Fifty By 50: 2024

It's the big daJasy - the day this whole trip was planned around.

Jason is going to run a full marathon.

This is the route he'll be following, it goes around the whole lake which is pretty cool.

It was grey and dreary and drizzly outside which was kind of a bummer but Jason said he preferred that over hot weather.

The marathoners lining up at the starting line.

And they are off.

Jason is there in middle of the frame with the blue shirt on and the shorts.

I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore.

Then I went and grabbed some breakfast and a coffee then headed to the back of the hotel .

The marathon route went right by it at around mile 9 and I wanted to be there to cheer Jason on.

There he comes.

I was worried he'd be cold in this weather but I see he ditched his long sleeve top he had on.

He's looking strong!

I heard some of the other spectators say they were heading to the next cheering spot section so I decided to do that too.

I kind of followed them, parked on the road then headed down to the trail to wait for Jason to come by.

There he is!

I had nothing else to do so I figured I'd just move from point to point and cheer him on.

I didn't really know the area or where I was going but kept seeing spots where spectators were waiting so it was easy to find places to stop.

This is the opposite end of the lake from out hotel room.

I wasn't the only one waiting to cheer my loved one on.

There he comes.

And there he goes.

Paul Bunyan is everywhere around here.

Next stop was the finish line.

I got there in plenty of time to watch Jason cross it.

I am so proud of him.

He said that he was cramping up for the last bit and had to do a bit of walking and he wanted to quit but he didn't.

I would have been just as proud of him had he - running a marathon is soooo hard - I think even just trying to do it is an accomplishment in itself and this is his third one.

He wanted to walk it out a little so we walked along the path he'd just run for a ways.

He said it was a pretty route.

Then we headed back to the room so he could shower and rest up a bit.

This little seating area was in the back of the hotel.

While Jason showered and rested, I went to the store and picked him up some food and coffees for us.

After we ate, we went to the hot tub in the hotel and just relaxed in there for about an hour.

We chatted to a nice girl from Minneapolis the whole time.

It was starting to get really busy when we decided to leave.

We did hop in the pool really briefly just to cool down a bit after being in the hot tub for so long.

Check out the great view of the lake from the pool - beautiful.

I told Jason to pick out a place to eat as a celebratory meal after his run today and he picked this Mexican spot - Mi Rancho.

I love all the colors.

It's so festive looking.

My Honey.

We got the guacamole - so good.

Endless chips.

I had the chicken tortilla soup.

Jason had the bean soup and he loved it.

Then I had a quesadilla.

Jason had Carne Asada.

The food was very good and we were stuffed.

That didn't stop us from trying out one more place though.

Dave's Pizza has great reviews and we really wanted to try the pizza.

We knew we'd be leaving tomorrow before it opened so we ordered a couple pizza's for pick up and we'll have it later in the room for a snack.

We got the Dave's Special which had Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Green Olives, Onions and Green Peppers.

Then we headed back to the room.

Jason was feeling pretty beat up after his run this morning and just wanted to rest.

We were treated to a pretty good light show over the lake.

Jason got some pretty great shots of the lightning.

He got some footage of it as well.

That's all for today, until next time, be happy!

When we woke up in the morning, we went for a walk down to the lake.

It was so nice and calm and peaceful.

Lots of docks.

Lots of beach chairs too if you want to hang out and relax.

Passed this pretty little cottage on the way back to our room.

I just love the overflowing flower boxes.

This is the building that our room was in.

So many trees in all their Autumn Glory.

The sun was already out and shining.

We noticed last night at the pool that they had bikes on the property that you could borrow if you were a guest.

So we went over this morning and borrowed a couple.

The first place we went to was down to this beautiful tree that I could see from the window in our room.

So stunning.

The whole property is just so beautiful.

And look at these cottages that you can rent to stay in.

We biked around the Grand View Lodge property first to check it out.

So pretty.

Then we headed toward the town of Nisswa and I took so many pictures of trees along the way.

I couldn't help myself.

And another one.

And another.

Took lots of video too - Autumn is in the air.

Enjoying the fall colors.

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike!

We happened upon a cute little Farmers Market so of course we checked it out.

Just look at these flowers.

These one were nice too.

I used to have a clematis when I lived in NS and I just love them, they are so pretty.

Even the cabbages were pretty.

It had this nice garden area.

There was a little pond.

I think these are Hydrangeas - so gorgeous.

Look how huge they were, bigger than my hand.

I really liked the window boxes with the pumpkins and the trailing vines.

Then there just so happened to be all this 'hay' art there.

This is a scene from Finding Nemo.

A cute little minion.

I think this is meant to be Bart Simpson.

A scene from Frozen.

I've never seen the tv show Bluey but I know this is a character from that show.

Then this is Bluey himself.

Homer and Marg Simpson.

A frog eating a fly.

A bubblegum machine - so creative.

Spiderman.

Tow Mater.

Lightning McQueen.

Not sure if this is a character from Cars but it was cute.

This is the entrance - Copper Creek Garden Center.

If you ever get a chance to check it out, do - it's a great little spot.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Lilo & Stitch

A couple trolls.

A mini tour of the Garden Center.

Would be a great spot to bring a family.

God bless America.

Americans are so patriotic and they sure love their flags which I think is awesome.

There were some Halloween decorations scattered around.

There was actually a green house.

Lots of gourds and pumpkins.

This is the building we saw when we first came in.

