A Day at the Beach and Other Adventuring

The picture of our Stuffed Zucchini almost does it justice. With a hint of lemon and clove, the combination of textures and flavors made this a Mediterranean themed delight! A little putzy to make, but a great, healthy meal.










We got up early Thursday and Peggy had a great idea. Spend the day on the north shore of Mille Lacs, picnic and see where we ended up. Nice Summer plan!

We had seen this area while cruising around Mille Lacs on the Kingpin. It was busy that day with swimmers and boaters but was deserted this day, we had it just about all to ourselves.




Peggy packed food, blankets, towels and other picnicky things, we grabbed the dogs, (actually just asked them quietly if they wanted to come with and they flew into the car), and headed east to the lake.

Before we got to the beach area we decided to head north into the State Forest area and take in some scenery. Not really a recreational area, a few miles of gravel roads, a few great views, and we were ready to walk in the sand with Scooter and Charlie.


Breezy and bright weather, we leashed the dogs in their harness' and headed east along the sand... the sound of the waves, water spraying and the sunshine was awesome.

We had some great dried Italian salami from Duluth, good crackers, marinaded cucumbers and other little treats after our long walk. It had been a while since we just relaxed on a blanket on a beach!

Another family came to swim and parked about 1/4 mile away, we were amazed how far they walked out into the lake on a sandbar, swimming when they slipped off... must have been a good half-mile into the lake.

We drove to Aitkin for coffee and hanging out with their "Riverboat Days" celebration and stopped for supper at a fantastic little restaurant... more on that later, it was featured in Minnesota Monthly magazine!

On Friday, after Peggy got home from work, we headed to the Crow Wing County Fair... we had a huge gyro sandwich for supper, jalapeno cheese curds, good refreshments and fun as we walked around looking at the familiar displays.
Peggy enjoys the Rabbits on display as she used to raise them with her daughters for 4-H. The French Lops were huge and I am appreciating all the varieties... really cute.

Saturday, after a busy morning putzing and catching up on some household stuff, we thought we should bicycle north.

We biked through town this time, as the town was not busy at all because of the Fair and other things going on. Getting on the Paul Bunyan Trail right at the start, we went through a the tunnel under old 371, on the new high bike bridge over the busy road, and then onto the smooth trail into the woods.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this huge owl
perched low on the fallen tree. I tried to be quiet as I called for Peggy to stop, turn around and we would slowly bike back passed the owl.... It sat there staring at us with it's huge eyes as I clumsily tried to get the camera ready... It stayed still until I snapped the picture, flying silently back into the brush. It was about 18 inches tall we guess, brown and gray, with the big eyes and eye rings... a truly amazing sight!

We continued north to Merrifield, the SA being our goal for a refreshment stop. A cool breeze made the ride comfortable even though it was very warm and humid.. I stopped to lower my
seat a tiny bit... I replaced my stock saddle with a more cushioned custom seat... amazing what a fraction of an inch will do for overall comfort.

Getting to Merrifield, we made a potty stop and had something to drink before pedaling home as the Sun slowly went down.

There was a beautiful variety of wild flowers along the trail and wild plums popping out in the brush. We were talking as we rode about the deer, and how they should soon come out in the dusk, and 3 beautiful small whitetails were standing to our left as we went by...
About 1/2 mile further and a huge buck with a nice fuzzy rack was leaping from our right to go over the trail, saw us and jumped back into the woods.

Big pink and yellow daisy-like flowers were blossoming along this stretch as we approached Brainerd from the north. A very good 22 mile ride.

We saw clouds rolling in, heard some distant thunder and felt a cooler wind come just as we got home and it began to rain as we put the bicycles in the garage.... perfect timing! The lightning later Saturday night to the south was the most amazing display I've ever seen... constant flashes and bolts across the sky... great sleeping weather, the storms all went around Brainerd, this time.

Great Church service Sunday morning, a little shopping and running around, grilled hot-dogs for a simple supper, and a good movie made a great relaxing end to our adventurous week and weekend.... oh yeah!

We are making wonderful, romantic plans..... our Lives and Love continue to be blessed and amazing!

Peace!