Monday, July 20

#1 If this small leaf in the parking lot in July is any indication, fall colors up here are fantastic!
#2 One of the many wildflowers that are so prolific up here.
#3 Paul Bunyan, Babe, Jerry, Linda, Gabby & Kudzu
#4 A display of the VERY large personal items Paul Bunyan would need!
#5 At the laundromat - yuck!
#6 A few miles from the headwaters...still not mighty!

Woke up to very cloudy skies and soon it was raining. Kind of put a damper on our plans to rent a boat and head out on the lake today. Tossing over ideas, we decided to take the scenic drive through the park here and we made a couple of stops along the way…one to see the largest white pine in the park and the other to see the record red pine in the state. It was a pretty drive and by the end, it had cleared up so we drove to the boat house to check into rentals, but the lake was rough as it was very windy and with only a 9 horse motor on the power boats, we thought better of getting out on the water. So, we went back to the campsite and gathered the laundry then headed for Bemidji.

After about a 40 mile drive we arrived in Bemidji and headed to see Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox. Feeling much like tourists, we enjoyed the area and took several pictures. Picked up a few post cards and took the dogs to a pavilion on the lakefront while we wrote them. Then Jerry dropped me at a local bookstore while he went on to the Post Office to pick up some stamps.

Had a quick lunch at McDonald’s as it was close to the laundromat. After lunch we did our laundry so now we have a new supply of clean clothes…yea!!! While in McDonalds, the sky clouded up and heavy black clouds moved in. By the time we finished the laundry it was raining again. On the way out of town we stopped at a super Wal Mart and I stocked up on some fresh things and a few other necessities. While I was doing that, Jerry took the truck to get the oil changed.

Then it was back to camp and on the way stopped at a bridge over the Mississippi River - quite a different river at this end!!!

Back at the rv, I fixed dinner of salmon, fresh corn and salad and then we spent the evening watching a move and I took the time to get completely caught up on the blog. We leave tomorrow for Minneapolis tomorrow. Will try to do the boat thing early in the a.m. depending on the weather again