Quiet Waves After The High Tide - End of June 2009

I wasn't vigilant about posting after our family gathering at the lake, so I am going to do my best to share the highlights of the rest of the summer in my next posts.  My last one was on June 18th; this one covers the rest of June.

Aunt Barb had signed on for a two week visit so we had some calmer days after most of the family left. Not having seen many of us for years and not having been around that many of us for decades, she was understandably overwhelmed by our sheer numbers and the associated levels of activity and noise.

Mary Kay & Alan stayed on for a couple of days after everyone else left so we took a field trip - to Dorset, the home of Sisterwolf Books and some great touristy shops; stopped to see the Paul Bunyan statue in Akeley; and went on to Walker for more shopping and dinner at The Boulders.  It's so easy to just stay at the cabin when you come Up North but there are actually some fun & interesting places to see.  Barb had fun reminiscing about her childhood memories at the cabins her parents (my grandparents) had.

The day MK and Alan had to leave we caravaned to Brainerd and stopped to see Lucette, Paul Bunyan's girlfriend, in Hackensack and Babe the Blue Ox at Paul Bunyanland outside of Brainerd.  Alan took a great photo of Barb & Babe that may become her Christmas card photo - so be on the look out for that!

Brother-in-law Mel and his cousin Jay came up for a couple days of fishing and they helped with projects that needed doing. Then on Friday, Barb & I drove to Fargo for Monique's birthday dinner and to pick up Mom.  As we drove back to the cabin, Pete, Tracy and the kids were coming from the city so we had another part of the family there for the week-end.  I'm so glad Pete & family were able to come up to the cabin several times this year.  They feel right at home now - and, as Doug would say, that's a good thing!

Barb asked me to help her find a childhood friend who still lives in MN and thanks to the internet, we were able to locate Vivian in Owatonna and made a plan to visit her the day before Barb had to leave.  So we drove to the city one day and to Owatonna the next day - lots of windshield time but so worth it to see two octogenarians looking at photos of them when they were girls and reminiscing about their lives.  It did my heart good to be reminded that friendships sustain us throughout our lives.  We then went on to Waseca for a tour of Bob & Lana's new home and dinner with the Waseca Whitneys, after which Barb & I went back to Mpls and Mom stayed for the next part of her MN time with Bob & family.

Carol, Judy & I took Barb to Trader Joe's to get snacks for her trip home and some things she discovered she liked while she was here and then I dropped her at the airport for the flight home.  A couple of hours later, I picked up Kay and the next day I picked up Christine - the next set of guests.  Kay & I got to have dinner with friends Pete & Jeanine on Thursday night; on Friday night, Kay, Christine and I got to have Juicy Lucys at Matt's Bar & Grill with Damon, Sarah & Heath; then we headed north on Sat. morning. 

Kay & Christine's week ended up being quite rainy but we managed to have a good time nonetheless.  Plus I got alot of work out of them - the biggest project was extracting a rock near the fire pit that people often tripped on.  Highlights of the week included the Paul Bunyan Days parade in Akeley, visiting the bison ranch near Nevis and the obligatory shopping trip to Walker and meeting Karen & Ellie for a reggae music festival at Chase on the Lake. 

The week went by too fast but it was good to be with good friends to close out the month and to keep me sane as I closed on the sale of part of the land Doug owned in WI.  And then it was July - I'll tell you all about that in my next post!