Along the Root River near Lanesboro.

When I got engaged to my soon-to-be-hubby Andrew, the advice his dad gave us was, “Go on dates. Don’t get caught up in the craziness of wedding planning and let it consume you. Keep having fun together!” He didn’t have to tell us twice.

It may be the case that we went on too many dates and didn’t get much of a jump start on our plans (insert anxious parental figures here), but it’s been a fun ride!

In my everyday life, I’m a planner. I love to make lists and plan ahead and keep everything super-organized. But, throw me into a vacation situation and I’m kind of the opposite. I believe in a great balance of relaxing and action, and having room in your plans for doing just what you feel like. If you can’t do what you feel like because you have too many plans, where’s the fun in that?

On our summer weekends, we’ve found ourselves adventuring to different destinations in Minnesota. This past weekend, Andrew and I voyaged to Lanesboro, Minnesota, simply because we had seen it featured in Little Minnesota and it caught our eye.

No plans intact, we drove there on a Saturday morning, and found ourselves tubing down the Root River (it was freezing!) and biking on the state trail. We got a bite to eat at Riverside on the Root, window-shopped and spontaneously found ourselves a campsite — thanking our lucky stars in the process since they were almost all filled. If you would ask my advice, it’s to take these little journeys in your life. Don’t plan them out; let them happen. After all, the best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn’t even think to ask.

Here are some of the photos from our little getaway: