Minnesota / Michigan Day 3, July 3, 2023

Today was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful.  We all four went out on the kayaks around 10:45 and visited small islands - it was overcast and seemed like it would rain but never did.  We stayed out on the kayaks for a little more than an hour and even stopped at an island to pee.  It kind of reminds me of a prettier Lake DeGray with all the tiny islands.

We fixed sandwiches in the cabin then just hung out for a while – Nick and Ryan napped, Grant was on his phone and I sat on the deck playing games on my ipad and reading a book that I bought last week to take on this trip because it sounded interesting, only to read the first chapter and realize that I’ve read it before and still have no idea what it’s about.  WTH?  It’s called Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

Around 3 or so we drove to International Falls, MN which sits on the Canadian border and snapped pictures in front of Smoky Bear at Smoky Bear Park!  

Self explanatory

(There was a small festival going on and a band was setting up to play).  We walked three blocks to City Drug and got bug spray, anti-itch cream and a couple other things.  Ryan can’t get over the accents of the people.  But everyone is SO friendly.

We drove to the Rainy River Visitor Center (I think there are three in total and we’ve now seen them all) and it was my favorite. 

We drove back to the cabin, finally stopping to take an official picture (officially #53):

Then we baked some frozen pizzas and then I went back out on the kayak, after walking straight through the screen door and totally jacking it up.  I went and circled Echo Island and then Ryan and Grant took kayaks out too.  We all convened in the middle of the lake to watch the sun set 9:15pm! and Nick went for a walk.

9:15pm in the middle of Lake Kabatogama

When we got back to the cabin the kids started a fire and roasted s’mores (and were pissed to learn that the big box of Hershey bars they bought were Special Dark chocolate).  The bugs were so bad that they came back inside pretty quickly. 

Nick, Grant and I showered and Grant looks like he went through the jungles of Nam – he’s so jacked up with bug bites and cuts.

It’s 10:30 and we’re starting Season 1 of Stranger Things for the 3^rd or 4^th time. 

Fun day!