We headed to Mitchell, South Dakota last weekend for the annual Tour de Corn bike ride. Just over 20 dear friends rented a hunting lodge to spend the weekend together hanging out, riding bikes, enjoying the festivities, and eating. So much eating.

We loaded up the car with bikes and gear, and this guy:

Yep, he was in for yet another road trip, and didn’t seem too disappointed. In fact, he really enjoyed the time with new people. He SAGed on Saturday during the bike ride, enjoyed popcorn chicken at lunch, and spent the evening getting scritches from many new friends.

Things get silly at the lodge every year. I am an observer, but many of my friends are quite extroverted, loud, goofy, and fun.

We just sat in the corner and laughed at all their antics:

Mitchell is a windy windy city, with wide open spaces which makes the biking quite difficult. We encounter these 20-30 mph sustained winds every time we go up there. But, rather than grind us down, it makes us help each other out, and appreciate the tailwind when we can. Here’s a bunch of us at 35 miles into a 50 mile ride.

Saturday evening brought so much food. When this group gets together, each person brings enough food for 8 people. The amount of food is always completely astounding. I can’t even begin to tell you how much food was available. And after 50 windy miles by bike, no one felt too guilty about consuming their fill.

Coco Dog had a great time wandering around under the long lodge table looking for scraps and scritches. I’d say we all had a fabulous weekend.

As it turns out, this was our last weekend with the old dog, succumbing to an autoimmune disease, he passed away early Monday morning. So rather than share more crafting pictures, I leave you with a few photos of the soul we are missing so much.

Light on playfulness and heavy on loyalty and companionship, full of goodness and a generous splash of weird. Our home and hearts are emptier without your funny muskrat face.