a Valentine's trip to Wisconsin

Last weekend, Chris and I took a trip to Journey Inn in Maiden Rock Wisconsin. I'd discovered the place somewhere along my travels and when I found a coupon for a stay, well, you know Elizabeth and coupons. So I booked the trip for myself, adjacent to President's Day (a holiday for us government stooges) only to realize that it was also Valentine's Day weekend. I couldn't very well leave my valentine at home, so I made him drive. :)

Once I realized that it was less of a retreat and more of a B&B, it was a wonderful stay. The food was EXCELLENT, all home made and organic, complete with a snack every day at 4pm. Elizabeth and snacks just go so nicely together.


On Sunday afternoon, we decided to imitate some of our fellow guests and climb the big hill that's right across the street from the Inn. It was a big hill. Above is the view from about half-way up. You can see the Inn grounds and although it's difficult to see, there is a walking labyrinth behind the red building. It wasn't in very good shape because of the winter and some flooding, but it's neat and I hope to be able to walk it some other time.
Below is the convenient resting place that some previous explorer had left. It wasn't very comfortable, mostly just amusing. And although it does look like Chris has a tire around his waist, it's just his scarf that he tucked in his front pocket in case he got chilly. Honest.

Our walk lasted the better part of 3 hours, which left us exhausted. But then we had snacks and all was fine again. Snacks make everything better.
We had a very nice dinner in Red Wing and enjoyed more extremely tasty food, including Cuban pulled pork with rice, black beans, and carrots. White chocolate bread pudding with dried cherries wrapped up the meal deliciously. I'm just realizing that much of this post is about food. In fact, much of my life is about food. Hmmm, food (!) for thought...

Oh, and back to our giant hike, Chris was simply fascinated by this big snowball. It doesn't look as big in the photo, but it's all a perspective thing. It was really huge.

We had a leisurely drive back to the Cities on Monday, poking around and enjoying the sunny, albeit cold, weather. It was simply enjoyable and relaxing. It was a great vacation.

So, Happy belated Valentine's Day to all!