I should start out by saying that it was my birthday this past Monday. I am officially in the last year of my 20s. It’s a little crazy to think how nearly a decade has done by since I first started traveling.
I was talking with my boyfriend, Patrick, about it the other day and realized that 10 years ago I had never been out of the Midwest, let alone out of the country. In fact, I had only been to Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois 10 years ago.
Look at me now though – 15 countries and 18 states total. The majority of that in the last 10 years! Of course, if I were to count the airports I have flown through as being in the state, I could add a few extra. However, I am pretty adamant that that is cheating.
This weekend and next week I am taking a roadtrip to Minnesota to meet my boyfriend’s parents as well as the rest of his family at his family reunion. It’s a good thing that I love him because this is legitimately scary. I at least have the first weekend of September to look forward to if it doesn’t go well for some reason. (That is not saying that it won’t. I just am terrified of messing something up and I really love this man a lot. He is the one for me and meeting his parents is a big step.)
But, I digress. We are going up to Thunder Bay, Ontario. To be honest, I don’t think that it is really the place that most tourists would be interested in visiting. I don’t know that I would be going if it weren’t for the fact that it isn’t too far across the border of Minnesota and therefore a justifiable drive since we will be so far north anyway. I found it purely because Google showed a road into it through Duluth.
Patrick did his research though. He found that there are Amethyst mines that you can tour and pick your own stones and pay by the weight. I am pretty stoked about this since I am a geology nut. He knows me so well. I am hoping that we can find a stone that might be able to be cut for a piece of jewelry. I think you know the one I am talking about; the one that goes on a left hand finger. How more amazing of a story can you get than saying that you picked out the stone together from a mine?
I will take pictures and share, of course. It feels so good to be writing again. I need the mental outlet. Submitting my work for publication hasn’t gone as well as I would have hoped. Writing has got to be the most depressing job that there is. You work alone and, unfortunately, because you have very few people close to you, you get rejected alone. Here, though, I get to write and not care if people read. It is therapeutic.
Talk soon!
Travel Girl 