October 4, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

This morning at just after 9:00 a.m. I got in the truck and left for Bemidji with boat in tow. The temperature was 47 degrees, the wind was 10-15 mph out of the NW and the sky was overcast and dark. It looked as if it was going to either rain or snow, or maybe both.

By the time I hit Sucker Bay Rd., just 3 miles away, the temperature had dropped to 44 degrees and a light rain had started to fall. Eight miles later as I came to Hwy. 2, the temperature had fallen to 39 degrees and the rain was now steady. When I got to Cass Lake, which is only an additional 12 miles, the rain had turned to sleet and the temperature had dropped to 36 degrees.

When I came up to the first exit off Hwy. 2 Bemidji the temperature was down to 32 and the sleet had turned to giant snowflakes. With the wind blowing at 25+ mph, huge snowflakes falling and driving down the highway at 50 mph it was close to a 'white out' on the road.

I finally made it to my exit, took it carefully and then drove the finally couple of miles to Corner Sports, where they will winterize my boat and store it inside for the winter. Big, fluffy, wet snowflakes fell while I was unhooking the boat/trailer from the truck. By the time I went into Corner Sports I had nearly a half an inch of snow on my hat and shoulders.

I spent a few minutes with Jimmer and Rhonda chatting with them about fishing, what I wanted done to my boat over the winter, etc., then it was time to leave the boat and head into Bemidji to run a number of errands. I made stops at L&M Fleet, Target, Gander Mountain and Lueken's Village Foods.

I made one additional stop after leaving Bemidji. I stopped at Cass Lake to visit a friend of Kathleen's, Elizabeth, and her mom and brother. They have a cabin on the west shores of Cass Lake and were in the process of closing it up for the winter. We had a nice visit, and within 45 minutes or so I was on my way back to the lake.

Although it was very windy and cold, and occasionally spitting sleet, we really didn't have any snow at Leech Lake.

I had a quiet night after dinner. I simply had a fire in the fireplace and listened to music.

I have lots of 'winterizing' chores to complete before I leave for California, I just hope the weather cooperates so I can get them all done. I simply refuse to climb on the roof to clean out the gutters when the wind is blowing at 25-30 mph and the temperature is only 35 degrees. If the forecast can be trusted, Saturday should see temperatures near 50 degrees and lighter winds. That's the day I'm targeting for all of my outside chores.

Six days and counting.