Cute pumpkin decor.

Eagle statue by the pond.

I like these metal fern like stems.

A close up of the pond, it even had a little waterfall.

Such a pretty tree - I love the shape of it.

There was an outdoor seating area.

There was a giant outdoor pizza oven.

This is looking at it from the other side.

And another pizza oven.

I'd love to have one of these at home in our backyard.

I like the lantern on the post.

This giant butterfly looked nice in the garden.

One more shot of the gorgeous hydrangeas before hopping on our bikes and heading back to the lodge.

This is a little church that was on the lodge property.

Love, love, love the doors and just the whole esthetic overall.

That's the rec center on the property where the pools are and where we borrowed the bikes from.

There is a gym there as well.

This whole property is just so well maintained.

We had to be out by 11 so we returned the bikes, packed up our stuff and hit the road.

We will be making our way to Bemidji tonight which is where Jason is going to run a marathon on Saturday morning so we will be staying there for two nights.

We stopped in this little town, Pequot Lakes, to get a bite to eat.

Couldn't help myself - I'm in love with these trees.

We found this place called MN Traders Co that had good reviews.

There was this gigantic fireplace as soon as you walked in.

The counter to order.

There were a couple of these swing chairs.

It was so big and spacious in there.

They had this Kentucky Butter cookie - it was the only one left and so I just had to try it.

OMG it was fabulous.

Kentucky Butter is now my new favorite cookie.

We ordered soup and a sandwich.

It was a ham and bean soup - very tasty.

The sandwiches were great too.

All very fresh ingredients.

I got the one that had sprouts on it because I like sprouts so much.

They had some merchandise for purchase in the store including these really nice hoodies, the fabric was so soft.

I talked Jason into us getting matching red check hoodies as a nod to Minnesota and our trip here but in the end, he went with the red check and I got a sage green one.

Always flags everywhere.

We walked around the town a little bit - I love this building - it was an ice cream store.

It had a couple of swings on the front porch - I do love me a porch swing.

We had parked by this little park that had this path so we went for a walk.

I think this was their water tower shaped like a giant fishing bobber.

There was a little mini version too.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are big around here so lots of nods to them.

Babe.

I had to get a picture with him.

Jason testing out Paul's chair.

Random pretty tree I liked (surprise surprise).

Mural on a building in town.

They had flags flying for every state - kind of cool.

Another stunning tree.

I love this old picture.

We hit the road again until it was time for a pee break and a snack then we stopped in another cute town we came across, I'm not even sure what the name of the town was.

It was very charming.

The street was just lined off with little shops, antique stores and restaurants.

Very creative name - One Little Piggy.

Loved the pelican.

Love the pumpkins they had on display in this store.

And these old gas cans turned jack-o-lanterns - what a great idea.

This one is an old bucket with a railway pin at the top.

I loved them - I would have gotten one if I thought I'd have been able to get it into my suitcase.

We happened upon an ice cream shop and I just loved the decor.

The swag over the door - so pretty.

The colors were so feminine and pretty.

Another gorgeous swag.

The bike looked so romantic.

Each table had fresh flowers at it.

I tried the Chai Latte.

And Jason tried the Ginger Cookie.

We just had a scoop each - the ice cream was very good - smooth and creamy and tasty.

They even had this gorgeous flower arrangement outside.

We checked out a couple of the antique stores.

I loved this wire brush tree.

I bought a couple little things.

Ready for Halloween.

The town was right on the lake so we walked over by it to have a look.

We walked out onto the dock or pier.

Wouldn't be a bad spot to have a place.

I see some ketchup trees over there.

There were benches out on the floating docks that you could sit on if you wanted.

My Honey and I.

Random door I saw that I liked.

The lake is so huge - it almost looks like the ocean.

Then it was back on the road, next stop, Bemidji.

We made it to our hotel in Bemidji and preparations for the marathon tomorrow were in full swing.

The start line was right outside of our hotel.

There were actually a couple of smaller runs today, the 5k, 10k and some kid runs.

We were right on the lake - this is the view out of our hotel room window.

We went over the the center next door to pick up the race packets.

I had signed up to run but I didn't really feel like I would be able to do it so I decided kind of last minute that I was going to skip it.

Paul Bunyan and Babe again.

He got his bib, he's ready to go.

Babe cake.

Babe the mascot was out cheering on tonights runners.

I'd never even heard of Bemidji before Jason mentioned coming here for a run but I love it already and would most definitely come back.

After we checked in we went for a walk and there was this really nice trail that went all around the lake and it was a huge lake.

The 26 mile marker.

We walked by the lake for a bit.

Then we went out for some supper.

Jason found this spot online that had great reviews - it was a bit of a drive from our hotel but we didn't mind.

Turtle River Chophouse.

It was beautiful inside.

Love the beams.

My Honey.

He ordered a pasta dish - a bit of carb loading for the run tomorrow.

I had a starter salad - very fresh and delicious.

I ordered this side of carrots that had goat cheese and I think tarragon.

So good.

Herb crusted halibut with seasonal vegetables.

Also delicious.

We shared a piece of Southern Pecan Pie.

It had Bourbon, sea salted caramel, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.

It was amazing.

After dinner we headed back to the room.

Jason is running a full marathon in the morning so he wanted to get a good nights sleep so we called it a day.

I was looking at some of the pictures he's been taking on the trip so far - he very often notices things that I do not so I thought I would share some of his pictures here.