buy. The group actually consisted of about four couples in their mid-twenties, others who were slightly older, and the retiree with his wife. We sat out on the deck of the Thunderbird, which is situated directly over the waters of Rainy Lake.

Till next time!