All good things must come to an end, as the old English proverb goes, and on July 8, the departures from Leech Lake began. In fact, it was early on the morning of July 8 that we got Ashley to the Minneapolis airport. She had an 9:00 a.m. flight, so we needed to leave St. Cloud by 6:30 a.m., which is tough when there are three women needing to get ready for the day as well as a three year old boy who is sleepy and would prefer to stay in bed.
After dropping Ashley off at the Delta gate, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and I drove into St. Paul to meet Kathleen's cousin Maraeka for breakfast. From there, we all went to the St. Paul Farmer's Market, which is quite impressive and then on to the Mound River neighborhood to see Maraeka's house. We had a very nice visit with Maraeka, but by 3:00 p.m. it was time to drive back up to St. Cloud.
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Three days later, it was time for Kathleen and I to take Melissa and Jayden to the airport. Jayden loved his time in Minnesota, including catching his first big fish (a largemouth bass), riding on the ATV, swimming in the lake, playing ping pong (he stood on a stool to reach the table), having a fire in the fire pit, seeing his great-grandma and great-grandpa, and seeing his other great-grandma. When it was finally time to part ways at the airport, Jayden started crying and saying he didn't want to leave us. Whoa, that was hard. We didn't want him, or Melissa, to leave either, but the had to.
Eventually Kathleen and I got ourselves together and began our drive back up to Leech Lake. We were very fortunate to be able to spend another full week together, alone, at the lake. Kathleen and I swam, rode bikes, made delicious meals, drank coffee out on the back porch, played games and took boat rides. Kathleen even went fishing with me and she caught a decent-sized northern pike and a 14-inch walleye, which we threw back into the lake.
In all, it was bliss; our oasis on Leech Lake. But as this post began, all good things must come to an end. On Thursday, July 19, after a full day of riding bikes, Kathleen going for a run (and doing 10 laps of lunges) swimming in the lake to cool off and clean off, we packed up our things, loaded the truck and began our drive to St. Cloud. Kathleen had a very hard time saying goodbye to the lake, and all of its peace, quite and joy. Fortunately, she has a very good job in California, one that she does enjoy, and it was time for her to go back to it.
Once again Kathleen spent a considerable amount of time in St. Cloud providing hours upon hours of care for her aging mother. After all, the primary reason Kathleen was in Minnesota was to take care of her mother. Her brief respites at Leech Lake were a bonus.
Finally it was time for Kathleen to make her way down to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. I drove her down on Saturday, late morning, and after a very difficult goodbye, we parted ways -- she toward her flight to San Francisco, me to the truck and the 5 1/2-hour drive up to Leech Lake.
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Departures are often difficult. They're especially difficult if you are leaving behind a place you truly love, such as Leech Lake. They get more difficult still if you're leaving behind someone you love (or they are leaving you). So through pursed lips, Kathleen made her way to California and I to the northwoods of Minnesota.
It's amazing how slow the weeks can take prior to such a getaway. Each day both Kathleen and I would count down the time until we could be together at Leech Lake. We would talk about all the things we wanted to do together, all the fun we'd have. And then at last the first day of vacation finally arrives. I remember seeing Kathleen as she made her way off the plane in Bemidji in early June. It seems like just yesterday. And then, in the time it takes to put a fathead on jig, the trip is over and we're headed in opposite directions.
Now it is once again time for reflection and planning. What do we want to do with our lives going forward? Where do we want to be? How do we balance our needs with the needs of others (kids, grandchildren, parents)? Somehow we'll find a solution that will work. But whatever we end up doing, it will not diminish one little bit the incredible time Kathleen and I spent together at our oasis on Leech Lake.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Early July Update -- Part 2, The Aftermath
We awoke on the morning of July 3 without power, but to a beautiful day. The sky was sunny and blue with just a few big white fluffy clouds. The temperature was in the high 70s with a little breeze blowing from the north.
The ground was wet from the previous night's torrential rains and littered with branches of all sizes. Our back section of dock hung in lake, the flag pole was missing, as was one of our lawn chairs. Slowly, we all made our way outside to assess the carnage from the most damaging storm to hit northern Cass County in recent memory.
Luckily, we were spared serious damage. I began picking up the branches that lay strewn across the lawn, front and back. Jayden came outside and joined me in picking up branches. "Grandpa," my little 3-year old grandson said to me, "today's a good day for a clean up." He was right.
Jayden and I spent close to an hour picking up branches that ranged in size from little twigs to branches 10-inches in diameter and weighing 40 pounds or more. By the time we were done, I was soaked in sweat. The humidity was much higher than I originally suspected and the temperature had risen quickly and was up over 80 degrees. It was time for a swim in the lake. And I needed to look for the lawn chair and flag pole anyway, so going into the lake was something I needed to do.
Without electricity, we didn't have a well-pump. Without a working well-pump, we couldn't take showers. And since we were schedule to, and needed to, leave the lake for St. Cloud within a couple of hours, Ashley and Kathleen joined me in the lake for a "camp bath;" using biodegradable soap of course.
I was able to locate flag pole and managed to wrestle it onto the dock. I also found our lawn chair, although the headrest was missing and will probably never be found. While I was busy Kathleen and Ashley finished getting cleaned up and made their way to the house to get dressed and finish packing.
No sooner had I dried off the Kathleen cried out that the guys from Shore Brothers were here to fix our dock. Talk about fast service! The storm hit the previous night at 7:15 p.m. and by noon the following day Mark and his team were out helping people get their docks, boat lifts and other shoreline equipment back in order. Mark said his list of people who needed docks and/or boat lifts fixed was two-pages long.
