I know you have heard it before, but this week was just another of many examples of how I am the bestest of all the husbands. But more on that later.
Leaving The Farm, we headed east towards Fargo. We had a 6-hour drive ahead of us to the
Super-Secret Undisclosed location just inside the Minnesota border known as The
Oliveri Compound. For those of you who have not been there, this compound is
strategically located in a dense wooded area surrounding by swamps and marshes
on two sides and a river on another. It was specifically designed to protect
the occupants from the inevitable zombie apocalypse that will no doubt happen
in the next few years.
We were warned in advance that in order to gain entrance
within the fortified gates we would have to go through a rigorous security
screening to ensure that we were not zombies in disguise trying to penetrate
the compound. I was expecting some kind of blood test, eye exam or something of
the like but instead immediately upon arrival we were given a Busch Light which
we had to drink within 1 minute of our arrival. Now, we have met a lot of
conspiracy theorists on our travels, but Dino took it to a whole new level. Apparently,
Dino believes that this bottom shelf beer has some anti-zombie oxidants that
sends them into a frenzy exposing the blood thirsty creatures for what they
are. Who knew?!?! Having passed that
test we were allowed access to the grounds.
The other thing we did not know, but Dino informed us of very quickly,
is that zombies will not attack anyone with a blood alcohol level over .15 so
anyone on the premises has to maintain that minimum at all times.
Now, no pictures are allowed on the exterior of the grounds, but we were able to take a few inside. Dino and Lisa have two cats; Moose and Journey. Moose is quite friendly to two and four legged creatures. Journey on the other hand looks like she will rip your face off if you just look at her the wrong way!
Meanwhile, Zoey and Moose reacquainted themselves with each other. Zoey chased Moose around like crazy, they only place she was safe was on her cat condo.
Yes Harry, another cute animal video! The next two days were a whirlwind as we worked hard to make sure our BAC stayed above that minimum level. Apparently, there is no maximum level as that was not discussed at all.
We went on several adventures during our stay. We are always
looking for treasures on our travels so our first adventure was a stop at
several antique stores in the area where I found these two treasures to add to
my collection.
We were in the middle of one antique store when Lisa said “Oh oh” and pulled out little black pouch that looked like a medical kit. She pricked her finger and put a drop of blood on a tester of some sort. Barb and I were concerned, we had no idea that she was a diabetic. After testing her blood she urgently exclaimed “Oh my God!” and showed the results to Dino. After seeing the results Dino immediately grabbed Lisa’s arm and ran out of the building towards the truck. We had no idea what was going on and quickly followed. We thought for sure she was having some sort of medical emergency and needed to be rushed to the hospital. Once in the truck Dino tore through the streets like a wild man telling Lisa “Hang in there, it will be alright”. We were shocked and confused as Dino raced right past the hospital and came to a screeching halt in front of another building, and he and Lisa ran in leaving the truck running and both doors open. Confused Barb and I followed behind and entered the building to find out it was one of the local breweries. Lisa was chugging a beer as we walked in and Dino turned to us and said “That was close, she was at a .10!”
Well, rest assured we made sure that did not happen again during our stay! We hit 3 breweries during our stay (well, 4 but one was not open). One of which was a cider house that was actually very good!
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1910 Sip House |
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Pretty cool building |
I picked out the perfect unit for her, the Garmin 93 SV in
ultra-high definition of course! The salesman asked if I needed anything else
and I told him that my wife is so special she deserves the portable kit, the
Canadian Lakes Map chip and of course the optional lithium battery! He gathered
up all the components and had someone ring me up. Once the transaction was
complete I went to find Barb. Sure enough, she was in the women’s section
looking at purses. She turned to me and said with a deadpan expression on her
face and said “I’m getting this purse”. I thought it was kind selfish of her to
want a purse on top of everything else I just bought her and told her “But
Honey, I just bought you all this stuff?”. She repeated, “I’m getting this
purse” and walked off towards the cash register. Some women, they just never
get enough!
You may have noticed that Barb's eyes were closed in that picture. That is because she was crying as we left the store and most of the way to our next destination. She was so overwhelmed with joy by her gift, she just kept muttering "What did I ever do to deserve this". Me, I too had a tear in my eye for making my wife so happy.
That evening we landed at the Grand Portage Visitors Center
just a couple hundred yards from the Canadian border. They have a beautiful
waterfall there so after setting up in the parking lot we took the dogs for a
hike to the falls.
The water was so high and falls rushing so fast that the
overspray made it so like it was raining all over us. Very cool!
30 minutes later we were in Thunder Bay where our first stop
was…..
And our second stop was……
Then it was back in the truck for two more hours until we
reached our final destination.
We will be here for the next 2 weeks or so. Bring on the walleye extravaganza!