Jarts!

Ahhh... stupid human tricks... the Persche's hosted a fun afternoon of Jarts - the infamous lawn darts that have been banned from commercial sale in the U.S.  Yours truly is now the Upper Midwest Jarts League Champion for 2014!

Duluth Airshow - the Blue Angels!

After our stay in Bayfield, we drove over to Duluth to see the airshow... the weather lifted just enough to allow us to see the amazing Blue Angels do their thing!

Libby's Senior Portraits

OK, these aren't her real senior portraits... but here's a preview of this goofball...

Madeline Island and Bayfield, Wisconsin!

We finally made it up to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and to Madeline Island in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. What an unexpectedly beautiful part of our country!  We had a nice cabin on the lake, enjoyed the ferry to Madeline Island, some nice nature walks, good meals - and dropped in to see the amazing rescue boats at Bayfield's Coast Guard station... thanks for the great tour Seaman Stout!

Dogs for Defense!

One of our most interesting Defense Alliance members is "Dogs for Defense."  They are a small company in St. Cloud, Minnesota that trains dogs for the Departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security, as well as police forces.  Libby and I enjoyed a morning with the owners and handlers at their facility in St. Cloud. What a class act they were - and the dogs are amazing, sniffing out all kinds of bomb-making chemicals during their training exercises!