In no time, the fast-working team from Shore Brothers had my dock back together and the flag pole back in its proper place. Interestingly, the stairs that Rick and I had attached earlier in the summer stayed in place and completely weathered the storm. I'm glad we did such a good job.
Mark waved goodbye and motored his barge/forklift north on Sucker Bay to assist the next person on his long list. We finished packing up.
Without electricity the food in our refrigerator and freezer wouldn't last much longer than a day and since we were heading down to St. Cloud today, and we had no idea when the power would come back on (it didn't come on until late-afternoon or July 6) we had to unload everything from both fridges, load as much food as we could take with us, and take the remaining frozen stuff down to the Malays.
Some time ago, Tom got a gas-powered electric generator and he was currently using it to keep his refrigerators and freezers working. Lainy offered some room in one of the big freezer units for us to store some of our frozen items.
Ashley climbed on the ATV to take a couple of big bags of frozen items down the Malays when Jayden came running out of the house crying. He wanted to come with us. I asked him if he wanted to climb onto the ATV with me and Ashley and he responded with "you betcha." Just a few weeks at Leech Lake and the little guy is already talking like a Minnesotan.
We unloaded the food at the Malays, came back to the house and finished packing. It was then time for Ashley, Melissa and Jayden to complete the difficult task -- saying goodbye to the lake for this summer. We're making our trip to St. Cloud so the kids can say goodbye to Grandma Nonnie (Kathleen's mom), the Coyles (Tim, Sandy, Conner and Jackson), and the Petersens (Kathleen's sister Mary, her husband David and their daughter Brita).
At last the truck was fully loaded with the kids luggage, our overnight bags, coolers of food and miscellaneous items. I started up the truck engine, cranked the air conditioning to high in hopes we might cool off, and slowly made our way down the driveway. The kids said goodbye to the house, cabin and lake and we were on our way south.
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The devastation we witnessed as we drove down Sucker Bay Road and Highway 2 was beyond description. Thousands of trees -- birch, pine, ash, basswood (linden), and maple -- were snapped in half, or completely up rooted. Trees of all sizes, from small saplings to huge 80-foot tall, had been toppled. It reminded me of the way broken weeds look after I've driven the ATV through a heavy patch of overgrowth back in the woods. Only these weren't weeds, they were fully mature trees.
All eight miles along Sucker Bay Road trees were downed on both sides of the road. The devastation continued along US Highway 2 as we drove west toward Cass Lake. On both sides of the road thousands of trees were broken off, snapped and otherwise destroyed.
Norway State Park/Campground was shut down, with hundreds of ancient red and white pines felled by the storm. The big sign out in front of Stony Point Resort was blown down and broken. Trees all along the biking trail leading into Cass Lake were cracked in half and lay bent over as if they were paying homage to the winds that howled through the night before.
The canopy of the Shell gas station in Cass Lake suffered serious damage and the entire city of Cass Lake remained without power.
By the time we were a few miles south of Cass Lake on Highway 371, evidence of the storm began to wane. There was an occasional tree down here or there, but nothing like the thousands of downed trees on Ottertail Peninsula and along Highway 2 into Cass Lake. And once in the small town of Walker -- located on the southern shores of Leech Lake -- everything appeared to be fine and normal. The town had power, there were no downed trees or power poles or any other visible damage from the storm.
We continued south on Hwy. 371 toward St. Cloud. We did make a stop in the tiny town of Nisswa, where there are dozens of little shops and businesses devoted to selling tourists a taste of the Northwoods. The kids love stopping here to buy souvenirs for their friends and to pick up a couple of little items for themselves. As it turned out, the town of Nisswa was hosting its Fourth of July parade a day early, and it was set to begin at 7:00 p.m., just two hours after our arrival in town.
We didn't think we'd stick around for the parade, but because of it the town was full of people, many more than the average number of summertime tourists. I found a place to park the truck and we all made our way down the quaint main street that runs through the heart of the small village.
It was, unfortunately, unbearably hot. The temperature was in the mid-90s and the humidity was up around 75%. Everyone in town was overheated and was seeking shelter in the air conditioned shops that lined both sides of the main street.
We were in only our second store when suddenly the lights went out. The proprietor of the store quickly had everyone shuffle out of the cool, and now dark, confines of his shop back into the sweltering hot sunlight. We went next door to the next little shop, but it too was shuttered due to the power outage.
We went across the street to get an ice cream cone at the semi-famous Chocolate Ox, but it was also shooing people away and locking its doors. Apparently the overload of all the shops cranking their air conditioning and the incredible heat of the day blew out the power in the entire town of Nisswa, and just 90 minutes before the town's big Fourth of July parade.
Deciding it was best to keep moving on toward St. Cloud, we all went back to the truck, backed out, waited for the traffic cops to wave us through the now dark traffic signal and out onto the highway. Once again we were driving south toward St. Cloud.
At last, we made it to Kathleen's mom's house, unloaded the truck, put away the food we had brought with us in coolers, unpacked a bit and settled in. It had been a long day and everyone was tired so we went to bed early. With the heat expected to be in the mid-90s again on July 4, and with extremely high humidity, we decided to skip going to the Fourth of July parade in St. Joseph in the morning, and instead, waited until after dark to take Marge to see the fireworks over the Mississippi River in downtown St. Cloud.
