Minnesota

Suprise!!! We're back! Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and we have been unable to access the internet for several days in the Northern reaches of Minnesota. Thanks to the hospitality of Mike and Becky Stanchfield, we are back to the blog, but since I'm using their machine it may be a little tricky sharing pictures with you this time. The drive through North Dakota was long and uneventful save for the side-trip we took through the Teddy Roosevelt National Park. The badlands are as stark and beautiful as I remembered and we had a chance to watch some wild horses along the way.

We spent two wonderful days with my aunt Bernice in Willmar MN, and visited with my cousins Ruth and Muriel. Sadly, Muriel's mom, my aunt Lilly, passed away a couple of weeks before we arrived. We also got to meet Bernice's "beau friend" Roy. They were getting ready to celebrate his 99th birthday!!

From Willmar we headed North to Duluth to the home of Don and Leona Larson, our son-in law Rolf''s parents. They were wonderful hosts and took us on a delightful tour of the near North shore of Lake Superior. We enjoyed seeing pictures of Rolf's childhood.

One of my goals for this trip was to introduce Sandra to the North Shore and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. So our next stop was at the Cliff Dweller Motel in Tofte, MN, just a few miles south of the Gunflint Trail. Our room overlooked a very angry-looking Lake Superior as the wind whipped white-caps that crashed on the rocks just beneath our window. A phone message was waiting, when we checked in, from Fred McGee, a collegue and friend from CT who is volunteering with the National Forest Service for the summer. Turns out he was stationed just down the road, and the the next day and a half we explored the north woods together. We drove the entire Gunflint Trail (65 miles of wilderness road, stopping at the Gunflint Lodge for a terrific lunch of Walleye Pike. The Gunflint was where my parents honeymooned many years ago, and where Fred and I launched a week of canoeing in 1999. Great memories.

Tomorrow we head for Lake Geneva, Wisc. for a visit with my cousin Mark, and then it is time to head home. Look for a final post in about a week when we will have had time to digest what we have seen!

David