Love, Kalli: Major R & R [Raymond & Robbie]

I had some time to take off of work, so I asked my grandparents if they'd be interested in hosting me at their little "home away from home", a trailer at Buffalo Bay, which is just north of Warroad across the Canadian border.They were delighted to have me join them for a few days earlier this week!

I absolutely love, love, LOVE going up there; it is the most relaxing time I have ever had in my life. I think this has a lot to do with not being able to use your cellphone. You're not distracted by texts, snapchats, tweets, and Facebook statuses. On top of that, you don't really have a set itinerary. I probably got 9 or 10 hours of sleep every night before waking up to go out to the gazebo and have coffee with Granny and Grandpa. It's the kind of that you make in a metal pot, where the water boils up into the grounds and comes back down. When you finish your cup, you normally have to pick little black specks out of your teeth. After awhile, we'd have a delicious breakfast - buttery eggs, red pepper sausage, buckwheat pancakes with juneberries.

I don't know anyone who loves to fish as much as my grandpa does. We put in 4 or 5 hours in the boat on both Tuesday and Wednesday, each. Grandpa and I both caught nice northerns - mine was a 38incher and his was a 40. We had such a blast! Granny caught a little perch, which I had never seen or eaten before. After we got in from the boat, Granny and I would clean up and sit and read (I finished The Paris Wife - loved the book, hated Hemingway) or visit while Grandpa cleaned the fish.

When Grandpa got back, he'd dip the filets in flour, then buttermilk, then back into flour again. He might've had breadcrumbs in the mix somewhere, too - I don't rightly recall. Anyways, all of you know how I feel about eating something you raised (or rather, "caught", in this case) yourself. I honestly believe the fish taste that much better when you reel them in out on a rough lake.

After supper, we'd go down to the landfill and keep a lookout for the bears. Black bears go looking for snacks and treasures oftentimes when they are trying to fatten up before they have to go into hibernation. We didn't get to see any this time, but I have seen them down there before! Hopefully we'll spot some when I go up there again for Labor Day weekend (given that the weather cooperates).

We'd head back to the gazebo after an unsuccessful bear-hunting and play sequence or make s'mores. When we were tired, we went to bed. When we were ready to get up, we got up and did it all over again. There are no commitments and no worries, no makeup or matching clothes, no social media to "like" or anything of that nature.

And of course, this wouldn't be a real "Love, Kalli" post without a bunch of photos, now would it?