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We had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday, spending time with Marge Coyle at her house with Kathleen's sister Mary and her husband and daughter, Tim and Sandy and their boys, plus our family. At sunset we drove downtown St. Cloud and found a spot on a bridge over the Mississippi River to watch the fireworks. As it turned out, there was a tornado watch for the area as well as a thunderstorm warning, so we saw man-made fireworks in one part of the sky and a spectacular natural lightning show in another.
The next day, Mary and her crew, as well as our family, all drove up to Nisswa so the kids could get in a little souvenir shopping. The power was back on in the city and we spent the better part of five hours shopping, having pizza and just enjoying each other's company. Melissa and I spent most of the time keeping Jayden occupied since shopping and a three year old don't really mix.
By the evening of July 5, Mary and her family went back down to the Twin Cities, and we focused our attention on spending time with Kathleen's mom. Ashley flies back to CA in just a couple of days, and she wants to see her great-grandma as much as possible.
More in the "Departures" post.
The ground was wet from the previous night's torrential rains and littered with branches of all sizes. Our back section of dock hung in lake, the flag pole was missing, as was one of our lawn chairs. Slowly, we all made our way outside to assess the carnage from the most damaging storm to hit northern Cass County in recent memory.
Luckily, we were spared serious damage. I began picking up the branches that lay strewn across the lawn, front and back. Jayden came outside and joined me in picking up branches. "Grandpa," my little 3-year old grandson said to me, "today's a good day for a clean up." He was right.
Jayden and I spent close to an hour picking up branches that ranged in size from little twigs to branches 10-inches in diameter and weighing 40 pounds or more. By the time we were done, I was soaked in sweat. The humidity was much higher than I originally suspected and the temperature had risen quickly and was up over 80 degrees. It was time for a swim in the lake. And I needed to look for the lawn chair and flag pole anyway, so going into the lake was something I needed to do.
Without electricity, we didn't have a well-pump. Without a working well-pump, we couldn't take showers. And since we were schedule to, and needed to, leave the lake for St. Cloud within a couple of hours, Ashley and Kathleen joined me in the lake for a "camp bath;" using biodegradable soap of course.
I was able to locate flag pole and managed to wrestle it onto the dock. I also found our lawn chair, although the headrest was missing and will probably never be found. While I was busy Kathleen and Ashley finished getting cleaned up and made their way to the house to get dressed and finish packing.
No sooner had I dried off the Kathleen cried out that the guys from Shore Brothers were here to fix our dock. Talk about fast service! The storm hit the previous night at 7:15 p.m. and by noon the following day Mark and his team were out helping people get their docks, boat lifts and other shoreline equipment back in order. Mark said his list of people who needed docks and/or boat lifts fixed was two-pages long.
In no time, the fast-working team from Shore Brothers had my dock back together and the flag pole back in its proper place. Interestingly, the stairs that Rick and I had attached earlier in the summer stayed in place and completely weathered the storm. I'm glad we did such a good job.
Mark waved goodbye and motored his barge/forklift north on Sucker Bay to assist the next person on his long list. We finished packing up.
Without electricity the food in our refrigerator and freezer wouldn't last much longer than a day and since we were heading down to St. Cloud today, and we had no idea when the power would come back on (it didn't come on until late-afternoon or July 6) we had to unload everything from both fridges, load as much food as we could take with us, and take the remaining frozen stuff down to the Malays.
Some time ago, Tom got a gas-powered electric generator and he was currently using it to keep his refrigerators and freezers working. Lainy offered some room in one of the big freezer units for us to store some of our frozen items.
Ashley climbed on the ATV to take a couple of big bags of frozen items down the Malays when Jayden came running out of the house crying. He wanted to come with us. I asked him if he wanted to climb onto the ATV with me and Ashley and he responded with "you betcha." Just a few weeks at Leech Lake and the little guy is already talking like a Minnesotan.
We unloaded the food at the Malays, came back to the house and finished packing. It was then time for Ashley, Melissa and Jayden to complete the difficult task -- saying goodbye to the lake for this summer. We're making our trip to St. Cloud so the kids can say goodbye to Grandma Nonnie (Kathleen's mom), the Coyles (Tim, Sandy, Conner and Jackson), and the Petersens (Kathleen's sister Mary, her husband David and their daughter Brita).
At last the truck was fully loaded with the kids luggage, our overnight bags, coolers of food and miscellaneous items. I started up the truck engine, cranked the air conditioning to high in hopes we might cool off, and slowly made our way down the driveway. The kids said goodbye to the house, cabin and lake and we were on our way south.
-------------------
The devastation we witnessed as we drove down Sucker Bay Road and Highway 2 was beyond description. Thousands of trees -- birch, pine, ash, basswood (linden), and maple -- were snapped in half, or completely up rooted. Trees of all sizes, from small saplings to huge 80-foot tall, had been toppled. It reminded me of the way broken weeds look after I've driven the ATV through a heavy patch of overgrowth back in the woods. Only these weren't weeds, they were fully mature trees.
All eight miles along Sucker Bay Road trees were downed on both sides of the road. The devastation continued along US Highway 2 as we drove west toward Cass Lake. On both sides of the road thousands of trees were broken off, snapped and otherwise destroyed.
Norway State Park/Campground was shut down, with hundreds of ancient red and white pines felled by the storm. The big sign out in front of Stony Point Resort was blown down and broken. Trees all along the biking trail leading into Cass Lake were cracked in half and lay bent over as if they were paying homage to the winds that howled through the night before.
