Mille Lacs - a photo essay (Subtitled: My 1,000th post!!!)

Assembling Jake's new fishing pole:

I can't count how many times I've sat in that very same spot where Jake and Hannah are fishing in these photos:


Picking blueberries. Grandma B will be so proud:


My family on the dock where I spent so many hours of my childhood. I love seeing them there:

Playing at Roger's house on Round Lake:

Feeding the ducks at Roger's:

Learning how to knit from Aunt Lin:

The big fish in Garrison, MN. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of me in front of this fish:

Jake at the lake:

Hannah at the lake:

And in conclusion...

Our trip is finally over. Well, over except for the two long days of driving ahead of us. The vacation part is over.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with Lin. Lincoln and the kids went out to play Frisbee in the yard while Lin and I sat with a bottle of wine in front of the fireplace in the library and talked for a few hours. We had so much fun up at the lake and I really wish we had more time to spend up there but we'll just have to schedule another trip back there sometime soon.

This morning we got up and got on the road about 8 a.m. We were headed back to Decorah to experience a little bit of Nordic Fest which we haven't been back for in a couple of years. Three years to be exact. The whole second part of our trip down from Mille Lacs to Decorah was spent following behind a massive summer storm. Cresco, IA was hit with some of the worst weather and there were lots of trees down, a boat that blew into the street, and a number of silos taken down. According to my parents who drove through Cresco later in the afternoon on their way to Ridgeway the corn was pretty much flattened as well. Not pretty.

Luckily we managed to avoid the storm altogether although we could see if off in the distance while we were driving. The clouds were very black and lightening was constantly going off in the distance. Right before we got to Decorah the skies opened up and it was pouring rain but luckily we didn't get any of the high winds or hail that had been predicted. When we finally reached Decorah it had stopped raining and cleared up slightly which was good because otherwise we would have skipped stopping in Decorah this afternoon and would have headed right out to Ridgeway.

Once in Decorah we stopped at the Chick Hatchery for the kids to play with the baby chicks. I love going in and playing with the little chicks....they are so dang cute and soft. Afterwards we walked down the street a ways and the kids rode on Pokey Pete, a little train that runs during Nordic Fest that I rode on when I was a kid. I did some shopping and decided to fill up the hole left behind by Hannah with all sorts of stuff we probably don't need but that I really liked. Every time I came out of a store Lincoln would have to go back to put the stuff in the car because it was either too bulky, too heavy, or too awkward to carry. When I came out of one store with empty hands his chin literally dropped to the curb. After a quick, and very messy, stop at the Whippy Dip we headed out to Bob and Lorraine's for dinner. Bob and Lorraine are actually my Dad's aunt and uncle and are my godparents. They live about 15 minutes out of town and I love going to visit them.

Aunt Lorraine is what I call a "typical old-school Iowa farm wife". They don't actually live on a farm but I'm pretty sure she was probably raised on one. If you stop by her house unannounced she'll have a full spread of ham, potato salad, corn, and God knows what else on the table within minutes. When she's given notice you should really see what she can do. Tonight we had a lovely dinner with them that included us, my parents, Uncle John and Aunt Sandy, their son Greg, and their son Rod and his wife Lori and their daughter Leigh. It wasn't the entire family on their side but it was great seeing those that were able to make it. While dinner was being prepped the skies opened up again and it poured rain but it didn't last too long. After dinner the sun came out and I finished up getting all of Hannah's stuff together and transferred over to Mom and Dad. Hannah is now in their care for the next three weeks. She'll spend another week with them in Iowa before heading back to Seattle for two weeks and then back to Boston on August 15th. I'm holding up pretty well but Jake has already expressed how much he misses her. It should be an interesting three weeks.

Right now we're headed over to Madison to crash at Rachel's for the night before beginning the long journey home to Massachusetts. It has been a crazy drive through a very eerie twilight. Off to our right, and occasionally in front of us, we see dark skies and bursts of lightening flashes. Behind us and over our left shoulders you can see a beautiful sunset. The combination of the two make for a very interesting sky over us right now. Luckily we're still avoiding the major storms moving through the area and it should stay south of Madison for the night so I think we'll be okay.

