The first portion of our trip was to California to visit Kate’s brother Mikey and his lovely family.  Mikey officially lives in Oakland which is right across the bay from majestic San Fransisco.  I was amazed by the multi-million dollar homes which were literally hanging off the side of the hills overlooking the entire bay area.  Constantly I was picturing houses slipping away in a mudslide as often seen in breaking news stories…  Mikey took me on a great day-long tour of San Fransisco were I saw all the sights that a tourist should indulge in (including the most homeless people I’ve ever seen).  My favorite stop of the tour was definitely the Golden Gate Bridge.  Who knew a boring bridge could look so majestic?  Other than the tour, we also partook in a showing of Disney on Ice with Kate’s niece Sidney.  The show was actually really impressive and we even enjoyed it as adults (kind of hard to admit).

After our time in California had been expended, we jumped on a plane to Colorado!  Kate’s friends Alex and Kendall graciously scooped us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel in Golden, Colorado.  Bright and early we woke up and drove straight to Breckenridge for a great day or snowboarding which included a nice layer of fresh snow.  Even though the snow hindered the view of the mountains, it was a nice change from the Minnesota concussion-inducing icy conditions.  After our first day of riding, we jumped in the car with our friend AJ to head off to Aspen for the rest of our vacation.  Much to our dismay, the main road to Aspen had been closed due to a major rockslide.  This untimely closure caused us to spend an additonal 4 hours in the car, but once we arrived at Aspen we realized it was well worth it.  We loved our time in the Aspen/Snowmass area and even had some really great powder to float around in.  I could blab about the snowboarding all day long, but I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.  Thank you to everybody that was involved in our perfect vacation!

The kiteboarding season is also just starting thanks to colder temperatures.  The colder temperatures have finally made the ice on several Minnesota lakes thick enough to venture out on.  I had a great kiting session on Lake Waconia with my dad and brother-in-law Eric that left me sore and exhausted.  It’s amazing to watch my father make me look silly out on the lake with his jumps and kite flying skills. I can feel the kiteboarding addiction starting which I’m sure will lead to many expensive purchases in the future (sorry Kate).

With several trips planned in the next couple months, I’m sure it will be an exciting winter.  See you outside in the white stuff.

The Dunklee family is quite spread out across the United States.  This means that we don’t get together very often, but when we do it is guaranteed to be a entertaining time.  All sorts of activities were pursued including pirate ship adventures, horseback riding, crocodile hunting, kiteboarding, atv riding, and even some mind-blowing games of scrabble.  Of course Grandma was the grand champion of the Scrabble board like always…

My favorite activity of the vacation was kiteboarding.  South Padre Island just happens to be a paradise for kiteboarding since it has consistent winds and very shallow water to aide in the learning process.  The only things that worried me were the sting rays under foot and the crocodiles slightly down shore….  Yipes.  I think I convinced the crocs that I wouldn’t taste very good and they should go for a fattier meal… After getting over those minor details, I had a great time laying down some wakeboard style carves and getting to kiteboard right next to my sister in ideal conditions.  I can feel the kiteboard addiction starting, and I think my father is very pleased…

Our Thanksgiving meal went perfectly thanks to everybody lending a hand.  It was incredible that we could fit all 23 people in one room and it didn’t turn into complete chaos.  I think I’m still working that meal off, but it was definitely worth every pound…   Well, I could talk all day about this vacation, but I can tell I’m losing your attention.   It was a wonderful trip overall, I just wish Kate could have been there.

After six riveting hours of driving through Southern Minnesota, Iowa, and part of the promised land (Nebraska), we arrived at our hotel in Downtown Omaha.  I use the term “downtown” loosely as there was only one sky scraper in the vast metropolis.  After settling in we decided to hit the town to find something to fill our stomachs.  Shortly after we set out, we found a little sports bar which had a Hawaiian pizza that can’t be described as anything but amazing.  With full bellies, we hit the streets once again and wandered into a beautiful area referred to as the “Old Market” portion of Omaha.  The scene in the “Old Market”  area reminded us very much of Uptown in Minneapolis but it was much more pedestrian friendly.  If you are ever in Omaha it is definitely a must see for its old west style and funky restaurants.

The next day I set out on a photo taking  journey and ended up at the newly constructed Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.  A massive curving structure, this bridge will bring pleasure to your eyes as it suspends itself over the Missouri River.   After taking way too many photos of the bridge, I headed back towards downtown to visit the Heartland of America park.  Even though the name of the park made me want to gag myself, it turned out to be a beautiful park with a fountain which sprayed higher than the height of most buildings in the Corn Husker state.

The final destination of our trip was the Omaha Fashion Week runway show which we had came for.  It was of course in the culture rich area of Old Market which fit it perfectly.  Over 3000 people flooded the streets as models showed off outfits from 15 different designers.  The styles that were displayed varied more than a graph of our economy which made for an excellent show.  The show was ran incredibly well, and I tip my hat to the organizers.  Well, I must say that I truly enjoyed my time in Omaha even though I was definitely ready go home after 3 days.

Another thing I never had a chance to write about was our trip to the Boundary Waters!  While my brother Luke from Hawaii was in town, we decided to head to the Boundary Waters to relive our childhood.  We gathered a group of 6 people and headed up into the great wilderness.  The weather luckily cooperated the whole time with only a few little issues.  The head wind was the major annoyance, which made it feel like you were sometimes paddling on a treadmill.  We found the campsite of our dreams which is where the picture attached is from.  It was a beautiful escape from reality and I think my arms are still tired…

For the rest of the weekend we set our destination for Lake Mille Lacs and my parents cabin.  The weather was perfect the whole time and it was great just hanging out with the family.  Kate caught her first couple fish on the Lake and we ended up getting a few keepers.  I mostly caught Perch, but did manage to reel in one Northern Pike!  Shortly after we finished fishing we witnessed the fireworks show right over Wahkon bay.   The next morning after a good meal of  Walleye for breakfast, we took off for Aitkin to cure my wakeboarding fix.  The water temperature was perfect and we had a blast wakeboarding with the family!  Thank you Annie and Eric for the hospitality!  I think it’s safe to say that we had a great holiday weekend.

In the time between wakeboarding and work, I have actually been playing quite a bit of golf.  The old golf swing has actually been coming back to me fairly well, although it is still inconsistent as ever!  Sometimes the ball goes perfectly straight, but other times it is on a collision course with the nearest tree….  Oh well, it’s good to feel the warmth of summer and the wealth of possibilities it brings with it.  Bust out the sunglasses and enjoy it while it lasts…