West Nile Virus has to run Rampant!!!

     Yes, we woke to birds chirping and a nice sunrise but what she didn't tell you is that when I opened the door to take the dog out I was ambushed and dive bombed by 30 mosquito's that wanted one thing, SWEET, SWEET, Hamilton BLOOD!!! I have tried Deep Woods off with so much deet that I had a chemical rush for three hours. That kept them off for a whole 20 minutes and then they were back. If its not the mosquito's its the biting fly's.

I have tried large fires, multiple off products for campsites and nothing is keeping them away so we just live with all that blood drain. I am crossing Minnesota off my list even with all the lake side houses for sale at 200k.

     That said, we stopped at this place, I don't even know where, that was a Chucky Cheese disguised as a space dock like in Toy Story. TOURIST TRAP!!! And of course the food was horrible but the kids just had to go in for lunch!

     We drove past this place up the road from Leech Lake and I just had to take a picture for my dad and father in law. The sign says it all and they even have a giant pike you can take a picture in out front, this is a true fisherman's paradise during the summer.

     Laura mentioned the fishing tournament for the kids but I don't think she gave you all a good indication of just how much of a cluster (you know what) this was. Most the kids had fun but when they are all 4 feet apart and throwing treble hooks into the moving water all at different times, well lets just say it was sheer pandemonium and the event staff and parents should be rewarded for not killing other peoples kids for hooking their kid in the crotch. I still cant figure out how this kid hooked Aiden from 30 feet away, it was an amazing feat to say the least, but come on! Parents watch your kids, I was the only one telling my kids to not hook the parent next to them helping their kid untangle for the 35th time. toward the end I just sat back and watched to see if Aiden could get someone hooked. The kid that won it all had a 23 inch Walleye in the first five minutes, I think his parent caught that.

Alan

Mosquito is the state BIRD!

     I awoke to birds singing, a breeze blowing and a gorgeous sunrise, Minnesota and I are in love again! It turns out Minnesota is just a fickle thing, wanting me to show her that I can hang with it before revealing her glory! Temps are normal, sun is shining and the mosquitos are horrible, other than that, we love this place!

 Jacob and I walked Brigeeta down to the water’s edge, watched the geese with their babies swimming around and then made homemade banana muffins for the family IN AN RV OVEN! I don’t know how many of you have attempted to use an RV oven but they are tiny, wicked hard to light and crazy unpredictable. On top of that I HATE to bake so it’s a stinking miracle I am making anything from scratch! And yet, there it is, another thing I am learning to do on this magnificent journey. Adding it to the rapidly growing list… brown water showers, (every FOUR days!) making dinner in 16 square inches of counter space and scrubbing floors with wet wipes.

     First we went to Bemidgi, and saw Paul and Babe the Blue Ox, awesome! This is a picture of his wallet and toothbrush!

 We loved his giant gun and fishing pole too. Bemidgi has an awesome outdoor art community with art on every corner. It’s lovely! Alan offered to take a picture for an older couple, the old man wouldn’t let him touch his camera and the old lady wouldn’t smile. It was American Gothic all over again!

     Then we went to lake Itasca and the headwaters of the Mississippi. It was fantastic! The kids were swimming around and we got to show them how tiny it is here and then they’ll see where it empties out in the spring, very cool!

     We had to get groceries and yet another social/cultural rift appeared when I was literally stopped in my tracks by potato chips in a box. It was so strange to realize that almost all of what I normally buy to fall back on for family meals, is in a different form, different package or different name here. It takes me twice as long to shop for half as much as I used to! As an aside, found lots of pickled herring, but hardly any tortillas! I am not sure many people up here do taco night!Pickled herring night however seems to be a BIG draw! Not sure I can try that one...

     Today the boys participated in the greatest fishing derby EVER! They arrived to register and were given a free life vest, and a huge bag of fishing lures, bait and a nice bait box, headlamps and flashlights! 

It was fantastic! They didn’t get anything in the way of fish but free hot dogs and “pop” so life is good! As you can see from this shot, they tangled their lines within the first 2 minutes, it was a long afternoon.

Most of the people we talked to here were very guarded, but there are those that are not and we get great info from them. Like they don’t close the schools here unless it’s colder than 20 degrees below! Yep, makes Douglas County look downright generous with snow days! (And totally explains the numerous snowmobile crossing signs!)

     The boys have made a few friends and are catching bugs and fish and the occasional leech with them while riding bikes across the park like mad. They are having a fantastic time. Of course they are all “new best friends” and they can’t remember their names.

One more day then off to Wisconsin!