Paddles and Pedals

September 13-15, 2012

Thursday- Today started out great for my nature spotting!   I grabbed the new binoculars and went down to the lake.   I was hoping to see the eagle in the dead tree.   It was a great surprise to see that there were in fact 2 eagles in the tree!    I ran back home to get Missy, and we watched our new friends, Eagley and Higher Eagley (I’ve adopted the naming conventions of my 3 year old nephew).

We both went for bike rides today.   I went first and brought Cassie with me.  She did pretty good riding beside me, but I might think twice about bringing her on rides because I have to go slow for her.   I was concerned about going fast and making her outright run for too long.   I did check out some of the great cross country ski trails around here.   I wish we could come back here in the winter and go skiing.  I imagine it’s got to be very beautiful.   But for now, the trails were a fun challenge on a bike.   Lots of hidden rocks and ruts.  

At the end of the day, we walked the dogs around the campground and ended up at the picnic table overlooking the lake.   We didn’t see any eagles, but we did get to watch a kingfisher in action.   And we watched a grebe swimming around doing its grebe-y thing.

Friday:  Today was our paddle day.   We spent over an hour doing a shoreline trip of the nearby bay.   Sadly we did not see much in the way of nature; Eagley and Higher Eagley flew a couple of circles high above us, a flock of geese honked its way across the sky, and a giant Newfoundland seemed to want to join us in the water. 

The rest of the day we spent enjoying a campfire and reading.

Saturday:  Today’s weather was glorious!    The last couple of days have been a little chilly.  Mostly cloudy and quite breezy.   But today!   Warm sun and blue skies and light winds.    We took advantage of the great weather and transported our loungers to a secluded landing off a secret trail down the road from us.    It was awesome to be able to soak up the sun and take in the fall colors across the lake.    For the most part it was completely private.   We did get to see some groups of BWCA canoers/campers cross: some heading out and some heading in.   (This campground has a parking lot where you can leave your car and go on overnighters in the Boundary Waters).   We spent the whole day there: only heading back to camp for lunch before going back to our tranquil spot.  Today was one of those days where you really appreciate the benefits of this lifestyle.

Lest you think this day didn’t fit with the blog title, I did take Cassie on a bike ride before sundown.