Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Calendar Girls: biking, pie and fun dinners



Biking through southern Minnesota (from Lanesboro) over a long weekend with two girlfriends: 140 miles biked, 5 pieces of pie, 1 day kayaking and great food throughout the weekend.



The Calendar Bike Trip was planned long ago - but not named until around mile 25 of 70 on the long ride day. It was deemed appropriate because we couldn't stop talking about how we felt like we were biking through calendar photos. I'd also like to think that we were worthy to be calendar girl's ourselves! A Calendar Trip has great potential for many future adventures - as long as the scenery is nice and becomes (at minimum) an annual event - it will keep the name. By going on these trips often enough - we will keep our figures (no matter how much pie we eat!) to qualify for the 'calendar girls' title.

Frugal is Fun! This was our motto for Calendar Bike Weekend. Given the current state of the economy we wanted to do our part and make sure our husbands didn't cringe every time we brought up a new calendar trip. A few things that made this trip frugal:

1. Borrowed a suburban from Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. This saved a rental fee for a vehicle big enough for 3 bikes and gear. We split the gas and made sure to return clean and with a full tank.
2. Stayed in a great 'Art Loft' that had a full kitchen, three beds and space. This was cheaper than staying in two different B&B rooms - and the kitchen let us make food at home. Added bonus: exposed brick walls in an historic building but with A/C and big walk-in closet!
3. Eat at home. Three girls, three nights, three different planned menus. We each took a turn planning and executing a dinner. One would cook, one would 'sous chef', and one would do the dishes. We brought spices and ingredients from home and stopped at a grocery store along the way for the rest.
Dinners:
* Pasta alla vodka with hot italian sausage and garlic/cheese bread
* Tomato Soup and Grilled cheese with tomato, pesto and parmesan
* Steak Fajitas
Breakfast:
* Homemade banana bread with peanut butter and cereal
Lunch:
* Sandwiches or diner food when on the road
* PIE - lots of pie and ice cream!
Snacks:
* Puppy Chow
* Mini Cliff Bars
* Special K bars
* Fruit



How we kept off the pie:
Day 1: 30 mile bike ride
Day 2: 70 mile ride (and HILLY!)
Day 3: 5 hours kayaking, walked around Lanesboro
Day 4: 40 mile ride

1 comment:

kat said...

I think when you go away with a group of friends like that cooking meals together is a big part of the fun