Coffee
- Check out of Baymont in Mandan.
- Coffee stop at Joyhouse before leaving town.
- Stop for gas and Culver’s in Fargo.
- 11:23 AM enter Minnesota.
- Stop at Cocoa Maas in Monticello for delicious Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream.
- Back home in Minneapolis! 🏠
- Tammy and Mazie go on independent runs around Downtown Fargo.
- Jamie goes to Youngblood Coffee Roasters for a coffee.
- Check out of Jasper Hotel.
- Breakfast at Prairie Kitchen.
- Drive to Bismarck, ND.
- Stop for lunch at Fireflour.
- Explore downtown Bismarck: Anima Cucina, The Capital Gallery, and Brick Oven Bakery.
- Escape Room at Breakout ND.
- Amanda & Reid wedding reception at Baymont in Mandan and see a lot of my relatives! 🥳
- Tammy and Mazie go for a morning walk around Fergus Falls.
- Breakfast at Toast Cafe: Swedish Pancakes, Frikkadiller Toast (Swedish Meatballs), French Toast, Avocado Toast, and Fluffernutter to share.
- Drive to Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.
- Walk trail at Prairie Wetlands.
- Drive back to Fergus Falls downtown.
- Explore stores: Fergus Apothecary, Biffley’s & Dragon’s Den, Wildflour Bakery, Dahlia’s, Kaddatz Galleries, Dutchmen Organics, and The Bric.
- Drive to Fargo.
- 2:31 PM Enter North Dakota.
- Stop at Culver’s for chicken tenders.
- Time Machine room at Puzzled Escape Rooms.
- Walk around downtown Fargo. Jamie gets a delicious coffee drink at Youngblood Coffee Roasters. Tammy and Mazie visit The Nines and Proper while Tyler and Jamie go to Paradox Comics-n-Cards and buy a couple of Pokémon packs.
- Jamie and Tyler get Macrons at Bakehouse 23.
- Dinner at Beer & Fish Company. Mazie’s favorite dessert.
- We stop at Ferguson Books after dinner and pick up “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman. Mazie realizes how expensive hard cover books are when you don’t buy them on amazon.
- Fill up water bottles at Jasper Hotel.
- Jamie and Tyler get Rolled Ice Ice cream at Tea + Crepe.
- Stop at Silver Lining Creamery on the way back to the hotel. Tammy gets salted caramel and Jamie gets German Chocolate Cake ice cream to share.
- Really enjoyable elevator ride and feet up in hotel room. :D
- Catching up on some blogging to start the day.
- Coffee run to Vermont Artisinal Coffee.
- Von Trapp Family Resort History Tour.
- Lunch at Von Trapp Resort Bierhall.
- Return to Von Trapp Lodge and hike up to the Chapel.
- Rent bikes and Tammy and I ride the trail in Stowe.
- Farewell dinner at Idletyme Brewing Company
- Final night hangout at Airbnb.
- Max and I drive and get six cups of really terrible coffee.
- Put the Hungarian Grand Prix on my laptop and watch with some others while Ferrari goes from leading the race to not even making it on the podium.
- The Grand Prix viewers leave the Airbnb and drive to Stowe Farmer’s Market for delightful food.
- Farmer’s Market Highlights: Incredible Blueberries, amazing baked goods from Two Son’s bakery, delicious brisket from Black Diamond Barbecue, great bike blended smoothie, popcorn to go for the evening.
- Drive to Stowe Bee Bakery and get a delicious Iced Maple Latte.
- Head back to Airbnb for afternoon in the pool.
- Go to Stowe for some shopping and exploring.
- Return to Airbnb and collect everyone to head to Ben & Jerry’s Experience.
- Go to Doc Ponds for dinner.
- Return to Airbnb for the rest of the evening.
- Saturday and coffee shops downtown open later. Find Columbuse Cafe open at 7am. The WiFi is good and appreciate them being open.
- Transfer to Structure Coffee when open at 8am.
- Pack up and check out of Sonder.
- Drive to Laval for our long planned escape room for today.
- Experience Magnifico at Escaparium Laval — the #1 rated escape room in the world.
- Lunch at Birdhouse.
- Ice cream at Gaufres et Glaces for last opportunity for super good Canadian dipped cones.
- Cross into United States at 4:46pm.
- Arrive at Airbnb at 6:06 PM.
- Everyone finds there various rooms.
- Pizza ordered in for dinner.
- Pool and hot tub evening.
- Turn in for the evening.
- I go to Structure Coffee for some delicious coffee and time to catch up on blog. Tammy off on a morning run.
- Max and Nora join for some coffee at Structure.
- Mazie, Tammy, and I go to bakery.
- Tyler meets up with us and runs off to get crepes.
- Super fun time on Jet Boating Montreal!
- Return to room to put on dry clothes.
- Difficult driving to bagel making class.
- Fun time learning to make Montreal style bagels at The Bagel Class.
- Levi joins our family and drive to lookout on Mount Royal.
- Mazie shares that Montreal got its name from “Mount Royal”. Say it quickly together.
- Return to downtown and park car.
- Get ready for Cirque du Soleil performance.
- Salad and smoothies for dinner at Mandy’s.
