Moose Lake Camping Weekend!
Moose Lake is up in fairly far northern Minnesota, not far from Lake Superior - and hence, a prime agate hunting location! It was also five-and-a-half hours away from home, which turned into seven or so before I actually got there because it was hot outside and my car does not do well with heat (-20 degrees and 12 inches of snow on the ground, no problem! But as soon as we get several days with temps above 90, he is not a happy automobile), so I was stopping every hundred miles or so to let his engine cool off for a bit before continuing. I did finally make it to the camp site around 7:30 pm, however (after leaving at 10 am, though I spent a half hour or so in Marshfield visiting my grandmother in the hospital - she broke her leg and isn't doing as well as we hoped with the recovery - and an additional hour and a half at my parents place due to aforementioned unhappy car issues), so there was still a bit of daylight to enjoy before we got the fire started and the pudgy pies cooking. :)
Sadly, we didn't actually get to officially go agate hunting at all due to an extremely sub-par map of where we were supposed to go for the best chances of finding the goods, but we did manage to check out a flea market and visit one of the little gift shops in the area that all had local agates of various size and shine either for sale or on display. The camp grounds also had a room full of them, along with a bunch on the local history, so I still kind of sort of got my rock fix that way. And I did come home with one small agate that I found randomly walking on one of the trails we hiked, so that was nice. I think I also ate more in those two days we were camping than I usually do in your average week. Any weight I lost with all my walking these last few weeks has probably returned, but man, so worth it. ;)
I finally got to go swimming this year, too, after being cheated last year at St. Croix Falls due to massive flooding. Of course, this also meant that I also got my first sunburn in like three years (I forgot to reapply because I was so distracted digging for rocks on the bottom of the lake. Yes, I am that nerdy), but such is life and bonus, I now also have the first actual tan I've had in three years, too! :D
After camping I was also able to head up to Duluth/Superior to visit my brother Gus and soon to be sister-in-law, Kat. We chatted and caught up for a few hours before Kat's parents arrived and we all went to do a little hiking at Pattison Park, where I took way too many pictures of the Big Manitou and Little Manitou waterfalls, followed by a very nice dinner at Grizzly's Steak House. I headed out around 6:30ish, and five-and-a-half hours later I made it back home. Man was my butt sore by the time I arrived, but if I had to spend over five hours in a car, it was a pretty damned fine night for a drive. Almost full moon and a nice cool breeze after a week of stuffy heat. All in all, I gotta say it was a pretty great weekend!
Sadly, we didn't actually get to officially go agate hunting at all due to an extremely sub-par map of where we were supposed to go for the best chances of finding the goods, but we did manage to check out a flea market and visit one of the little gift shops in the area that all had local agates of various size and shine either for sale or on display. The camp grounds also had a room full of them, along with a bunch on the local history, so I still kind of sort of got my rock fix that way. And I did come home with one small agate that I found randomly walking on one of the trails we hiked, so that was nice. I think I also ate more in those two days we were camping than I usually do in your average week. Any weight I lost with all my walking these last few weeks has probably returned, but man, so worth it. ;)
I finally got to go swimming this year, too, after being cheated last year at St. Croix Falls due to massive flooding. Of course, this also meant that I also got my first sunburn in like three years (I forgot to reapply because I was so distracted digging for rocks on the bottom of the lake. Yes, I am that nerdy), but such is life and bonus, I now also have the first actual tan I've had in three years, too! :D
After camping I was also able to head up to Duluth/Superior to visit my brother Gus and soon to be sister-in-law, Kat. We chatted and caught up for a few hours before Kat's parents arrived and we all went to do a little hiking at Pattison Park, where I took way too many pictures of the Big Manitou and Little Manitou waterfalls, followed by a very nice dinner at Grizzly's Steak House. I headed out around 6:30ish, and five-and-a-half hours later I made it back home. Man was my butt sore by the time I arrived, but if I had to spend over five hours in a car, it was a pretty damned fine night for a drive. Almost full moon and a nice cool breeze after a week of stuffy heat. All in all, I gotta say it was a pretty great weekend!