Minneapolis, MN (41st state) was our hub for catching up with our eldest and PBA friend and now Attorney Amy. Before we got some quality time, we parked the R.V. and flew back to Fruitland Park, FL for an interview! Not familiar with Fruitland Park 🤔 It’s about 50miles NW of Orlando and just minutes from the southern edge of The Villages.

The interview went well and we are excited to share that we will be joining the staff at Camp Geneva as their new Co-Directors of Educational Programs! Camp Geneva is a camp for groups ranging from 30-600. With dormitories, cabins and tons of amenities there is plenty to do and the boys are excited to have a really big backyard to play in! As the title implies we will be developing educational programming focused on outdoor and experiential learning and exploring a few new initiatives for the camp. It’s creative and fun professional work that we didn’t expect to find at the end of our tour but we are thankful God had bigger plans than we did 🙏😎 We will remain in the R.V. on the camp property for the foreseeable future but will look forward to not moving every few days 😅 If you’re in the Central FL area and have a group that needs a great spot for a retreat or overnight school field trip, let us know!

The trip to FL was also a chance for Grandma to spoil us with a stay at the Sheraton Vistana Resort for some play and some fun. We even took in a hibachi diner at Kobe Steakhouse, which the boys loved! Our first flight as a family goes down as a success… with no TSA involvement :)

We are through security and ready to board our first plane as a family! I said “through Security” so first prayers answered :)

Robert is nervous-excited but he gets what’s about to happen!

Won’t go into details but Sun Country is a discount airline based out of Minneapolis. They have the best priced fairs out of Minneapolis for sure. Vince used them to get to Seattle after moving Casper from North Carolina to Minneapolis early this summer; however, the airline has a few NOT SO FAMILY FRIENDLY policies. While many airlines have piled on with all the upcharges and added fees, Sun Country charged for everything from snacks on the plane, carry-on bags, and seat selection. But here is the sticky point, you don’t have to pay for your seat but if you don’t their computer “randomly” seats your party and their stated policy is that anyone over 6 yrs old can be sat on their own. Also, disabilities do not qualify for an exemption to paying for your seat selection for parent and child. Vince was not pleased with their policies and he’s cheap so he discussed the policies with management… While a manager did respond on phone and via email, they were not successful in defending their policy beyond paying for seat selection if you have children or a disabled member of your party. Vince was/is not a fan.

Great thing about Orlando Airport… tram rides! Its like Disney guys :)

Vince missed the signage but this is us at Chuy’s, our favorite restaurant that we have been missing since we left Texas… that’s a long time!

Many more pictures to come, but this will be our new home and place of work!

Let the spoiling begin! Robert went to the Sheraton Vistana years ago with Grandma. He requested a return trip to the “slide and Pirate ship” and Grandma obliged. This is ride 1 of 1437 for the weekend :) and that is with a few time-outs from the Lifeguards for riding down backwards… While this quest around the lower 48 has been amazing, we didn’t realize how much we needed some pampering and comfort. Everyone slept in! Thank you Grandma!

Always love our FL Egrets but this guy was stalking our lunch!

At least these cuties stuck to the leftovers.

Kobe Steakhouse is a hibachi restaurant in Orlando and other cities. We took the kids when they were little but they didn’t remember it. This time they were impressed and will remember the experience… as well as almost getting skewered by Robert’s part of the show!

A great time with Grandma, Uncle Richard and Aunt Amie… you could say it was FIRE!

The Chef invited Robert up to try the fancy spatula flipping… Robert did toss them… we all made it out but he used more than just the grill for his part of the show!

The face of a true Samuri Chef for sure!

While not as fancy as Kobe, Robert continued living his fancy life and took breakfast on the patio!

Bingo by the pool and Dad, Mom and Robert all hit Bingo on the same draw!

We also caught up with family and 2nd Cousins got to have a little lunch together.

Cleared the exit and back to our RV and picking up the Dogs from the sitter!

Back in Minneapolis for some quality time with our friend Amy, some Mall of America exploration and a pre-21st birthday visit with our eldest before heading to the northern boundary waters and Voyagers National Park.

