June 27, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

By 9:00 a.m. this morning it was already 75 degrees and it was on it's to being a hot and humid day. The wind was almost nonexistent from calm to 5 mph out of the southwest. The sky was mostly sunny and it looked like a perfect day to go tubing.

My dad, who normally doesn't like anything to do with the water or boats, asked if I could give him a boat ride. So shortly before 11:00 a.m. we made our way to the end of the dock to get into the boat. Jayden really wanted to join us, so I got his life jacket on him and secured it and helped him into the boat. No sooner had we left the boat lift than Jayden wanted to "go home" to see his mom. So I turned the boat around, got it on the lift again, and walked my little grandson back home.

With Jayden happy and secure on shore, I made my way back to the lift, lowered it into the water and took my Dad for a bit of tour of Sucker Bay. We made our way north along the shoreline to Norm's to The Birches and to Schiebe's. Then I swung the boat around and headed south past Second Duck Point into Duck Bay.

Twice during our ride the few dark clouds in the area opened up and it sprinkled a little, but it lasted no more  than a minute or two. By the time we got back on shore, the humidity had risen to more than 70 percent and the temperature was up over 80 degrees. It was definitely a hot day.

After lunch, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley and I went out on the boat for some tubing. With Jayden on the Hot Dog I went slow, just fast enough to keep the tube afloat and Jayden happy. But when Jayden got in the boat with me and Kathleen and it was just Melissa and Ashley on the tube, I could go fast, and I did.

I pulled them at nearly 30 mph all over Sucker Bay; swerving back and forth and bouncing them over the wake. They screamed, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. After several long rides, we dropped the tube off at the dock and Melissa and Ashley jumped into the lake and swam out to the boat. With the water still very calm, I took everyone on a long boat ride around Sucker Bay -- past Duck Point, down to Ottertail Point, over to Goose Island, up toward Big Hardwood Point and eventually back to our house.

After we all ate a little lunch we went over to the dock to do some fishing in the reeds and weeds next to the boat lift. In no more than a couple of minutes Jayden caught a little bass. Unfortunately that was the only fish anyone caught, even though earlier in the day I'd seen dozens of bass (including some good-sized ones), several bluegills and a few rock bass swimming in the weeds.

All day long I had three racks of pork spare ribs slow-cooking in the oven. When it was time for dinner, I got the grill going, grilled up a whole bunch of marinated vegetables, the put the ribs on for a quick searing before adding the final coating off BBQ sauce. We all ate a great dinner and then retired to the back porch and dock to watch the spectacular sunset.

Another amazing sunset over Leech Lake

My Dad was tired and went back to the cabin fairly early. Melissa went to bed at the same time as Jayden, so Kathleen, Ashley and my Mom stayed up to watch a movie. 


We had another wonderful day at Leech Lake. We are so blessed to all be together in such a spectacular and peaceful place. I wish we could all stay here forever. But alas, that can't happen so we'll have to enjoy every second of every day that we are here. Good night.