August 22, 2011 -- At Leech Lake (Four Days and Counting)

This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees, the sky was sunny and blue, but the wind was quite strong at 15-20 mph out of the SSW.

Today I must drive Joe down to St. Cloud. He leaves from the Minneapolis airport tomorrow afternoon and rather than make the 5+ hour drive all in one day, we thought we would go down to St. Cloud so Joe could see his grandma, aunt and cousin.

We were on no specific timetable so Joe did as many things as he could before he left Leech Lake. He and I took a bike ride around the loop which is an 8-mile round trip. Joe went swimming in the lake one more time. Joe and I played a game of ping pong, and he played some pinball. Joe spent quite a bit of time just walking around the properties trying to soak in all in so he could keep the memory of the lake with him even though he'll soon be in San Jose.

Joe took a ride back into the woods on the ATV and stopped by to clean up Phantom's grave site. Then at last, it was time for us to load up the truck and drive south to St. Cloud. It is always hard to leave the lake, and there's no more difficult time than when you're driving down our driveway with the lake behind you. At least that's how it is for me.

I drove slowly down West Shores Road so Joe could take pictures as we went. We even stopped at the swamp and again on the long straight away as you approach the community center, two of Joe's favorite spots along our road. Soon we were making the turn onto Sucker Bay Road and heading north to Hwy. 2. For my money, there is no pretty road any time of the year than Sucker Bay Road. With all of its twists and turns, boardered on both sides by huge stands of trees. I noticed some of the sumac along the road was turning red.

We made our way west on Hwy. 2 to Cass Lake and then turned onto Hwy. 371 and headed south toward Walker. Once in Walker we stopped at the Dairy Queen so Joe could get a Blizzard. There's nothing like getting a DQ when you're up north in Minnesota.

We took our time driving to St. Cloud and didn't get into the city limits until just after 7:00 p.m. The temperature in St. Cloud was still 88 degrees and it was very humid. Every time I've visited St. Cloud this summer it seems to be hot and humid.

Our first stop was St. Benedict's Center where Joe's Grandma Coyle lives. We spent more than an hour there visiting with her, but around 8:30 p.m. it was time for us to leave. We were getting hungry for dinner and the residents at St. Ben's needed to get ready for bed. Joe and I stopped at Bravo Burrito's for dinner, but had it take-out. We went back to Grandma Coyle's house where we were going to spend the night.

We ate our dinner while watching the Coen brother's classic, The Big Lebowski. I think it's the third time we've watched the movie since Joe's been in Minnesota, but it's one of our very favorites.

At last it was time for bed. It's always tough to get a good night's sleep before leaving Minnesota for California. I know it is for me, and from Joe told me it was for him too. But nonetheless, it was time to turn off the lights and get ready for the trip to Minneapolis tomorrow.

Good night from St. Cloud.