The canopy of the Shell gas station in Cass Lake suffered serious damage and the entire city of Cass Lake remained without power.
By the time we were a few miles south of Cass Lake on Highway 371, evidence of the storm began to wane. There was an occasional tree down here or there, but nothing like the thousands of downed trees on Ottertail Peninsula and along Highway 2 into Cass Lake. And once in the small town of Walker -- located on the southern shores of Leech Lake -- everything appeared to be fine and normal. The town had power, there were no downed trees or power poles or any other visible damage from the storm.
We continued south on Hwy. 371 toward St. Cloud. We did make a stop in the tiny town of Nisswa, where there are dozens of little shops and businesses devoted to selling tourists a taste of the Northwoods. The kids love stopping here to buy souvenirs for their friends and to pick up a couple of little items for themselves. As it turned out, the town of Nisswa was hosting its Fourth of July parade a day early, and it was set to begin at 7:00 p.m., just two hours after our arrival in town.
We didn't think we'd stick around for the parade, but because of it the town was full of people, many more than the average number of summertime tourists. I found a place to park the truck and we all made our way down the quaint main street that runs through the heart of the small village.
It was, unfortunately, unbearably hot. The temperature was in the mid-90s and the humidity was up around 75%. Everyone in town was overheated and was seeking shelter in the air conditioned shops that lined both sides of the main street.
We were in only our second store when suddenly the lights went out. The proprietor of the store quickly had everyone shuffle out of the cool, and now dark, confines of his shop back into the sweltering hot sunlight. We went next door to the next little shop, but it too was shuttered due to the power outage.
We went across the street to get an ice cream cone at the semi-famous Chocolate Ox, but it was also shooing people away and locking its doors. Apparently the overload of all the shops cranking their air conditioning and the incredible heat of the day blew out the power in the entire town of Nisswa, and just 90 minutes before the town's big Fourth of July parade.
Deciding it was best to keep moving on toward St. Cloud, we all went back to the truck, backed out, waited for the traffic cops to wave us through the now dark traffic signal and out onto the highway. Once again we were driving south toward St. Cloud.
At last, we made it to Kathleen's mom's house, unloaded the truck, put away the food we had brought with us in coolers, unpacked a bit and settled in. It had been a long day and everyone was tired so we went to bed early. With the heat expected to be in the mid-90s again on July 4, and with extremely high humidity, we decided to skip going to the Fourth of July parade in St. Joseph in the morning, and instead, waited until after dark to take Marge to see the fireworks over the Mississippi River in downtown St. Cloud.
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We had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday, spending time with Marge Coyle at her house with Kathleen's sister Mary and her husband and daughter, Tim and Sandy and their boys, plus our family. At sunset we drove downtown St. Cloud and found a spot on a bridge over the Mississippi River to watch the fireworks. As it turned out, there was a tornado watch for the area as well as a thunderstorm warning, so we saw man-made fireworks in one part of the sky and a spectacular natural lightning show in another.
The next day, Mary and her crew, as well as our family, all drove up to Nisswa so the kids could get in a little souvenir shopping. The power was back on in the city and we spent the better part of five hours shopping, having pizza and just enjoying each other's company. Melissa and I spent most of the time keeping Jayden occupied since shopping and a three year old don't really mix.
By the evening of July 5, Mary and her family went back down to the Twin Cities, and we focused our attention on spending time with Kathleen's mom. Ashley flies back to CA in just a couple of days, and she wants to see her great-grandma as much as possible.
More in the "Departures" post.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Early July Update -- Part 1, The Storm
I have not posted to this blog since July 1. The reason is that while we -- me, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley -- all had a fun at the lake for most of the day, we were hit with a massive and severe thunderstorm that evening that knocked out power for three days and caused untold damage in the area, including blowing down trees, flipping boats and boat lifts upside down, destroying property, etc. It was, by all accounts, the worse storm to hit northern Cass County in recent memory. I will attempt to retell the events of that day here, now that I both the electricity again, and the time to recount the tale that was July 2, 2012.
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Before I give my account of the storm that hit, I want to say a heartfelt happy birthday to my mother, whose birthday is on July 2. Happy birthday Mom!
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Monday, July 2 started out hot, humid and still. The temperature by noon was near 90 degrees, the humidity was over 75 percent, the dew point was 72 degrees, and there wasn't the slightest breeze to cool things down. Further, there was a greenish haze to the sky; the air was heavy. Thunderstorms, some severe, were predicted, but during the summer here at Leech Lake, there is always a chance of a thunderstorm.
We tried to stay cool by swimming in the lake, but no matter what we did, we couldn't beat the heat. Our plan was to drive to St. Cloud the next day, July 3, celebrate the Fourth of July by taking Kathleen's mom to fireworks over the Mississippi River, and eventually take Ashley to the airport early Sunday morning so she could catch her 9:00 a.m. flight back to California.
Melissa and Jayden were scheduled to fly back to San Francisco on the following Wednesday, so once we were all in St. Cloud on July 3, we planned to stay there until Wednesday, July 11. Our plan was that after Kathleen and I dropped Melissa and Jayden off at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, we would make the 5 1/2-hour drive back up north to Leech Lake.
With everyone preparing to leave on July 3, we spent most of the day on July 2 packing, doing laundry, stowing water toys, cleaning the house, etc. All of these activities on a hot and humid day had us sweating constantly, so we took many plunges in the lake to "cool the core."
