Paul Bunyan and his babes: Remer, MN 9/20/2009

We had a wonderful evening last night hanging around the campsite and talking with Craig. He has a wonderful gregarious personality and is quite entertaining. Even though we woke up around 7:00 we didn’t pull out of the campsite until at least 10:00 – too much gabbing. (I think with Craig I met my match!) We decided to meet up at Craig’s Minnesota summer home, a drive that took about 6 hours. Ned and I had a blast driving through all the small towns and stopping at all the hokey roadside stands, like the “World”s Biggest Ox Cart”. For me the biggest thrill was arriving in Bemidji and seeing the original Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe. We left the wide open great plains of North Dakota and entered into the mixed woods of Minnesota. As we drove by lake after lake we noticed some of the trees just beginning to change – hints of bright red and yellow. For the first time it really is beginning to look and feel like fall. How exciting! Craig and his wife Julie have a beautiful summer home on Lake Trelipe. Their back deck overlooks the lake where they have a couple of summer boats ready for fishing. We had a special evening getting to know them and being treated to Midwestern hospitality (this included supersize steaks, potato salad, baked beans, fruit salad and apple pie). We’re actually sleeping in a real bed tonight for the first time in over a week. Feels kinda strange to have all this space, especially since Ned and I won’t have to do synchronized turning. Tomorrow – land of cheese heads.