Day Off...

Day 37: Day off in Nashwauk/Grand Rapids

First, let me say that any day that involved a massage is a GOOD day! We called around and found John from Touch & Effects who had enough time to give both of us a massage! How exciting (and necessary)...

Jenny had big plans for our day--she decided to throw me a 45th birthday party! What a nice thing for her to do. And her whole family participated. Henry (the little league star) and his sister Mary Lou (a fantastic cook at the ripe old age of 13) both came over for the day and helped out. Mary Lou made me a fantastic birthday cake!

The top thing on my mind (after breakfast) was to get a shower somehow! I had itched the entire night before. You get so grimy from riding, you don't even realize it. I had "washed" my legs off (they are usually black with grime by the end of the ride) but I didn't wash anything else, and it all itched all night! That's a good lesson for me. I always wondered if I was just being picky about the shower thing. Turns out it's necessary for my sanity!

So Jen, Amy, David, and I we to a close-by campground and showered up on the way to our massage appointments! It was fantastic and we arrived (late) at the massage appointments clean. John took care of that with lots of massage oil and a great deep tissue massage. My shoulder blade area had been giving me fits, and he worked that all out. He also took care of David's hamstrings. We were a little mad at him the next day because we ended up with some soreness, but it was all good and really helped us feel better.

In between the massages, we did errands. David hit the bike store and I hit the bank. Jenny, Amy, and I also toured the old Central School which now houses a quilt store, a stained glass store with classes, and a yarn store! The trifecta of Traci's hobbies--if only they had a pottery studio downstairs, I might have moved to Grand Rapids immediately! I had a lot of fun looking around.

This town is also Judy Garland's hometown. So they had a Judy Garland museum which was fun. Wizard of Oz stuff everywhere!

We raced back to John's house for feasting and partying. He made the most awesome eggplant moussaka (check out the Moosewood Cookbook for the recipe) and I got to help make the salad by picking lettuce and spinach from the garden and making a great layered Greek salad to Terry's specifications. How fun! I have really missed cooking (and did I mention vegetables???). Mary Lou had already made the cake, but she and Jenny decorated it with a great stencil Jenny had made and fresh strawberries. Amy and Mary Lou made frosting to hold the layers together--the perfect birthday cake for me.

We feasted on John's great cooking and then Jenny sabred the champagne (opened it with a "sword"--you have to see it to believe it) and we had that great dessert. Jenny even brought a gift! She gave us great T-shirts with the Bikes not Bombs logo on the front, and a great Tom's Ride picture with "Tom's Ride 2007" on the sleeve. We'll wear them every day--and then they'll walk home by themselves--HA!

What a fun evening! We didn't even look at the bikes all day. We have experienced Minnesota hospitality at it's finest!