Around 6:00 p.m. I asked Melissa and Ashley if they wanted to go fishing one last time before heading back to California. They said sure, and Jayden wanted to go as well. By 6:15 p.m. we were on the dead-calm water, which was now up to 80 degrees. We tipped jigs with fathead minnows and began fishing in 10-12 feet of water between the house and cabin. Throughout the summer, this had proved to be a good place to catch perch, some jumbos, and walleye.
We fished for about 30 minutes without even a bite. Ashley had been watching the darkening southern sky with keen interest and had kept us appraised of the lightning which was heading our way. To be on the safe side, I suggested that I take the girls and Jayden to shore. They readily agreed. I planned to go back out on the lake to spend a little longer trying to catch one last walleye. If I did, I planned to cook it up for dinner. A fitting last summer meal for the kids at Leech Lake.
After dropping the kids off at the dock, I motored the boat back onto the lake. From the shore, Ashley and Jayden were both yelling, "Come back Grandpa. Come back." The lightning was getting closer and it was scaring them, especially Jayden. In fact, the little guy started crying, so I decided I should turn around and come ashore myself; if for no other reason that to calm the nerves of Ashley and Jayden. And besides, I thought to myself, maybe they know something about this storm that I don't.
I got the boat onto the lift, and just as a precautionary measure, I raised the lift a little higher than I typically do -- "just in case," I thought. I went next door and held Jayden and comforted him, telling him thank you for asking that I come ashore.
While I was coming back on shore, Kathleen, brought the water toys off the dock, folded down the lawn chairs and laid them flat on the dock, brought in our towels and generally got things off the dock in case a thunderstorm did hit.
By 7:00 p.m. we were all sitting on the back porch watching the sky, which had turned an ominous shade of dark greenish yellow. It looked as if the entire sky were badly bruised. Brilliant streaks of white lightning filled the air which had gotten even heavier and more oppressive.
Just before 7:15 p.m., with the temperature hovering at a very hot 90 degrees, we noticed that the flag, which had hanged limp all day, began to flutter. Just slightly, but it was starting to move. Within seconds we could all feel a drop in temperature. I could tell the storm was on the way and suggested we move inside and shut the windows.
In the time it took us to stand up and go inside, the west wind picked up to a point where the flag was straight out from the flag pole, the trees were bending and it made it difficult to crank shut our big windows in the living room. In fact, as I cranked the last window closed, the wind blew so hard that it broke the cranking mechanism in the window.
The sky, which had already been dark darkened even further to where it was hard to tell that it wasn't yet nighttime. We quickly turned on the marine band radio and tuned into NOAA's weather station and heard that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Cass County (where Leech Lake is located) and that people should seek shelter immediately.
Lightning flashes were followed immediately by loud crashes of thunder as the storm moved on top of us. Branches were falling from trees. The lawn chairs that Kathleen had laid flat on the dock were blown into the lake. Rain was pounding down so hard that from our lakeside windows the lake itself could not be seen. The sky was as dark as night and then the lights flickered and the power went out. We were left in darkness as we scrambled for flashlights and candles.
Ashley and Jayden were both very scared as we made our way into a back bedroom walk-in closet; inside walls. We could hear a roar outside and thought that if it wasn't a tornado it was certainly close in terms of wind speeds. The temperature outside had plummeted by nearly 20 degrees as the wind continued to roar, the lightning flashed, the thunder crashed and the rain came down heavier than the most power shower head could ever produce.
At one point I left the safety of the inside-walled closet to take a look outside. Melissa followed me, which of course meant that Jayden wanted to see too, who was accompanied by Kathleen with Ashley right behind them. We all looked outside as our heavy Hot Dog water tube was lifted by the wind and blown a hundred feet or more ending up along side our house. The waves were so huge that they crashed a good 10 feet on shore.
Melissa noticed that the wind and waves had dislodged a section of our dock which was now hanging off the rest of the dock, bobbing up and down in the heavy waves of the lake. Our flag pole was nowhere to be seen. A large crack of thunder directly overhead shook our house and sent us scurrying back to the closet for safety.
The storm seemed to rage on forever, but in reality within 30 minutes the worst of it had past leaving only a gentle rain and massive damage throughout the area. We tentatively made our way outside to assess any damage to our property.
The dock was twisted and battered. The flag pole was gone, somewhere on the bottom of the lake. One of the new zero-gravity lounge chairs Kathleen had just got us for our anniversary was gone, somewhere on the bottom of the lake. One large 4x8 section of dock hung in lake. A 2-foot diameter old cedar tree on the property line between our house and Newman's was snapped off mid-trunk. Several other large trees on Newman's property were broken off and were laying in heaps.
I made my way around our house to see if there was any damage, but all looked good. I then hustled over to the cabin to check on the boat. The care that I had taken to raise the lift a little higher than usual kept the humongous waves from bouncing the boat off the lift, and all seemed good with both boat and lift. I checked around the cabin, and other than the yard being littered with branches of all sizes, there was no damage to any of the structures. Thank God.
I then slowly made my way past the fallen trees to check on Newman's property. I found John's boat bobbing up and down in his harbor. Despite being sheltered in a harbor, the giant waves from the storm had lifted his boat off the boat lift and deposited it in the water of the harbor. Luckily, the boat stayed in the harbor and didn't find its out into the lake; that might have caused serious damage to the boat. As it was, I lowered the boat lift into the water, grabbed hold of John's boat, guided it back onto the lift and then raised the lift -- higher than usual -- thus securing the boat. I then did a quick walk around the Newman's cabin, but could see no damage to any of their structures.
