Boundary Waters ‘06

So the Boundary waters trip was pretty good.

The first day was extremely hot (90 degrees?) but that evening we had a giant thunderstorm and ended up going to sleep at 7pm. The next morning we were wide awake at 2:30am, and ended up getting up, cooking breakfast, and getting out on the lake fishing by dawn. It was great, and the weather for the remainder of the trip was in the 70-80 degree range.

We ended up catching more fish this year than we have either of the previous years, which was great. I like to fish, but after about a full 1-2 days of fishing, I’m over it, so it’s good that those 2 days were spent actually catching fish, and not just spent acquiring a bad case of boat-ass.

Like most things, after 3 days, I’ve had enough, so after 3 days in the Boundary waters, I was wanting to get out and do some other stuff in Minnesota (like play the drums at my folk’s place, hang out with some other friends, or hang out with the people I was with in the boundary waters, but at a bar rather than in a canoe). The group consensus was a resounding no, though, so we stayed until Friday and I ended up getting back to Mankato late that afternoon.

It was weird being back in Minnesota. Mankato definitely felt different than it had before. Smaller (predictably) than it has in the past, and somehow overwhelmingly white, in a trashy trailer park sort of way. Although, I came to this conclusion at Walmart on a Friday night, which might not have been the best random sample of people on which to base this blanket statement.

I was in Minneapolis for a day on Sunday, driving around and hitting old spots (well, just one — the Egg and I for breakfast). Minneapolis is great. Always loved it, always will. But it still didn’t feel like home. And after arriving back in New York, I realized that nowhere really feels like home right now. New York is feeling much more normal to me than it ever has, but it’s still not that “I’m home” feeling. Minneapolis and Mankato don’t really provide that feeling either, though. I can only conclude that my home is somewhere between the two cities at this point. Maybe it’s in Detroit.