Duluth June 2018

On Friday in steaming 90 degree weather we hitch up the RV and drive to Duluth. Construction season in Minnesota plus everyone driving there for the marathon means that Google takes us most of the way on state highways. It’s slow but not bad.

We get to Buffalo RV campground, the same place we stayed two years ago, around 3:30 PM. It’s a floating mud pit because they got 4 inches of rain yesterday, so bad there is standing water where Lee has to set up the camper, and no place to walk the dogs. I walk them carefully along the edge of our campsite where it is a little drier; Lee cusses as he sets things up, but we get things done and then head over to Nicole and Tom's house.

Harrison is so cute! A big boy, 10 months old, full of smiles, but tired. He goes to bed soon after we arrive. Baby monitors are amazing things, we can watch him fuss and then fall asleep in his bed upstairs.

Nicole makes spaghetti, very yummy, and Lee makes a strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert. It’s all very good. We walk the dogs around the block several times so there is no need to walk them when we get back to the camper.

In the morning I drive the dogs up the road to a drier place for their morning walk. We eat cinnamon rolls and then head into town to try to catch Tom at the finish line of the half. It’s perfect running weather, foggy, cloudy, 50 degrees. I’m a little bit jealous, so much better for running than when I ran Grandma’s in 2016.

We park up the hill from the race course and then have trouble figuring out how to get to the finish line. Eventually we find Nicole and Harrison and the correct route, but by the time we arrive Tom has already finished. Oh well! He did good too, 2:11, 10:39 mpm, and he’s primarily a cyclist, not a runner. 

Our timing is such that we decide to wait the 20 minutes until the male winner of the full marathon finishes. 2:10:06, 1 minute off the course record, blows my mind. Then Lee and I get sandwiches at the Northern Smokehaus and we all eat an early lunch at their house. Then it’s nap time.

Around 4:30 we meet Nicole, Tom and Harrison for a short hike at Jim Cooke State Park. We hike along the St. Louis river, cross a swinging bridge, admire the rapids. They have a neat carrier backpack for Harrison to ride in. Afterward we go to  Buffalo House for dinner, sitting outside on the deck in the early evening sunshine. Harrison eats my sunglasses while we eat burgers and bison French dip. Their food is good and I have 2 margaritas. 

I sleep long and hard, really long. Fitbit says I slept almost 9 hours which means I was in bed for over 10. It rained all night so things are really muddy again. Next time we come to Duluth with the RV we’re staying somewhere else, this is ridiculous. Other than the mud we had a great time!