By 8:30 p.m., the wind had died down to a gentle breeze, the rain had stopped, the clouds had mostly cleared and we ended up having a beautiful red sunset.
We spent the next half hour picking up the water toys, lawn chairs, towels, big branches and other things that had fallen or were otherwise blown around the yard. Our power was out, the dock was broken (but not destroyed thankfully), there was a ton of clean up to do and we were planning on leaving for St. Cloud in the morning. All we could do was help Melissa, Jayden and Ashley finish packing -- via flashlight and candlelight.
It was the biggest, most severe storm I've been through. Not only here at Leech Lake, but anywhere. The color of the sky, the strength of the wind, the amount of rain, the size of the waves on the lake, all of it was beyond anything I'd ever seen. That is until the next day when we left our house at Leech Lake and made our way south to St. Cloud.
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Before I give my account of the storm that hit, I want to say a heartfelt happy birthday to my mother, whose birthday is on July 2. Happy birthday Mom!
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Monday, July 2 started out hot, humid and still. The temperature by noon was near 90 degrees, the humidity was over 75 percent, the dew point was 72 degrees, and there wasn't the slightest breeze to cool things down. Further, there was a greenish haze to the sky; the air was heavy. Thunderstorms, some severe, were predicted, but during the summer here at Leech Lake, there is always a chance of a thunderstorm.
We tried to stay cool by swimming in the lake, but no matter what we did, we couldn't beat the heat. Our plan was to drive to St. Cloud the next day, July 3, celebrate the Fourth of July by taking Kathleen's mom to fireworks over the Mississippi River, and eventually take Ashley to the airport early Sunday morning so she could catch her 9:00 a.m. flight back to California.
Melissa and Jayden were scheduled to fly back to San Francisco on the following Wednesday, so once we were all in St. Cloud on July 3, we planned to stay there until Wednesday, July 11. Our plan was that after Kathleen and I dropped Melissa and Jayden off at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, we would make the 5 1/2-hour drive back up north to Leech Lake.
With everyone preparing to leave on July 3, we spent most of the day on July 2 packing, doing laundry, stowing water toys, cleaning the house, etc. All of these activities on a hot and humid day had us sweating constantly, so we took many plunges in the lake to "cool the core."
Around 6:00 p.m. I asked Melissa and Ashley if they wanted to go fishing one last time before heading back to California. They said sure, and Jayden wanted to go as well. By 6:15 p.m. we were on the dead-calm water, which was now up to 80 degrees. We tipped jigs with fathead minnows and began fishing in 10-12 feet of water between the house and cabin. Throughout the summer, this had proved to be a good place to catch perch, some jumbos, and walleye.
We fished for about 30 minutes without even a bite. Ashley had been watching the darkening southern sky with keen interest and had kept us appraised of the lightning which was heading our way. To be on the safe side, I suggested that I take the girls and Jayden to shore. They readily agreed. I planned to go back out on the lake to spend a little longer trying to catch one last walleye. If I did, I planned to cook it up for dinner. A fitting last summer meal for the kids at Leech Lake.
After dropping the kids off at the dock, I motored the boat back onto the lake. From the shore, Ashley and Jayden were both yelling, "Come back Grandpa. Come back." The lightning was getting closer and it was scaring them, especially Jayden. In fact, the little guy started crying, so I decided I should turn around and come ashore myself; if for no other reason that to calm the nerves of Ashley and Jayden. And besides, I thought to myself, maybe they know something about this storm that I don't.
I got the boat onto the lift, and just as a precautionary measure, I raised the lift a little higher than I typically do -- "just in case," I thought. I went next door and held Jayden and comforted him, telling him thank you for asking that I come ashore.
While I was coming back on shore, Kathleen, brought the water toys off the dock, folded down the lawn chairs and laid them flat on the dock, brought in our towels and generally got things off the dock in case a thunderstorm did hit.
By 7:00 p.m. we were all sitting on the back porch watching the sky, which had turned an ominous shade of dark greenish yellow. It looked as if the entire sky were badly bruised. Brilliant streaks of white lightning filled the air which had gotten even heavier and more oppressive.
Just before 7:15 p.m., with the temperature hovering at a very hot 90 degrees, we noticed that the flag, which had hanged limp all day, began to flutter. Just slightly, but it was starting to move. Within seconds we could all feel a drop in temperature. I could tell the storm was on the way and suggested we move inside and shut the windows.
In the time it took us to stand up and go inside, the west wind picked up to a point where the flag was straight out from the flag pole, the trees were bending and it made it difficult to crank shut our big windows in the living room. In fact, as I cranked the last window closed, the wind blew so hard that it broke the cranking mechanism in the window.
The sky, which had already been dark darkened even further to where it was hard to tell that it wasn't yet nighttime. We quickly turned on the marine band radio and tuned into NOAA's weather station and heard that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Cass County (where Leech Lake is located) and that people should seek shelter immediately.
Lightning flashes were followed immediately by loud crashes of thunder as the storm moved on top of us. Branches were falling from trees. The lawn chairs that Kathleen had laid flat on the dock were blown into the lake. Rain was pounding down so hard that from our lakeside windows the lake itself could not be seen. The sky was as dark as night and then the lights flickered and the power went out. We were left in darkness as we scrambled for flashlights and candles.
