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Pirates of the Spanish Main at Enigma Adventure

We capped off Mother’s Day with a trip to Enigma Adventures in Maple Grove to do their Pirates of the Spanish Main room. This room was the top recommendation of the folks that run Copper Cat Escape Games and it held up to the recommendation. The room has a wonderful mix of puzzles and multiple “reveals” that were very fun surprises. The pacing of the puzzles and challenges was good. With just the four of us we were challenged to keep the pace fast and sadly we didn’t get there in the 60 minute deadline, but we did finish just a minute or two past that.

We had previously done Istanbul Gambit at Enigma’s other location and they should get very high marks on how well these rooms are executed. They are very good, imaginative, and the mechanics are top notch. We gave Pirates a ★★★★★ rating for sure. It is also nice that they don’t make you sign waivers. They could do better with the overall ambiance and it feels like colocating with Whirly Ball isn’t pulling in visitors.

Highly recommend giving this room a go — we had a great time! Room 69!

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We went to a live recording of The Object podcast at the MIA today. Dessa was the special guest discussing Salvador Dalí and the surrealists. She is always engaging and entertaining.

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Happy Mother’s Day to the “heart of our family” and most amazing of Mom’s.

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Moms are awesome — especially mine. Happy Mother’s Day! 💛

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Upgraded one of my bikes with these awesome large Crank Brothers Stamps. Old pedals were too small.

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Plant shopping at the Heart to Care Tanzania plant sale! If you are in the Twin Cities and want plants you can support a good cause at the same time. 🇹🇿

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Manu recently added an RSS feed of new sites to Blogroll. I popped it into Feedbin to discover new blogs. I explored a few and was delighted at the diversity of sites these bloggers have. If there is an opposite of scrolling an algorithmic feed it is this. Let’s bring surfing the web back. 🏄

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Thanks to the recent fix on micro.blog allowing blogs over 5G to export I got my first backup in 2 years and 4 months! My total backup is now 11.58 GB, and it seems in the last couple years I averaged 187.5 MB of additions a month. ☺️

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Excited to see the United play today — and even more excited to see Messi! GOAT! ⚽️

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We saw Secret Mall Apartment at the Zeitgeist Zinema in Duluth. Wild story.

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Tammy instantly loved these paintings by Lissa Scotland from Duluth. We decided that these two are coming home with us. Beautiful.

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Stop for delicious chocolate at Great Lakes Candy Kitchen.

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Gooseberry Falls

Exploring Gooseberry Falls today. Walked to the lake shore and back.

People are walking on a forest trail next to a sign providing fishing regulations and directions to a lake.A rocky outcrop with evergreen trees overlooks a large body of water under a cloudy sky.A waterfall cascades over rocky cliffs with a fallen tree trunk leaning against it, surrounded by evergreen trees.A small waterfall flows between rocky cliffs surrounded by lush green trees.A rocky pathway is flanked by large boulders and surrounded by sparse trees under a cloudy blue sky.A family of three poses in front of a scenic waterfall surrounded by lush greenery.A cascading waterfall flows over rocky ledges surrounded by lush green trees under a partly cloudy sky.A wooden picnic table with stone supports is situated in a grassy, wooded area.
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This was a perfect spot to meditate for a few minutes.

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Added 9 kWh at Gooseberry Falls while we were hiking around. Thank you Minnesota DNR!

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Lunch at New Scenic Cafe is a mandatory activity for us on the North Shore.

Auto-generated description: A plate with folded flatbreads and a small bowl of cinnamon sugar next to a spoon.

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Jay Cooke State Park

Finished hiking around Jay Cooke State Park 1.63 miles in 51.6 minutes. Beautiful scenery and delightful day. 🥾

A river rushes through a rocky landscape bordered by pine trees under a partly cloudy sky.A river flows rapidly over rocky terrain surrounded by leafless trees.A tranquil waterfall flows over rocks in a natural, forested landscape.A group of three people is posing for a photo outdoors, with a river and trees in the background.A forest scene shows a fallen tree trunk covered in moss surrounded by leafless trees and underbrush.Three people are smiling for a selfie in front of a rushing river and rocky landscape with trees under a blue sky.Rushing water flows over rocks in a forested landscape with bare trees.A suspension bridge crosses a rocky river in a forested area with sparse tree cover.A rushing river flows over dark rocks surrounded by trees under a partly cloudy sky.
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St. Louis River at Jay Cooke State Park.

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Busy morning at 190º Coffee & Tea this morning.

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Nate Bargatze in Duluth

We had a night full of laughs seeing Nate Bargatze for the first time — and as it happens it was the very first show of his new Big Dumb Eyes tour here in Duluth! The show was completely sold out. Julian McCollough served as host and there were short bits from Steven Rogers, Keith Alberstadt, and Aaron Weber before Nate took the stage for the main event. Hilarious stuff! 🤣

Auto-generated description: A person is speaking into a microphone on a stage, with an audience seated in the background. Auto-generated description: Five people are performing on a lit stage in front of a large audience in an indoor arena.