Russell wasn’t pictured but he and Charlie were very happy to see Mommy and get back to the family! Thanks for a good dog-sitting through Rover. Bit pricey but Greta did a great job!

With the pups back on the DillerTime Bus and laundry getting caught up, its off to the Mall of America to hang with AMY! It’s been a few years, but Amy was part of our PBA Team that meant so much to Michele and Vince so this stop was a treat. It good to catch up and get some updates. Miss you Amy and thanks for hanging out with us for a bit!

Next day on a short schedule in Minneapolis, we get to catch up and celebrate our oldest, Casper’s 21st birthday! Living in Minneapolis this last few months and continuing to work at Starbucks it was good to see this young, adult Diller doing the northern life! Was also nice to see the brothers together for a picture… everyone is crazy older and taller!

Happy Birthday Casper and we’re proud of you tackling life in the north and will continue sending warm prayers and warm socks soon :)

Voyagers National Park was nice but a touch disappointing. We hoped to explore the lakes and take in some dart-sky nights, but our entire stay was cloud covered and mostly rainy. Guess we can’t hit every park in perfect weather, so we made the best of it and got in a hike and some early fall color hiking into the woods! Can definitely recommend taking the time to get to Voyagers, it is a remote beauty for sure but make sure you stay long enough to get good weather to enjoy it from the water.

Lake Kabetogama is part of the northern Minnesota Boundary Waters. These lakes interconnect and were part of the Voyagers (French-Canadian Fur Traders) path through southern Canada and northern US. These Voyagers were some hearty souls, navigating all those miles in canoes with some heavy portages in a vast wilderness. Imagine we carry vear spray to be safe on our wilderness hikes but they did it all before bear spray existed and they did it largely alone. Beautifully strenuous job for sure!

While there were moose reported in the area, we didn’t see any so Vince tried to impersonate!

Voyagers NP has entry points on land and water! A testament to the boating history of the Boundary Waters.

This replica of a traditional Voyager Canoe caught Robert’s attention.

The fall color is just starting so it was nice to get a hike in despite the on/off rains.

Most of the area is elevated around the lakes with some 40-50 ft cliffs emerging from the woods. Some great views despite the rainy weather.

Vince contemplated the view but was impressed further by the Voyager’s ability to navigate the labyrinth of lakes and the intense portages with these step rock cliffs and dense woods on many of the lakeshore areas. We have gotten lost with GPS and maps but these navigators had some training by the native tribes and something special to “voyage” through these waters.

On our way north/south to Voyagers we went through Virginia, MN where we saw an old open pit mine. We researched and learned that it is part of the Masabi Iron Range, the US’s largest source of iron ore. We also learned that the southern border of Lake Superior in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michichgan all had large iron mines but many have since been closed. Minnesota and Michigan remain the primary source of iron ore for America today.

The view of Duluth, MN port city on the tip of Lake Superior.

Got to see a sailing regatta on Lake Superior while we passed over the bridge into Wisconsin.

Through Duluth and off to Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore! This is our first National Lakeshore. We have done National Seashores and Rivers so adding the Lakeshore, despite the seasonal closure of the Ranger Stations, was a chilly delight. Lake Superior is HUGE and Cold 🥶. Not the coldest we got into (Oregon still has that record) but high 50s is cold water so we got some leg cryo at Little Sand Bay Visitor Center and saw a Bald Eagle fishing in the bog behind the beach. Interestingly, the Apostle Islands Lakeshore is much like Florida in how there are barrier beaches protecting in-land swamps and lakes. While FL is brackish and salt, here it’s all fresh and nothing that will kill/eat you 😜 The red sand beaches did impress though, the lake must generate some significant waves to push those dunes up and create the inland bogs 🤔 To give credit where credit is due, we did find black bear prints in the sandy shore and were told wolf were in the area. Most of the peninsula here is Ojibwe tribal land so access to the beaches and/or majority sandstone cliffs is boat only due to the dense forest.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan is next, where we hope to get out on Lake Superior!