If you’ve been procrastinating about your Thanksgiving plans and just want to escape, Lutsen Lodging Company is offering 40% off Thanksgiving weekend packages at their four properties on the north shore of Lake Superior, about half-way between Duluth and Thunder Bay.  Prices start at just $130.00, which is a great deal!  Check out Lutsen Lodging Company’s Thanksgiving Weekend Special

It’s been a quiet year here in Lake Woebegone…

No, seriously.  I started this blog in large part to inspire myself to get out of the house once in a while.  I’d truly intended to visit several places and events in the Twin Cities over the summer that would be great for staycations, but things just didn’t work out that way.  My folks loved to visit local county fairs, and I thought that would be a lot of fun.  And there are dozens of state parks that I’ve never seen.   But I’ve been cooped up in the house I inherited from my parents (along with the cat) for so long that the neighbors are starting to stare and nod their heads knowingly when they walk past.  I have a home office, so I rarely venture outsite except to make runs to the Post Office or Roundy’s.  Until September, my major accomplishments had been winning the battle against the dandilion invasion and buying some paint to touch up some problem areas on the house.  The window frames on the house have been peeling for years, and the downspouts from the gutters are barely attached to the house anymore.  Thank goodness the enormous oak tree in my neighbor’s yard covers most of my house so that I can tell my friends back in California to take a look in Google Street View and not be crushed by references to 1313 Mockingbird Lane.  In August, I did manage to take a 4-day trip to Gary, Indiana with my brother-in-law.  It was a welcome relief from the rut I’ve been in, but it really wasn’t a vacation.  And even though Gary was just a one-day drive away, it could hardly be called a staycation either.  The best part about that trip was that I learned from a couple of minor mistakes, which made preparing for my trip to Disneyland in early September a lot less stressful.  I think you’ll find many of the things I’ve learned useful in planning your next trip, no matter how near or far away from home it might be.
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