Category Archives: Away From Home

Turning short trips into memorable times when you can’t afford the time or money for the big vacation.

Where Did Our Summer Go?

Away From Home

Did you enjoy this past summer?  It went by so fast that I seem to have missed it.  The weather was so cool most of the time that I barely used the air conditioner.   Work and family kept me much closer to home than I had planned.

As far as staycations go, the highlight of my summer was a car trip to Gary, Indiana with my brother-in-law a couple weeks ago.  He’s a disabled Vietnam veteran who was hospitalized for the last 3 months of 2008, and spent the first half of 2009 recuperating.  I don’t know which of us had a worse case of cabin fever, but when he asked me to go to a reunion of his Marine buddies, I jumped at the chance.

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Free Summer Weekends in National Parks

Away From Home, ,

The National Parks Service has announced that they will eliminate the fees for visiting national parks on several weekends this summer, which includes two in Minnesota.  The two national monuments in Minnesota: The Grand Portage National Monument in the Arrowhead region up north, and The Pipestone National Monument in the southwestern part of the state will have no-fee visits on the weekends of June 20 & 21, July 18 & 19, and August 15 & 16.

Both sites are close enough to Minneapolis and St. Paul to make a great weekend staycation.  These are two Minnesota treasures that we often take for granted just because they’re so close to us.  I’ve been to Grand Portage and its spectacular scenery alone is worth the trip.  But the educational opportunity for your kids is beyond measure.  Plan on staying at least one night, or make these a destination along your way as you plan a longer trip.