Yes, we are back, back in MPLS. We packed up the car, and drove down lake Superior last Sunday afternoon. We made a pit stop at Target for some back to work clothes, and arrived at Nick and Shannon's (our temporary home). I (Will) started my internship this week at North Central University. I've already put in my hours for the week, and it's been exciting so far. I've met a lot of new faces, learned about many new forms, interacted a lot with the leadership students, and spent a bit of time watching videos about Dx/Tx, etc. (counseling terms). Kirsten has been searching for an apartment and a doggie. No luck yet, in either of those departments, but I think we are getting warmer. Next up for me is finding a new job. The school I worked at last year cut back it's hours so I'm back in job hunt mode. So if you got any leads, send 'em my way...
So we might be a bit busy for the next few weeks getting settled, just in time for....the craziness of the school year. Good thing we had a relaxing summer. Oh well. Anyway, if we don't have a chance to catch up with you soon it's because, well, we are living out of our car :) Hopefully soon.
And I was serious about the job leads...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Brule
Big, bad Brule lived up to the hype. Brule is a large lake that is south of us, and it has many permits due its size. Since we are one of the closer outfitters to town, a lot of people heading to Brule go through us. While Brule isn’t any closer to town than our lodge, geographically, it is hard to get to from the Trail. We had to drive most of the way back to town before heading west again. Birds find it much more accessible from Clearwater.
Anyway, due to the distance we threw the canoe on the car, a royalex this time (heavier, but not as bad as a ‘lightweight’ aluminum). Once we got to Brule we loaded up the canoe quickly as it was already getting into early evening. Of course I navigated us the wrong way off of the boat ramp but we quickly recovered to find a good site near the portage on the northern side of the lake. Since it has many campsites easily within range of the public access it can make for a very leisurely trip. The campsite next to us decided that a boom box was a good idea for this short paddle. Not really no (noise) trace camping.
Our site provided excellent sunsets, since there was a just enough cloud cover (and no rain!). On the second night, as we climbed down to the lakeside rocks for a better view, we saw to swimmers in the water: beavers. While our last encounter with beavers was frustrating to say the least, these two were trying to get across the lake unnoticed. The first beaver encounter of the summer, way back in early June, was an audio experience only as it smacked its tail on the water just beyond our sight. This time we made a bunch of noise so that the beavers would hear us. As the younger one continued on to the island of our shore, the mom circled back for a show. It swam back and forth smacking its tail until the little one called its mom back to its side.
Beavers weren’t our only wildlife treats for the weekend. As we were making breakfast in the morning a family of ducks quacked their way past our site. Then as we set out on our day trip around Cone bay we circled the islands and say two bald eagles fishing. As we got close they just stared back before flying off just over our heads. We also saw a nearly all black loon. It was fishing just in front of us and it popped up just in front of us.
Brule is also a lake of many islands (rumor has it 64 in all). It is also close to Eagle Mountain, the highest point in MN, at a whopping 701 meters above sea level (you do the conversion). This means that the islands on the lake jut out of the water quickly, making them taller than most of the other flat islands on other BWCA lakes. As we left Cone bay, we made our way through the middle of the lake and weaved our way through the many rocky islands. Brule, being a larger lake, regularly has choppy waters, which are not ideal for canoeing. But we’ve formed quite the tandem as canoers this summer. So white caps don’t phase us as they would have earlier in the year. The gusts of wind pushed us back home for another lovely sunset.
Fish Pic
Kirsten and I are dabblers. That is, we don’t focus all of our time on one type of activity. This summer, while we are in the heart of the BWCA, we haven’t solely done canoe trips this summer. We’ve been more on the every other week plan. Why shun the gorgeous BWCA? For the north shore (of Lake Superior) of course!
Last Wednesday we were able to combine our love of the north shore with our love of small town summer fests. The Fisherman’s Picnic is the biggest shindig in Cook County, and it’s on the lovely waterfront of Grand Marais. How could we pass it up? We grabbed a tent site in the municipal camp grounds, and watched the town transform. Since we showed up a night before the festivities began, we saw all the merchants setting up shop beforehand. Most impressive was the log rolling pool, with world champion and local resident Jenny. But the real show that night came from the top of the Gunflint Tavern. They have a sorely underused rooftop that overlooks the harbor. Shortly after we headed up on another clear night, a tall ship passed the lighthouse (btw, great use of adjectives to whomever named those vessels). It was headed to Duluth for its weekend festival, and suddenly we had the best seats in the house/town/county/state (I’d argue).
The next day by the time we got going the Fish Pic (as the locals call it) was in full swing. Kids swarming the log rolling pool, fish burgers on the grill, terrible 80s rock band tee-shirts being hawked, the smells of mini doughnuts and cheese curds ever present, local musicians strumming on stage, and of course, Kirsten’s favorite, sidewalk sales! The weather these last few weeks has been perfect (especially on our days off!), and the sun and tourists were out. We ended up spending most of the day munching and people watching (another O’Brien favorite, right behind Loon stalking).
That night we found a good fish spot, the Dockside Fish Market. Great spot. Better prices than the Angry Trout next door, nice deck seating with a view, excellent fare, and of course their wine with a Salmon on the label is from the WA. After sampling some of local fish, we headed up the hill to do some more Minnesotan culture sampling at the local musical production, How to Talk Minnesotan. While cute and definitely capturing the state’s cliché stereotypes, the accents were off and many lines were flubbed. I’d recommend the book instead. We cut out at intermission for our next stop of Grand Marais Idol on the waterfront. Basically a karaoke contest of cute kids, though there were some impressive a capella performances and one funny Timon and Pumba Hakuna Matata sing along.
The next morning we rolled out of the tent to grab another tasty breakfast at Blue Water with Kirsten’s Dad’s seminary buddy Terry, and his son Patrick before they headed out for a BWCA trip. Since we got an early start we got to see that Superior was calm on another lovely day. Thus we headed up to Bear Track Outfitters for a tandem kayak to check off another summer goal, kayaking on the big lake. Thankfully it was flat most of the day, and we got to cruise the shoreline before it got too choppy for our small craft.
We ended our Fish Pic trip on a high note, Sydney’s Custard (and Gyros) stand. One of two roof top seating venues in town, and it’s custard Sydnamis are top notch. Hands down beats the sad DQ in town. Hope you can end one of your Northshore/BWCA trips at Syd’s too.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Fish Pic Pix
Here are some pix from our latest weekend in Cook County. Commentary to follow.
http://picasaweb.google.com/willo11/FishPicA new sporting dilemma
Just got back in from a trip, and now have a new (sporting/moral) dilemma.
Let me back up. I've always rooted for two cities, and a third sometimes. Minnesota teams, mainly the Twins, were my first love. My mom's love of her home state teams rubbed off. Then as the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics (R.I.P.) became relevant I grew into a hometown, Seattle Sports lover. Dad was a bit of a Phoenix fan deep down, so there was a third, occasional love.
Now that I live in MN, it's much easier to follow the Twinkies and Vikes, but I still have a lot of Mariner Memories. So when I found out that Griffey got traded to a central division rival of my new home, I was torn. Would I love to see Griffey get a ring before his career ends? Or should I be rooting on my transplanted home-town team?
Or maybe the biggest question is.... 17? Griffey what gives?
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