Pokémon
- 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
- Arrived at Crosby Lofts just before 9pm.
- Walked around Crosby and explored Lake and Company store that was open late.
- Jamie gets coffee at Mixed Company.
- Jamie working remote for the morning.
- Tammy goes on a run.
- Mazie goes on a run.
- Tammy and kids get donuts at Mac Daddy’s Donut Garage. Bring back for Jamie.
- Kids and Tammy go to beach at Serpent Lake to swim and read.
- Lunch at Drunken Noodle.
- Get rental bikes at Red Raven.
- Mountain bike the Gallooping Goose “easy” trail.
- Return bikes.
- Post-ride smoothies at Red Raven.
- Dinner at Hudson Smokehouse.
- Walked to High Wheel Confectionary and indulged in shopping and sugar.
- Walked around Crosby while Mazie was incapacitated due to sugar overload.
- Mazie and Tyler walk to playground to check it out.
- Tammy goes on a run.
- Jamie to Red Raven.
- Tammy joins at Red Raven.
- Mazie goes on a run.
- Tyler on raids for Pokémon GO Fest 2024 (Global).
- All meet at Crosby Farmers Market: scones, jams, maple syrup, cinnamon rolls, kombucha, homemade Nutella, chocolate dipped mangoes.
- Shopping in Crosby: Nord Hus, Smith + Trade, Crosby Pharmacy, Cuyuna Outfitters.
- Jamie and Tyler walk to lake while Mazie tries on lots of clothes at Cuyuna Outfitters.
- Lunch at Burritos California and beer at Cuyuna Brewing.
- Mazie and Tammy find treasures at Common Goods thrift store.
- Went to Pennington boat launch to go on water with kayaks from Cuyuna Outfitters. Mazie and Tammy on clear kayaks. Tyler on paddle board. Jamie on fishing kayak.
- Paddle from 3 to 7p, cover about 3 miles. Nice time. Lots of jumping in water.
- Dinner at Rafferty’s Pizza.
- Return trip to High Wheel Confectionary for ice cream!
- Tammy, Mazie, and Tyler walk back to Crosby Lofts.
- Mazie and Tyler hang at the playground
- Jamie drives the car back.
- Jame heads to Red Raven for morning blogging and coffee.
- Tammy and Mazie on a walk and meet Jamie at Red Raven.
- Brunch at Croft Pub & Grub.
- Head home.
QMSB Trip - Day 14
Go to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or see index.
Tyler and I stopped by Paradox Comics-n-Cards and got the last two packs they had — Pokémon Surging Sparks. Lots of bulk.
Tyler and I got the Pokémon cards we sent to TAG Grading back today. My Galarian Perrserker V came back an 8.5. I dig the clear slabs that they use. The grading reports are insanely detailed and driven by algorithm and computer vision. It seems much more accurate than PSA, but also much harder.
At today’s Minnesota Card Show I built my Alakazam and Perrserker collections. Tyler loves collecting and it is a fun thing to do together.
When I played D&D I was always a Wizard hence the connection with Alakazam.
My lineage is very Nordic, hence Perrserker, a Viking Pokémon.
LEGO and Pokémon announced that they are launching a multi-year partnership in 2026. This is going to mint an incredible amount of revenue for both companies. 💰 Consider how many of these sets will be bought and never even opened for collectors. 😲
Tyler and I took another try at the Elite Pokémon Gacha Machine tonight. We took a first pull and got a 2022 #239 Japanese Cynthia’s Ambition PSA 10. We weren’t excited about that card and accepted the buyback making $3.55 USDC. Then we went again and got a 2006 #047 Deoxys Holo PSA 10! 🥳
Venusaur Holo
I had never heard of a Gacha before but I was intrigued when Collector Crypt sent an announcement about the Elite Pokémon Gacha Machine. I forwarded it to Tyler to investigate.
The gist is you pay a fixed amount and get a random card with a minimum value. Collector Crypt does this all on the Solana blockchain. We decided to give it a whirl and pulled a Venusaur Holo (1996) with a near-mint 8 PSA rating.
Tyler digs Collector Crypt because they have good Pokémon cards. I dig it for that and that it is a great use of NFT’s and smart contracts. The transaction for this Gacha machine is a complicated one with seventeen different steps.
We will likely “burn” the NFT and have Collector Crypt ship us the nearly 30 year old card.
Cuyuna Weekend 2024
We wrapped up a very fun weekend in Crosby exploring the Cuyuna area. Here is what the weekend covered.