As I wrap up this posting on the latest part of our journey I'll leave you with this little tidbit from Jakey:

Jake: How come Hannah gets to stay?

Me: Because she's eight.

Jake: She's not eight. She's seven.

He got me there. She technically won't be eight until August 18th. Damn this kid is getting too smart for his own good.

Day 1,578 of our trip

In some ways it seems like we have been on vacation for a really long time. We left last Thursday on our drive to the Midwest and here it is a week later and we still won't be home for a couple more days. The trip has been very successful so far. The kids have been fantastic and for the most part the weather has been nice. Some days have been cloudy or chilly but at least we haven't really had much rain except when we were driving.

Yesterday morning we packed up the car again and headed out of Decorah to go up to the lake. My Aunt Lin and Uncle Jim have a house on Lake Mille Lacs and we're up here for a few days to visit. When I was a little girl Jim let Grandma and Grandpa live up here so to me this always used to be Grandma and Grandpa's house. There was a small house that they lived in and a trailer that Jim used when he came up to fish. The long term plan for this property was always for their retirement. Over the last year and a half or so they've built their dream house up here and let me tell you....the place is GORGEOUS! There is a library with twelve foot ceilings with bookshelves all the way up. They have one of those sliding ladders that go around the room so that you can reach the books on the higher shelves. There is also a beautiful fireplace, two soft chairs to sit in, and a view of the lake. The kitchen is state of the art, of course, (my uncle is a fantastic cook) and there is even a setting on his custom made stove that allows you to put a chocolate chip cookie on a paper plate on top of the burner and it will not burn the plate but will melt the chocolate chips in the cookie. I'm going to have to try that out later after we go to the store. The rest of the house is equally gorgeous and there are views of the lake from most of the rooms. There is a bathtub in the master suite that I'm not quite sure Jake could touch the bottom in....it's that big.

Being up here, despite the old house and trailer being gone, brings back a lot of memories. I loved visiting Grandma and Grandpa here. They have a horseshoe driveway that I spent hours and hours and hours riding Grandma's bike on when I was a little girl. Yesterday I watched my kids riding their bikes on the same driveway. I also spent hours down on the dock fishing and playing and we did the same thing with the kids yesterday. When I was a little girl Grandpa would send me down to the end of the dock with a long stick, some string, and a fish hook at the end. Needless to say I never caught anything. Jake and Hannah got to fish off the end of the dock yesterday but they definitely had an upgraded pole. Lincoln bought them a simple rod and reel down in Garrison yesterday and the kids loved it. Of course he should have probably bought two since now they fight over who gets to go fishing. Jake was determined he was going to catch us a fish for breakfast but thank God he didn't. I hate fish and I actually think it stems back to my childhood visits here watching Grandpa and Uncle Jim cleaning fish out on a table in the backyard.

The drive up yesterday was fairly uneventful. The kids did good although you can tell they're starting to get restless every time we buckle in for another long haul. It makes me a little worried for our return trip to Massachusetts with Jake.

Even though it seems like we've been on vacation for a long time it also seems like the time has gone by too fast. Today is my last full day with Hannah before we hand her off to Grandma Dena and Grandpa Dan for three weeks. I'm doing my best not to make a scene in front of her because I want her to continue to look at this as an adventure and not a sad situation.

Luckily the sun is coming out and it looks like we're going to have a nice day today. I'm sure the kids will want to spend some time on the lake fishing but we're also going to head into Garrison today to do some souvenir shopping and maybe head over to Brainerd, MN to visit Paul Bunyan Land. We'll also have to take some pictures with the infamous big fish in Garrison. I'll make sure to post those later. Tomorrow we head back down to Decorah for one day of Nordic Fest and dinner at my Uncle Bob's and Aunt Lorraine's house before handing off Hannah and heading back to Madison for the night.

As for right now it's time to get the kids dressed. Hannah is headed out back with Aunt Lin to pick blueberries from the garden and Jake wants to go fishing again with Daddy. What a life.