June 22, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

Today was warm in St. Cloud, mid-70s, as we packed up the truck and got ready to depart for Leech Lake. It took us until nearly noon before we were finally on the road heading north. We made a stop in Brainerd (made famous in the Coen brothers' movie Fargo) for lunch and groceries, then it was on the road again to Leech Lake.

We finally arrived at the lake just after 5:00 p.m. Tim, Kathleen's brother, and his boys Connor and Jackson were already here. They are going to join us for a couple of days at the lake. Jayden was very excited to be at the lake and wanted to go fishing right away.

I got one of my small ice-fishing rod and reel set ups for Jayden, put on 1/16 ounce jig, put on a slip bobber and tipped the jig with a minnow. I helped Jayden cast the jig into the reeds right next to the boat lift. Within 5 minutes he'd hooked a nice little largemouth bass.

Jayden's first fish -- a Leech Lake largemouth bass

Jayden fished for a while longer before he decided to move on and play in the yard. We took that opportunity to bake the pizzas Tim picked up at Great River Pizzeria in Cass Lake. After dinner I got a fire going in the fire pit at the cabin where we hung out for several hours talking, making s'mores and just enjoying the lake. It sure was great being back at Leech Lake.


Good night.

June 21, 2012 -- In St. Cloud

We spent the day in St. Cloud today and most of that time was at St. Benedict's Center visiting with Kathleen's Mom Marge. Marge was very happy to see her great-grandchildren Ashley and Jayden, and her granddaughter Melissa.

Later in the day we took Marge to her house where we had dinner with a number of people from Kathleen's family. Late that night Marge went back to St. Benedict's and we started packing up for a Friday morning departure to Leech Lake.

June 20, 2012 -- At Leech Lake -- First Day of Summer

The first day of summer arrives today at 6:09 p.m. CDT here at Leech Lake. But the weather here looked anything but summer-like. At 9:00 a.m. the sky was grey, a heavy steady rain was falling, the temperature was 60 degrees and the wind was out of NNW at 8-12 mph.

With moderate- to heavy-rainfall for the past 24 hours, most of the northern part of Minnesota is experiencing flooding. Many areas around Duluth have serious flooding, while here at Leech Lake the ground is thoroughly soaked. Of course, Leech Lake is a watershed for the Upper Mississippi Valley and the area is used to filtering runoff water. But the amount of rain we've had here in the past day is unusual; by some accounts as much as 7-10 inches.

Kathleen and I were busy this morning getting ready for our drive south to St. Cloud; which is also experiencing heavy rains and flooding. The plan is for us to see Kathleen's mother today before driving to the airport in Minneapolis to pick up Melissa, Jayden and Ashley later tonight. Then we'll spend Thursday in St. Cloud before heading back to Leech Lake on Friday. The forecast is for much better weather this weekend, which should enable all of us to spend time outside playing, swimming, tubing and fishing.

We arrived in St. Cloud late afternoon and immediately went to Kathleen's Mom's house where we got the beds made in preparation for the arrival of the kids tonight. By the time we get back to St. Cloud from Minneapolis it will be very late.

With the housed prepped, we made our way to St. Benedict's to see Kathleen's Mom. We took her dinner and spent roughly 4 hours hanging out with her before we said good night, and got ready for our drive to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.

We picked up Ashley first, at 11:30 p.m., before racing over to Terminal 2 to pick up Melissa and Jayden at the Sun Country gate. We then made our 2 hour drive back to St. Cloud and finally got to bed at roughly 2:30 a.m. It was a long, tiring day, but now everyone who is planning a trip to MN this summer is now here.

Good night.