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Paisley Park, Prince Memorial, Chanhassen, Minnesota

30 Sep Paying Respects to Prince at Paisley Park

Posted at 09:30h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

Prince is a musical icon known around the world. Paisley Park, Prince’s private estate and production complex is located in a suburb of Minneapolis, and Prince had a special impact on the area that we call home. I’ve always enjoyed Prince’s creations; sure, I may...

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Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE in Shakopee, Minnesota

25 Sep Ghosts, Zombies and Monsters: The Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE

Posted at 13:30h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

Every year as autumn sets in, the zombies come out and the haunt begins at ValleySCARE. The lights go down, fog and screams fill the air, and monsters lurk around every corner. Mazes of horror appear, rides are roaring, and Valleyfair is transformed into a...

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Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota

21 Sep 3 Iconic Museums in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Posted at 09:15h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

There are many great museums in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I visited three of them while exploring the city on a trip with Marriott. During my weeklong trip exploring my own backyard, we made our way to the Walker Art Center & Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Mill...

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A Week in Minneapolis, Minnesota

16 Sep A Photo Essay: A Week Exploring Minneapolis

Posted at 09:15h in Blog, Minnesota, Photo Essay, United States

I always love exploring my own backyard, so when the opportunity came up to join a group of travel bloggers and writers on a weeklong adventure in Minneapolis, I happily agreed. Micah was gone for a work project for most of the week, so he...

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St Paul Kayaking on the Mississippi River with Minnesota Adventure Co

22 Aug St. Paul Adventures: Kayaking on the Mississippi River

Posted at 09:30h in Blog, Minnesota, Outdoor Adventure, United States, Urban Adventure

We've done quite a bit of urban kayaking lately, and one of the most recent excursions was paddling in our hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. We went kayaking on the Mississippi River and Minnesota River with Minnesota Adventure Co. and had a wonderful morning out...

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Can Can Wonderland, Saint Paul, Minnesota

19 Aug Artist Designed Mini Golf at Can Can Wonderland 

Posted at 15:15h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

What do you get when you mix art, mini golf, vintage pinball machines, boozy slushies and cereal malts? None other than Can Can Wonderland! Can Can Wonderland is an eccentric, artist designed mini golf course located inside an old can manufacturing factory in Saint Paul, Minnesota....

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Find Your Inner Otter Weekend in Otter Tail County, Minnesota

12 Aug Exploring Our Own Backyard: A Weekend in Otter Tail County

Posted at 07:45h in Blog, Minnesota, Outdoor Adventure, United States

We grew up in the small town of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, in Otter Tail County. I’ve always had the attitude that exploring your own backyard is important—so many people seem to never try anything new when they are at home. Throughout our childhood, we’ve explored...

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Glensheen Mansion, Duluth, Minnesota

15 Mar After Dark: Glensheen Mansion Flashlight Tour

Posted at 09:10h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

Large, historic mansions have always intrigued me, especially when they have a storied history full of opulence and mystery. The Glensheen Mansion, located right on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, is no exception. I have visited the mansion a couple of times over...

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Kayaking on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota

04 Mar Urban Kayaking on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis

Posted at 09:30h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

We have been kayaking in so many different places—in lakes, rivers, you name it. But we have yet to even make a dent in exploring all the lakes in our home state (there are mover than 11,000 lakes in Minnesota after all!). One of our...

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Art Shanty Projects, White Bear Lake, Minnesota

21 Feb Art Shanty Projects: Artist Exhibits on a Frozen Lake

Posted at 09:00h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

Minnesota has a vibrant art scene with world class museums, theater and live music in every direction and artist galleries and studios in almost every corner. In addition to this, residents have learned to embrace the winter and find creative ways to enjoy the season....

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Luminary Loppet in Minneapolis, Minnesota

18 Feb A Trail of Lights at the Luminary Loppet in Minneapolis

Posted at 09:30h in Blog, Minnesota, United States, Urban Adventure

What’s a loppet you may be wondering? A loppet is a Scandinaian word for a long-distance cross-country ski event or a long endurance race over varied terrain. Every year, the City of Lakes Loppet Ski Festival is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This event is dubbed “the...