- Amazing time at Cirque du Soleil: Luzia under the big top.
- Walk back to Sonder.
- Max and I walk to Structure Coffee for a delicious Cortado and light roast to start the day.
- Tammy, Tyler, and Levi join us and walk to Olive+Gourmando for a pastry.
- We all head to Montreal on Wheels to rent bikes and take a private guided bike tour of Montreal.
- After bike tour walk to Papermane Tea Room for afternoon tea and lunch.
- Then Max and I take four of the boys and visit two card shops: Capitaine Québec and Silver Goblin.
- Jamie has call with Quartersawn with some updates on construction happening at home. Some surprises to deal with. 💸
- Return and park Max’s car in Place Victoria ramp.
- Freshen up at Sonder.
- Jamie and brother-in-laws head to Vieux-Port Steakhouse for Men’s dinner. Great table outside with two wonderful bottles of Borolo to add.
- Go to Old Port for evening fun. A number of folks get Henna tattoos. Everyone has Mary’s Popcorn. Mazie, Tyler, Nora, Levi, and Angie do zipline!
- Watch Taylor Swift themed fireworks in Montreal.
- Walk back to Sondor and call it a night.
QMSB Trip - Day 16
Go to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or see index.
QMSB Trip - Day 15
✅ Quebec ✅ Montreal ✅ Stowe ✅ Bismarck
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QMSB Trip - Day 14
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Delightful Nitro Oat Latte at Youngblood Coffee Roasters in Fargo, ND. This place has their coffee situation dialed in right. 👏☕️
QMSB Trip - Day 11
Also Olson Family Vacation 2025 Day 7.
Go to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or see index.
QMSB Trip - Day 9
Also Olson Family Vacation 2025 Day 5.
Go to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or see index.
QMSB Trip - Day 8
Also Olson Family Vacation 2025 Day 4.
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QMSB Trip - Day 7
Also Olson Family Vacation 2025 Day 3.
Go to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or see index.
QMSB Trip - Day 6
Also Olson Family Vacation 2025 Day 2.
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Enjoying an Espresso and Cappuccino at Monogram Coffee in downtown Calgary while sending this morning’s Weekly Thing.
We visited Q.Lab Coffee this afternoon. I was impressed with their coffee program and had to try a “Gold Label” pour over. Delicious. Had a cappuccino as well. ☕️
Love this portable pour over package from Mad Heads, a Kyiv-based coffee company. The package folds out to rest on the rim of the mug and make delicious pour over. The first step to making “perfect cup” — stay mad. 🤣☕️🇺🇦
Ritual. ☕️
Nice morning at Getaway Motor Cafe in Carver. Great coffee and food. Love the vibe. Surprise bonus that they have Cardigan Donuts on Saturday! ☕️🍩
Mazie brought a variety of chocolate and coffee back from Costa Rica to share with us! 🇨🇷🍫☕️
Starting Christmas Eve with an amazing cup of Dreamy Melon from the ever amazing Pair Cupworks.
Dreamy Melon! – We’ve sold some pretty great coffees this year, but this one is probably the top. Clean, crisp sucrose sweetness, and fragrant melon flavor – this marvelous flavor is a result of meticulous processing including constant monitoring, temperature control, and finely tuned fermentation.
A truly delightful cup. Very subtle flavor tones. Smooth with very little bite. Would agree on the clean, crisp taste. One of the best coffees I’ve ever had. ☕️
Just tried out the new photo collections feature on micro.blog and it is pretty great. I created a page of coffee photos. ☕️
This is a fun and new way to index into the photos that I have posted. I like it.
My coffee subscription from Pair Cupworks consistently brings me compelling and unique beans. This Peanut & Dark Chocolate from Laos by the Bolaven Plateau Coffee Producers Cooperative is great. It may be my first coffee from Asia. ☕️
First Coffee in 54 Days
This morning I had my first cup of coffee since April 1st — 54 days without the Black Gold in my cup. I was curious to see what the experience would be like. I’ve not had any coffee during this period. I have had tea three or four times that did have caffeine in it and I noted that I felt the caffeine in that tea much more than I ever did before. But coffee? The real deal? Hadn’t had any.
I had some great beans from Fika Coffee. The smell of the beans tickled my memories. My first reaction was that the feel of the warm cup, the smell of the brew all was very familiar but not as revelatory as I thought it might have been. The sky did not open, the clouds did not part. There were no trumpets. It was a delightful sip of coffee but that was about it. Good, but not an out-of-body experience.
I finished the cup outside on the deck and it was nice. I was a bit confused because I didn’t seem to be feeling the caffeine. That didn’t make any sense to me, but we continued with our morning and headed into Faribault to visit Crack of Dawn. When I started to drive off I felt like I was on a rocket blasting into the stratosphere. The caffeine had arrived and it was serious! Nothing like I would have felt before, this was actually a bit disconcerting. I can’t say I enjoyed it. Imagine a squirrel in a wheel running very fast and going nowhere.
Eventually that blast off ebbed. I was shocked at how profound that felt. As I thought when I stopped drinking my 12 oz of coffee a day and the withdrawal was significant — this caffeine stuff is serious. And this less than 12 oz that I had this morning was serious too!
All that in that little mug of Black Gold.
