In fact, Ty wasn’t even in the state of Wisconsin for most of the week. He flew to Ohio to reveal another house to a deserving family. Apparently, the show simultaneously is building 2 houses each week. That’s a lot of coordination!

At the very least, I always imagined Paige to be a talented carpenter, slaving away to make the rooms for the children so special. Perhaps, she may be spending more time putting on makeup than hammering any nails! Most everything on the show seemed staged. Certainly, the family’s reaction to seeing their house for the first time was real, but other than that, there was only 1 camera jib (the big crane like tripod) getting all of the shots. They would stage a shot and shoot it nearly a dozen times over. In total, the crowd must have spent nearly 10 minutes shouting move that bus, just so they could get the perfect shot. Not only did many of the spectators express how exhausting this was, but the wait for the family to finally arrive was equally frustrating for many. The big reveal was supposed to happen at around 1 o’clock. However, it wasn’t until nearly 6 o’clock that the family finally arrived.

Despite the dispappointment, it was incredibly inspiring to see the massive turnout of volunteers and the impressive work from Builder’s Commonwealth. They slaved tirelessly around the clock making the house one that is energy efficient, safe, sturdy, and custom fit just for the Huber family. In less than 104 hours a blank slate of land had become a completely finished and furnished living space. It must have only taken 24 hours to finish the entire shell of the house. I left one night to the sight of a demolished home. I returned the next to see a brand new one! It’s hard to even wrap your mind around how much coordination that must take. Many of the pieces of the frame were prefabricated at the shop earlier in the week, but still… it was amazing to see progress in action!

Working in the media, I had several opportunities to get a close up view on the action. It was nice to see the community come together to focus on one single purpose. Businesses that are usually competing were working together. Businesses that are usually selling their product are giving away massive donations. And, folks who probably had a number of other things they could be doing for themselves were tirelessly working for the benefit of strangers. Now, it’s time for the Huber family to do their job… start making new memories and turn their new house into a home!

As an interesting side note, since the family’s return and the completion of the big reveal, security will remain on the property for the next few days as the excitement winds down, and so the Huber family won’t be bothered in their new home as gawkers make their way down Swamp Lake Road.

These summer solstice camps began when Yogi Bhajan brought kundalini yoga to the US from India in 1969. Now people all around the world celebrate the longest day of the year as a time to revitalize, awaken, and join together in solidarity. A gathering in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico has become the largest yoga gathering in the world.

Each year, this gathering focuses on one of the five elements. Last year, they focused on the Earth and new beginnings. This year we focused on Water and the passions of the soul. By 2012, the themes will culminate with Ether: Nat Sam.

What might one do at these yoga camps you might wonder? Well, I was wondering the same thing before going. I’ve done yoga a few times, but never really considered myself somone who “practices”. I went more for the fellowship amongst empowered women and as a part of being open to new happenings and new experiences. Throughout the course of the event, we did yoga 3 times a day, starting at 5:30 in the morning. There was EFT training, mendi art, palm reading, and runes. We chanted, ate some of the best food I’ve ever had, read aloud, relaxed in hammocks, and on the final night danced around the campfire with drums, bells, shakers, and sang, chanted, and howled at the moon. It was a very freeing moment, everyone dressed in festive scarves and flowing skirts, unbridled and freespirited! We tried to do Bhangra dancing to high-energy music under the stars.

It was a wonderful time to spend getting to know new women and making new memories and laughter with my mom! Put on by co-owners of the Blue Zone Studio, Patricia Nolin (Guru Gopal Kaur) and Cheryl NcNulty, the event brings Northland woman together for a very healing and empowering gathering. They plan on doing it annually on the 40 acres of beautiful land in Mahtowa. To attend in the future, contact them through their studio in Duluth.

We found our share of agates, and his dog discovered something else.

What did he find?

This poor little mouse was just laying there in the middle of the gravel field. I love mice. I used to have pet mice (my dad hated them and let them loose on the freeway one day), I used to collect anything that had to do with mice, and my favorite childhood stuffed animal is a mouse, so I felt pretty bad for this little thing. It looks like he just got dehydrated in the middle of the gravel, shriveled up, and died.

The Longest Tour& Most Elaborate: The Haunted Ship- Duluth, MN

We began the night with the Haunted Ship, the William Irving Ship in Duluth. It’s an old ore carrier that now rests in Duluth’s Canal Park. It’s open throughout the year for tours and every October it turns into a haunted house. The lines are always pretty long outside, but once you get in the ship, the entire haunted “tour” lasts about 20+ minutes. There are a lot of people that serve as volunteers every year to help it be such a success… many of whom are local actors. Highlights from the experience include: the crazies in the stainless steel kitchen, the gas chamber, and our “tour guide” that never did leave our side through the entire time waiting in line through to the end… creepy.

By the way, I also got to meet the real “Joe the Plumber”…

Most Creative & Community Oriented: Haunted Warehouse- Superior, WI

We crossed the bridge to the Haunted Warehouse in Superior. This frightful stop is put on each year by Field Logic and it’s free! And, as if that wasn’t enough, they also provide free hot apple cider. It was an enjoyable experience and the folks putting it on were incredibly friendly. Highlights include the man with the chainsaw, the swamp which you have to cross on stepping stones, a jungle with quicksand, and this pitch black maze that goes on forever.

Scariest & Most Disorienting: The Haunted Shack- Morgan Park, MN

This site ranks as one of the top 10 scariest haunted houses in the country. It also claims the ranking of the second scariest haunted house in the state. It was certainly that! Granted, this was the shortest of all the tours and the longest wait in line (about an hour), it was the most worth it. The actors here are relentless, they pop out of corners, stay right up in your face, linger along quietly staring, while others just plain corner you. I was genuinly creeped out when we ended up in one room where the strobe light was flashing, it was pitch black, there were all sorts of big “things” hanging from the ceiling, the room seemed to have no exit, and about 4 actors were cornering my friends and I throughout the room. Summer and I kept running into each other and just screaming. It was very disorienting! Highlights include: the clown room, the narrowing hallway, the wet cloths hanging from the ceiling, and the bold actors.

By the end of the night, we were all laughed out, screamed out, and wiped out! It was a great night for fun, friendship, and celebration of the season.

www.freakshowfoley.com

You go there, dig, and regardless of the value, you get to keep what you find. One man goes there about 3 or 4 times a week and he just unearthed a 4.4 carat big one. They are comparing it to the size of a piece of chiclet gum. While that’s a nice discovery, it’s not the biggest find by far. A 16 carat and even a 40 carat diamond marks the parks past treasures.

So, how do you find these gems, they’re just laying in the dirt. 37-acres of dirt fields line the park. People just walk along, some dig, scrape, some even bring tools to help get the job done. But, as evidenced… they are out there. How big might the next find be? Finders Keepers!

For an all day pass to search, it’s only $6.50 for adults and $3.50 for kids. In this day and age of a cash sucking economy, a cheap day trip for folks around Arkansas may really pay off.

We were buffered a little bit from the wind, so it made things much warmer. There is an old lighthouse down at the end that we tried to find, but had to turn around before we would have ended up walking back in the dark. However, we did get to see the perfect sunrise.

It is really an interesting site. I think it’s just a regular palm tree, but despite growing up in Florida, I never remember these fruits looking like a cluster of eyeballs.

I took my little nephew over to see the tree and pick one to take home, but he just wanted to sit in the grass and be mezmorized.