Summer continues in God’s Country – Grand Portage,
Minnesota. Sunshine and warm temperatures abound, with occasional showers
during the week…perfect! The summer wild flowers are fading, but the road-sides
are loaded with goldenrod, purple asters, black-eyed susans and clover. The wild blueberries are
at their peak, as are wild raspberries and thimbleberries. Folks look forward
to spending their days in the wild, picking to their hearts’ content.
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| Goldenrod |
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| Wild Asters |
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| Black-eyed Susans |
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| Purple clover |
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| Wild blueberries |
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| Wild raspberries |
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| Thimbleberries |
It’s Monday, the PowWow and Rendezvous weekend is over, and
it’s time to bid farewell to friends Jody and Eric from the Leech Lake area of
Minnesota. As you remember from last week’s blog, we met Jody and Eric last
year when they came to dance at the Powwow.
They’re such treasures. We look forward to seeing them again next year.
After a day of errands in Grand Marais, we join friends from
Iowa, Bob and Char, whom we met last year, for dinner at the Grand Portage
Lodge. Good friends, good food and good conversation—what more could one ask
for?
Tuesday morning brought more sunshine and temperatures in
the low 70s. When Dick went to the Lodge to pick up the newspaper (one of our
only ties to the outside world, since we don’t have cell coverage, TV or
internet in the park…ha!) he saw a live bear trap containing a large black bear
in the Lodge parking lot. Don’t know where the bear was trapped, as the one in
the RV park is still empty.
We rode bicycles around the park in the morning, followed by
lunch at the Grand Portage Community Center. We have lunch there a couple times
per week, to catch up on what’s what around here. We've met some wonderful
people there, many who know or remember my family from years ago. As we were
talking with RV park neighbors that afternoon, our neighbor Al from Rochester,
Minnesota presented us with sweet corn, fresh from farmland in Iowa that he had
picked up over the weekend when he was at a high school reunion. Yum! That
evening we joined friends Ron and Kathryn for another fun-filled evening of
Pegs and Jokers: women rule!!! Women won 3:0!!! So, after two days the final
tally was men: 2, women 4. Whoohoo!!!
Friends Bob and Char bade farewell to Grand Portage on
Wednesday morning, as they headed to Duluth for a few days. We had planned to
drive to Thunder Bay, Ontario for the day, but neighbors Todd and Candy—and
their Cavalier Spaniel Charles—from Silver Bay asked us to go out on Lake Superior
with them in their 18 ½’ Lund fishing boat to do some fishing, hoping to catch
their limit of lake trout and salmon. Unfortunately, they caught only two lake
trout, but what a beautiful day. We couldn't complain.
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| Friends Todd and Candy |
The temperatures were in the mid-70s when we left the
marina. Lake Superior was quite calm as we headed out past Pete’s Island, beyond
the Susie Islands, and around Pigeon Point heading towards the mouth of the
Pigeon River, which divides the United States and Canada.
We found a place
called ‘Hole in the Wall’, a small cove virtually hidden unless you know where
it is. In the cove is a small, very old and rustic cabin, built by residents of
an old settlement, which once existed at the mouth of the Pigeon River years
and years ago, to aid fishermen who may have gotten caught in bad weather.
(Lake Superior is not a body of water to mess with. When signs are there for turbulent
weather, get off the lake!)
Log books in the cabin indicate that folks have been stopping there for almost
100 years!
While stopped at Hole in the Wall, Charlie went for a swim,
retrieving sticks Candy threw for him. He loves the water, and one would never
know that up until just three years ago he was a city dog from Minneapolis,
never swimming in a body of water. According to Todd and Candy, it didn’t take
Charlie long to adapt to their life of fishing, hunting and camping after
acquiring him from a family member. Now, they can hardly keep Charlie out of
water!
The calm lake on our outbound trip was replaced by 2 to 2 ½’
waves on the return trip. Charlie didn’t much like the rough ride home, so
wrapped in a blanket he hunkered down in my lap becoming my lap buddy for life!
He’s so cool.
Friends Ron and Kathryn leave Grand Portage on Thursday,
heading to Grand Marais for a couple of weeks. It was hard to see them go, but
we plan to get together during one of our trips to town, so it wasn’t too terribly
sad. And, we may see them in Texas some time during the winter months.
Friends of Todd and Candy (Kassie, Sean and their 8-year-old
son Kyle) arrived from Silver Bay for the weekend. That evening, Todd and Candy
hosted a “fish boil” dinner for 9 of us neighbors, complete with shrimp,
salmon, lake trout, potatoes, onions, garlic and corn–on-the-cob. The hors
d’oeuvres were shrimp wrapped in bacon, with jalapenos and cheese, then grilled
until the bacon was crispy. Did I say “YUM”??? I brought home-made brownies and
vanilla ice cream, and crusty bread and butter, which were a big hit. The
weather was perfect—about 70 degrees and sunny until about 8 p.m. when the
party ended. Perfect.
Friday we said “so long” to Bob from Florida, a 75+ year old
friend who lives full-time in his camper van, a Roadtek 190. He spends about a
month here in Grand Portage in the summer, meandering to South Florida for the
winter, then back here. He’s full of stories, and loves to share them, all the while
sucking on his pipe. Quite a character and we sure enjoy his friendship.
We woke to beautiful sunshine and warm temps on Saturday.
Good day to ride our bikes around the park, but it was really windy, which prohibited us from making as many trips around
the park as we wanted to. Candy’s daughter, Natalie, and her husband, Jerry,
arrive from Silver Bay, with the plan to go fishing—which they did (with Todd,
Candy, Kassie, Sean and Kyle). The lake was boasting 2’ to 3’ waves with heavy
winds, so they opted to fish the Pigeon River instead. Kyle catches the big
one: a 3# bass—he was so proud! I was hoping to post a photo of Kyle with his fish, but I haven't received it from his mom yet, so maybe next week.
The sun rose big and bright red on Sunday morning, with
clouds and pink skies. Rumors have it that it’s supposed to rain “sometime”
today, and from the look of the sun and sky, it could happen.
“Red skies at night, sailor’s
delight. Red skies in morning, sailors take warning.”
Todd and Candy, their friends and family, all packed up to
leave today. Sad. The park will be so empty without them. We said our goodbyes
before we left for Grand Marais to attend church.
After church we had dinner with my aunts Bernice and Fern,
and uncles Kenny and Erland: roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans
and salad, followed by rhubarb and wild blueberry cake with whipped cream. YUM!
One never goes hungry in my family! Temps were in the mid-70s by mid- afternoon
so it turned out to be a very pleasant day.
By the time we had returned to the park, Todd and Candy, et
all had left. (We all hate when work gets in the way of fun!) We hope to see
them for at least two weeks next
year, and will stay in contact with them.
We hope this finds you well, and being blessed daily. Please
stay in touch; we’d love to hear from you!
Dick and Gail
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