Beautiful hike today around hidden lake at Lake Carlos State Park. We took the Hidden Lake trail from the lower campground, it was very pretty. Kaia has been brushing up on her mushroom identification skills and had tons of interesting species to identify on our walk. Maren alternated between delighted to be along, and stubborn almost three-year-old. It’s going to be a challenging year for Mom and Dad with that one!

Back at camp we tried to get Maren to nap a bit, but that proved fruitless so we decided to head into town to the Runestone museum. This is in the same building as it was years ago when Grandma Miller brought me. The original Runestone is still on display there. Of course the scientific and linguistic analysis of the stone have progressed a lot since the 1970’s! It seems that most of the modern research supports the authenticity of the stone today. That makes me happy as that is what my intuition has always been.

The museum contains quite a few interesting historical exhibits about pioneer life in the Alexandria including a one room schoolhouse that reminded me of the one Grandma Miller taught in. There is also a 3/4 scale Viking ship. As we were leaving through the gift shop, we saw a replica of the stone, and so of course I had to get one for my desk. The lady working in the gift shop was quite enthusiastic when I told her the story of Runestone Academy.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped at the camp store to get some wood. When I entered I said hello to the guy working the counter, he greeted me back and then immediately said 3 bundles of wood? I did a double take and said yes, three bundles unless you have a special on 4 (nope). How did you know I wanted three? Apparently I look like a 3 bundle guy, and this is a little game they play when they see people stopping! LOL everyone has to have a way to stay entertained.

Once the fire was going I got out my guitar and we all sang some camp songs. Starting with twinkle twinkle and ending with American Pie. It was quite a broad audience.

Dinner was especially delicious. We had some left over brisket that I had smoked earlier this summer, so we cut that thin, put it on a hoagie bun with some provolone cheese, wrapped them in foil and cooked them over the flames. Soooo good!

The kids didn’t last too long after dinner, so Jane and I enjoyed the campfire and the sunset until the fire burned down and the chill in the air started to outpace the warmth of the embers. Tomorrow we’ll have a quick breakfast with everyone and be on our way to Medora ND and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.