A Reputable Journal

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.

It has been two years since our last big camping trip! So we are feeling a little rusty with our skills, and I’m feeling a little nervous about taking off just as classes are getting underway. Thankfully I bought a StarLink Mini to take along on our journey in case some emergency arises and I really need good connectivity!

We pulled out of Bone Lake at 8:00 and were on our way. Less than an hour into our trip we got a notification from the security system that motion was detected in the great room! Soon the cell phone rang with a call from them as well. The cameras didn’t show any sign of activity. A bat? Not in broad daylight, surely it was some kind of false alarm.

The wind was really blowing out of the Northwest, so we started our trip getting about 7 miles per gallon! The plan was to get to Alexandria and join our friends Kat and Loren for some golf! But with the temps only in the low 50’s and the wind gusting to 30 mph we decided to go bowling instead. We got our camper situated at Lake Carlos State Park and then headed into town for some lunch.

After bowling, my best was a 126, if you must know. We decided to try Axe throwing. Not real axes, and well the game didn’t seem to keep score very accurately so that was kind of a bust. From there we went to check out 22 Northmen brewery and Carlos Creek Winery. Kat had secretly ordered some pizza and pretzels for us, so that took care of dinner!

The finale to the day was lighting a campfire and waiting for Kaia, Tanner, Maren and Johannes to arrive. The kids were kind of hilarious as they kept trying to blow out the campfire.

It was very chilly but we are hoping that tomorrow will be a bit nicer.

Every Spring we arrive back in the midwest and say that we have to play more golf this summer to keep our games sharp. In the desert we play several times a week, but in past summers we have maybe only played several times. This year it will be different.

We got underway in good style today with a round at Keller in St. Paul.

The downside to playing more golf is that I think I’m not going to be happy using my really really old clubs that I leave here. It may require some shopping. I’ve always wanted to go and get fit for a set of clubs, so this may be my chance. It may also signal that we should bring our clubs with us when we migrate.

Giraffes eating at sunset

Loved the birds in the trees

Seriously, its like they trained them to pose this way!

In the tunnel with Jane

So cool.

I can’t imagine what it cost them to put this together, but it was really great.

Despite all of the horrors happening to the economy around the world right now, the random layoffs, outlawing fluoride in municipal water systems…. of it was a welcome change to just smile and enjoy and take it all in for a couple of hours. We gotta stay positive and find reasons to continue on and find happiness.

It has been a lot of years since I have been to a Styx concert, over 40 to be somewhat vague about just how long. Back then it was the first big arena concert that Jane and I attended together at the Saint Paul Civic Center. Last night we were at the Agua Cliente casino in Rancho Mirage. Most of the people were our age so it had probably been a while for them as well.

As I sat there listening to some of the lyrics they really connected with me and our time, probably much more than they did in the early 80’s! From Rockin’ the Paradise

What you doin’ tonight? Well have you heard that the world’s gone crazy? Young Americans, listen when I say There’s people puttin’ us down I know they’re sayin’ that we’ve gone lazy To tell you the truth, we’ve all seen better days

Don’t need no fast buck lame duck profits for fun Quick trick plans, take the money and run We need long-term, slow burn, gettin’ it done And some straight talkin’, hard workin’ son of a gun

Come on and take pride, be wise spottin’ the fools Big shots, crackpots bendin’ the rules A fair shot here for me and for you Knowin’ that we can’t lose

If they had written this today I would easily think they are talking about our current administration.

I would also add that these lyrics from “The Best of Times” kind of express my day to day frustrations:

The headlines read, “These are the worst of times” I do believe it’s true I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide I wish the summer winds could bring back paradise But I know, if the world turned upside down Baby, I know you’d always be around, my my

A hole in one gets a lot of kudos and admittedly I’ve never had one. But today feels even better to me because over the course of four hours I played well, not just one lucky shot. So yes, I’m bragging because I shot my first ever 18 hole round under par. A score of 71. Par is 72.

Three birdies, two bogies and the rest pars. My partner, Yaz, also had an amazing round of 78. We ended up winning Today’s Men’s club event, and I won a skin for a birdie on hole 12, a hole that I almost never even par! It was a tap in after I hit my heaven wood to about 10 inches from the pin.

But maybe even more important than the score was that I played with three other guys who were so nice, and gracious! It was really a great day all around. Thanks Yaz, Art, and Vic!! Yaz was a great partner who covered every mistake. And Art and Vic are just great people.