Ashley and Jayden were both very scared as we made our way into a back bedroom walk-in closet; inside walls. We could hear a roar outside and thought that if it wasn't a tornado it was certainly close in terms of wind speeds. The temperature outside had plummeted by nearly 20 degrees as the wind continued to roar, the lightning flashed, the thunder crashed and the rain came down heavier than the most power shower head could ever produce.
At one point I left the safety of the inside-walled closet to take a look outside. Melissa followed me, which of course meant that Jayden wanted to see too, who was accompanied by Kathleen with Ashley right behind them. We all looked outside as our heavy Hot Dog water tube was lifted by the wind and blown a hundred feet or more ending up along side our house. The waves were so huge that they crashed a good 10 feet on shore.
Melissa noticed that the wind and waves had dislodged a section of our dock which was now hanging off the rest of the dock, bobbing up and down in the heavy waves of the lake. Our flag pole was nowhere to be seen. A large crack of thunder directly overhead shook our house and sent us scurrying back to the closet for safety.
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| A section of our dock broken off by the high waves from the storm |
The dock was twisted and battered. The flag pole was gone, somewhere on the bottom of the lake. One of the new zero-gravity lounge chairs Kathleen had just got us for our anniversary was gone, somewhere on the bottom of the lake. One large 4x8 section of dock hung in lake. A 2-foot diameter old cedar tree on the property line between our house and Newman's was snapped off mid-trunk. Several other large trees on Newman's property were broken off and were laying in heaps.
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| A large cedar tree snapped in half by the storm's 80 mph winds |
I then slowly made my way past the fallen trees to check on Newman's property. I found John's boat bobbing up and down in his harbor. Despite being sheltered in a harbor, the giant waves from the storm had lifted his boat off the boat lift and deposited it in the water of the harbor. Luckily, the boat stayed in the harbor and didn't find its out into the lake; that might have caused serious damage to the boat. As it was, I lowered the boat lift into the water, grabbed hold of John's boat, guided it back onto the lift and then raised the lift -- higher than usual -- thus securing the boat. I then did a quick walk around the Newman's cabin, but could see no damage to any of their structures.
By 8:30 p.m., the wind had died down to a gentle breeze, the rain had stopped, the clouds had mostly cleared and we ended up having a beautiful red sunset.
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| The red sunset over Leech Lake after the big storm on July 2, 2012 |
It was the biggest, most severe storm I've been through. Not only here at Leech Lake, but anywhere. The color of the sky, the strength of the wind, the amount of rain, the size of the waves on the lake, all of it was beyond anything I'd ever seen. That is until the next day when we left our house at Leech Lake and made our way south to St. Cloud.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
July 1, 2012 -- In and On Leech Lake
By 9:30 a.m. this morning the temperature was already 74 degrees, the humidity was high, the sky was clear blue and sunny and there was virtually no wind; maybe a slight breeze at 3-5 mph out of the SSE. Within an hour or two Jayden and I were so hot that we decided to go swimming.
I'm really glad Rick and I got the stairs attached to the dock back in May when Rick was visiting because it's now easy for Jayden to get in and out of the lake. We splashed around and played in the water for 20 minutes or so before he got chilly and wanted to get out. By that time Kathleen had joined us on the dock so I left Jayden with her to go up to the house to grab some lunch.
As the day went on it kept getting hotter and more humid until the temperature was up near 90 degrees and the humidity was 75 percent. And with no wind at all, it was uncomfortably hot.
The only way to cool off was to either be in the lake or out on the boat; so we did both. We made some sandwiches, put drinks and other snacks in the cooler got in the boat and took off. Moving at 30+ mph on the lake did cool us off so I kept the boat moving until we had traveled south past Otter Tail Point out into the big part of the lake and onward to Stony Point.
I stopped the boat just off shore from the Stony Point Narrows Forest campground and instantly Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley and I were sweating and hot. I sat on the edge of the boat and dangled my legs in to cool off, while Jayden ate his sandwich. In no time, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley jumped in the water and were swimming around.
They must have played in the water for 30 minutes before climbing back into the boat. The lake had cooled them off, but sitting in the sun on the boat would have been too hot so I fired up the Verado and got the boat moving again.
I motored into Trader's Bay toward Pine Point and during the run Kathleen's new, "flapper" style hat flew off into the water. I quickly swung the boat around but we were too late. The hat Kathleen had just bought a couple of days earlier when she and the kids went to Walker, was now on its way to the bottom of Trader's Bay.
I got the boat going again and this time sped the boat toward Goose Island. I went around the south side of the island and piloted the boat to the northwest side of the island where there's a little cove with a sandy beach. I slowed the motor and guided the boat to a spot in front of the beach in 6-feet of water.
Once again, Kathleen and kids jumped into the lake, only this time they swam the short distance to the beach. I stayed in the boat and enjoyed a cold Leinie Summer.
When everyone was done swimming, they made their way to the boat, climbed in and we motored home. We then barbecued, and just enjoyed hanging out at Leech Lake. Another wonderful day in the northwoods; even if I didn't get any fishing in.
I'm really glad Rick and I got the stairs attached to the dock back in May when Rick was visiting because it's now easy for Jayden to get in and out of the lake. We splashed around and played in the water for 20 minutes or so before he got chilly and wanted to get out. By that time Kathleen had joined us on the dock so I left Jayden with her to go up to the house to grab some lunch.
