Family Visiting in St Paul

20090625 - Family Visiting in St Paul

I stuck to the shore of Mille Lacs for a while this morning, attracted by the mirror surface of a very calm lake. I spent a while watching Merganzer chicks following their mother through wild rice beds and fishermen heading out in large and small boats, hoping for an early catch of Walleye.

After an hour or so of dallying, I continued South on US169, soon leaving it again for for a drive through Onamia where I found a lot more memories. The Crosier complex on the North end of the town has undergone a lot of changes in recent years. The high school and junior college buildings have been repurposed to a residential facility for troubled youth (I think boys with drug problems). Crosiers added a building on the West side of their property for meetings, their Asmat displays, and I think, a processing center for their mailings. Just to the south of that, and adjacent to the hospital, there is a new assisted living center for the larger community, as well as for the older Crosiers and St Francis sisters. The parking lot between all these was full, telling of a lot of action inside, but I saw only a couple of people outside, none that I recognized.

After that I continued South on 169, stopping in Princeton for lunch, and arriving at St Paul in early afternoon. I found the driving there in the Rialta not at all comfortable, but after a short visit with Ellen and Clarence, I parked at Bob and Yvonne's house without mishap.

I am currently parked there. During the next few weeks I will be moving around this area, visiting family and friends. At this point I'll suspend the blog for a month or so, then pick it up again when I start the trip back West.