Itasca Park

20090623 - Itasca Park

Rainbow Lodge is only ~40 miles from Itasca Park, aka Headwaters Park.

I visited the actual headwaters area for the 4th time and, as before, thoroughly enjoyed the scene, There were a lot of international visitors (I recognized German, French and Spanish and saw some Asian faces). The kids playing in the water were a kick, as were the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents looking on, laughing and taking pictures. One aspect of this is that, although there are no 'rules' in place on how to have fun there, and very little continuity of people from day to day, you could go there any summer day and find the same things happening.

As I began a drive through the park the sky became increasingly ominous. At one point I neared a parking area for a lake, finding a canoeing party hurriedly pulling out of the water and loading canoes. Another couple was running to a clear view of the lake with a camera. Both with good reason. There was a front of clouds approaching quickly and foreboding some serious wind and rain in a few minutes. The front was low and made up of a series of waves, reminiscent of ocean breakers, covering the whole sky to the West. I also got my camera out to document this, and got a few shots in the minutes before the storm hit. After that I finished the drive in heavy rain.

I continued to Bemidji, and looked up a restaurant (The Minnesota Nice, on Bertrami Street) one street over and only a few blocks total from the Paul and Babe statues. Tim & I had learned of this while talking to some folks at the campground in Fargo. It was nice to be warmly greeted by the waitress (Mica) who seemed not surprised that I would show up there. I had a great lunch, use of the yellow pages book, and got directions to a place to get an oil change, only a few blocks away, and a referral to the RV camp where I am now.

I used the Internet to get a phone number for cousin Tom Sauer--unfortunately he is leaving for a 3 week trip to Alaska tomorrow morning. So visiting and catching up with him will have to wait for another time (August, I think).

I also made some plans with Patt. My schedule for the next month or so looks like this:
---return to Olympia (by train) about July 18
---Family visits from late July till mid August
---Return to Minnesota and pick up the stored RV about Aug 18
---Patt will join me for the drive back to Washington (or major parts of it) starting August 25.
---Support the Nisqually Land Trust Salmon Bake on September 24.
---be a home body and cat caretaker starting 24 September for ~3 weeks while Patt goes on a birding cruise from Los Angeles along the Mexican Rivera.

Tomorrow I turn South toward the Twin Cities.

Birding was not a focus today: Chestnut Sided Warbler, American Goldfinch, American Crow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Purple Martin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Loon, Song Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Ovenbird.