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Mountain Biking at Detroit Mountain in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

16 Sep Mountain Biking at Detroit Mountain

Posted at 09:30h in Blog, Minnesota, Outdoor Adventure, United States

Growing up in small town Minnesota meant that most adventures required a bit of driving to reach. Although there are several ski hills within a few hours drive from where we grew up in Pelican Rapids, there was only one that was less than a...

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Another hike that we went on during our time in De Another hike that we went on during our time in Death Valley National was the Golden Canyon Trail with the Red Cathedral extension! We really enjoyed the landscape throughout this hike—it was another one of our favorite trails in Death Valley. The trail is 1.5 miles each way (3 miles round trip), and the last 0.5 miles of the trail, aka the Red Cathedral Trail, requires some scrambling, ledges, and low overhangs.

The Golden Canyon/Red Cathedral trail was so fun and we loved weaving through, under, and over tight rock formations. Plus, the views at the end of the trail were beautiful. Apparently, some scenes from Star Wars were filmed in this area, and I can see why—it looked like we were walking through an entirely different world!
At first, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National At first, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park doesn’t look like much, but when you learn more about this piece of land, it’s quite interesting. Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation point in North America, at 282 ft below sea level. The land here is made up of a salt flat that stretches nearly 200 square miles. If you look hard for the tiny white sign in the mountains in the 5th photo (straight up above the Cruise America RV) you can see where sea level is. Standing on the salt flat and looking up at the sea level sign really puts the low elevation into perspective! We couldn’t help but imagine standing at the bottom of the lake that once covered this area.

We walked about a mile out onto the flats and loved seeing all the salt polygons and unique formations all around us. The farther we walked the less people we saw, and it was quite peaceful during our sunset stroll. We ended up visiting Badwater Basin twice during our trip, and I already want to head back again. There’s just so much to see if you take the time to look!
When standing at the Zabriski Point Lookout in Dea When standing at the Zabriski Point Lookout in Death Valley National Park, you overlook stunning hills and canyons of the Badlands. And if you look close, you might see people hiking far out on the landscape. One of the trails that runs through this area is the Badlands Loop, and it is a fantastic option for a hike!  Wandering through the narrow canyons and up along the hills of the Badlands provides a beautiful vantage point of this colorful area. 

The Badlands Loop is a 2.7 mile trail that runs through the gulch and up along the top of the ridges. There isn’t much shade on this trial, especially if you hike it during the heat of the day, so try to avoid a midday hike here when the temperatures are high. There are several trails that intersect in this area; you can connect to both the Gower Gulch Trail and the Golden Canyon Trail to make it one longer 7.8 mile loop hike. We hiked Golden Canyon earlier on our trip, so this time around we just hiked the Badlands Loop. Photos 1-8 are from the Badlands Loop trail, and 9-10 are from the Zabriski Point overlook the day prior when the skies were much more cloudy!
We spent 2.5 days exploring Death Vally National P We spent 2.5 days exploring Death Vally National Park this past winter, and we sure packed a lot into our visit. Hiking the wide variety of trails was our favorite way to explore the park. All of the trails were fantastic, but the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes was one of our favorite stops. We visited the dunes several times during our three days in the park, and each visit was at a different time of day. We were there for sunset, at night to see the stars, and at sunrise. When we went for sunrise, we hiked our way out to the summit of the tallest dune. The summit is roughly 1 mile from the parking lot, although there is no formal trail to get there and back. 

Along the hike, we spotted someone painting the sunrise from the top of one of the dunes. We couldn’t help but stop and chat with her and Micah snapped a few photos—we absolutely loved her artwork! We also enjoyed finding lots of animal prints in the sand. Even though the distance was short, the hike was tough as the sand is very hard to walk on. It felt like every step forward equaled two steps back! But the feeling you get from conquering the tallest dune is well worth it. It’s a beautiful portion of the park to explore!
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