Break time

Although we're nowhere near done unpacking, we decided to take a break last weekend for a day trip up north with Dempsey.

Our first stop was a continuation of Dempsey's architecture tour: The only gas station in the world designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

This gas station isn't as famous as Fallingwater or the Robie House, and for good reason: It's a gas station.

But Demps isn't an art snob; he enjoyed cooling off in the upstairs waiting lounge. Now we can tell everyone Dempsey has been inside a Louis Sullivan and a Frank Lloyd Wright building!

With his architecture history lesson done, we took Dempsey to the beach for some fun time. He enjoyed splashing around the icy cold water of Gitchigumee.

Of course, after some fun at the beach, Dempsey was all wet and sandy. Luckily, we discovered a place to give Dempsey a bath.

Even better for us, the sign for this place was in English: When Doreen and I were in Italy, we were given directions  (in Italian) to a laundromat (we thought) in a village in Tuscany. After we hauled our dirty laundry inside the "Lavaggio Cani, 24 Ore Self Service," we discovered it wasn't really a laundromat, but a 24-hour, self service dog wash.  Later, we discovered that said Tuscan village does not have a laundromat -- only a 24-hour, self service dog wash.

We thought this was weird, but our discovery in Two Harbors, Minnesota, is probably equally weird: A car and truck and dog wash and RV Dump. Will the wonders of the world ever cease?

Dempsey didn't seem too happy at first, probably thinking we would get the underbody wash and special hot wax for him. He seemed happier discovering that the dog wash area was separate from the car wash. He
wasn't too excited either about climbing up the ramp to the dog wash area, but after a few treats and lots of encouragement, he finally got the courage to climb in for his 6-quarters bath.

It was a fun day for a doggie, but we had to come home for Wally World. More on that shortly, I hope.