Everybody needs a vacation. While some of you take yearly trips out of state or even out of country, some of us just need to get away for a bit, on a less 'spendy' budget. I can tell you that my Minnesota vacation was more fun than I could have imagined it would be, so I want to take you through each day, so YOU can get some ideas, of how you could make this kind of vacation your very own.

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First, start with someone you really enjoy traveling with. Darin and I have a great time together; and I knew that we both really needed this vacation. So, I called some friends of mine. Actually Ronda and Todd Wohl have been friends of mine since I moved to Minnesota. Ronda was one of my first massage therapists before she moved out of the area, and she introduced me to her husband Todd, who soon after became my duet partner in a musical duo called "Boots & Spurs." We became great friends and played together for a couple years, until other music venues started taking over for both of us.

In recent years, Todd and Ronda moved up to vacation country. Todd had told me if we ever wanted to come up for a visit to give them a call. The time seemed right, so about 3 months before our vacation was planned, I texted Todd and Ronda, and thus was the beginning of our July 21 vacation. So tip number one: Call on some good friends that live in a great scenic area, and plan a visit.

MAKING NEW FRIENDS: MEET KRISTINA

Kelly Cordes
Kelly Cordes
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Not only did I get to hang out with old friends; I made a NEW one. 15 year old Kristina, calls Ronda, Grandma Peaches.  Ronda likes to say that Kristina is her "adopted grandchild." Ronda's been Grandma Peaches since Kristina was just a toddler.

I also found out lots of fun things about this fantastic girl. One, she is a huge fan of 98.1 Minnesota's New Country. Ronda told me that Kristina thought they were pulling her leg when they said that Kelly from "Pete and Kelly in the Morning" on 98.1 was going to be visiting at the same time she was. It was really fun to meet Kristina, who was so fun, positive and bubbly, that I wish I had a Kristina of my very own. I learned some other great things about Kristina on this trip, but I'll save that for another day. Maybe I can be "Grandma Apples?"  Okay... maybe not.

Almost as soon as we arrived, Todd and Ronda took us for a boat ride. We even went fishing for a bit trying to catch some perch for a fish fry. We did pretty good I think, as we caught a bunch and kept about 8. The one below was NOT one of them, but it honestly wasn't the smallest fish we caught. I think I had two that I could have brought home and put in a fish tank. I didn't really care if we got to keep them or not. It was just fun catching and releasing. We were outside, smiling, enjoying the company, the water and the fish.

Kelly Cordes
Kelly Cordes
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It's been awhile since I've been on a lake, and this quick little trip around Gull Lake was a great start to a fantastic vacation.

Kelly Cordes
Kelly Cordes
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When we finished our boat ride, we went back to Todd and Ronda's for a delicious and much unexpected supper. They made us Garden corn on the cob and pork steak, with fresh cucumber salad with the cucumbers we brought from Darin's container garden.

MEET CASS

Kelly Cordes
Kelly Cordes
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We then met one other very important guest. Cass. Cass is their beautiful little dog. He was full of tricks and licks, that I don't think either Darin or myself would have had to take a bath the entire time we were there. That dog licked my legs clean every time he came near me.

We stayed up and talked and listened to Todd play and sing a few songs with his acoustic guitar. Once midnight rolled around, we had made a plan for day two, and went to bed.

Stay tuned for our Tuesday adventures coming tomorrow.

 

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