As the day went on it kept getting hotter and more humid until the temperature was up near 90 degrees and the humidity was 75 percent. And with no wind at all, it was uncomfortably hot.
The only way to cool off was to either be in the lake or out on the boat; so we did both. We made some sandwiches, put drinks and other snacks in the cooler got in the boat and took off. Moving at 30+ mph on the lake did cool us off so I kept the boat moving until we had traveled south past Otter Tail Point out into the big part of the lake and onward to Stony Point.
I stopped the boat just off shore from the Stony Point Narrows Forest campground and instantly Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley and I were sweating and hot. I sat on the edge of the boat and dangled my legs in to cool off, while Jayden ate his sandwich. In no time, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley jumped in the water and were swimming around.
They must have played in the water for 30 minutes before climbing back into the boat. The lake had cooled them off, but sitting in the sun on the boat would have been too hot so I fired up the Verado and got the boat moving again.
I motored into Trader's Bay toward Pine Point and during the run Kathleen's new, "flapper" style hat flew off into the water. I quickly swung the boat around but we were too late. The hat Kathleen had just bought a couple of days earlier when she and the kids went to Walker, was now on its way to the bottom of Trader's Bay.
I got the boat going again and this time sped the boat toward Goose Island. I went around the south side of the island and piloted the boat to the northwest side of the island where there's a little cove with a sandy beach. I slowed the motor and guided the boat to a spot in front of the beach in 6-feet of water.
Once again, Kathleen and kids jumped into the lake, only this time they swam the short distance to the beach. I stayed in the boat and enjoyed a cold Leinie Summer.
When everyone was done swimming, they made their way to the boat, climbed in and we motored home. We then barbecued, and just enjoyed hanging out at Leech Lake. Another wonderful day in the northwoods; even if I didn't get any fishing in.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
June 30, 2012 -- On Leech Lake
With no accidents during the night we were all able to get up comfortably and say goodbye to my parents; as we had planned to do yesterday. It was great having them visit and as always it was hard to say goodbye.
The weather this morning was beautiful. The temperature was already 74 degrees at 10:00 a.m., the sky was mostly sunny and the wind was light at 3-8 mph out of the WSW. As the morning progressed and evolved into early afternoon the clouds rolled in and the sky darkened. It looked as if it was going to storm, or at least rain. But as it turned out, no rain fell and by 2:30 p.m. the sky had cleared again leaving nothing but blue sky.
With Jayden and Melissa napping and Kathleen and Ashley doing yoga and Pilate's, I took the opportunity to go fishing. With no fatheads in my minnow bucket I tipped my jig with a jumbo leech. I spent more than an hour in spots from Second Duck Point to a spot in front of my house to in front of Malay's without so much as a bite. So I went ashore to get a little lunch.
Everyone was still busy or napping so I went out onto the water again. The water temperature was 75 degrees, the sun was bright and the wind had died down completely. With those conditions I figured my best chance to hook a fish was to go bass fishing. With a spinnerbait tied on, I set up on the edge of the reeds in front of Norm's cabin.
I fished for more than an hour, moving slowly all the way to Schiebe's cabin. I made a 100 casts or more and couldn't hook a largemouth, or even a northern pike. With high skies, no wind and hot temperatures I decided it wasn't a good time to fish so I again made my way to shore.
Ashley and I went up to Birch Ridge Resort to buy a scoop of fathead minnows and on the way I noticed that the check engine light was on. I just had the truck serviced less than 1,000 miles ago so I'm not sure what's up. I'll have to take the truck into Bemidji on Monday to ensure all is working smoothly before we head down to St. Cloud later in the week.
We got back from Birch Ridge just in time for me to listen to A Prairie Home Companion, something I really enjoy doing on Saturday evenings at the lake.
After the "News from Lake Wobegon" I went outside and joined Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley on the dock. Actually, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley were on the Hot Dog in the water so I jumped in and joined them. With the water at 75 degrees, it was very pleasant being in the lake. The kids asked if I could pull the Hot Dog behind the boat, and I agreed.
We gathered some snacks and drinks and all climbed into the boat. The water was still dead calm so I motored out just a short distance from shore before we dropped the Hot Dog in the water. Melissa and Ashley climbed on the tube and off we went. We raced around Sucker Bay for 15 or 20 minutes before stopping in front of our house. Jayden wanted a turn to ride on the Hot Dog, so Ashley got off the tube and climbed back into the boat while Jayden joined his Mom on the Hot Dog.
I started to make a slow trip around the Bay but Jayden wanted to come back into the boat. At that point we all decided it was time to go back on shore and get dinner ready. I had made some BBQed pulled pork earlier and we added onion rings and a fruit salad to complete the dinner.
We were all tired so after cleaning up the dinner dishes and getting Jayden to bed I called it a night and went to bed myself. We'll try some fishing again tomorrow. Good night from Leech Lake.
The weather this morning was beautiful. The temperature was already 74 degrees at 10:00 a.m., the sky was mostly sunny and the wind was light at 3-8 mph out of the WSW. As the morning progressed and evolved into early afternoon the clouds rolled in and the sky darkened. It looked as if it was going to storm, or at least rain. But as it turned out, no rain fell and by 2:30 p.m. the sky had cleared again leaving nothing but blue sky.
With Jayden and Melissa napping and Kathleen and Ashley doing yoga and Pilate's, I took the opportunity to go fishing. With no fatheads in my minnow bucket I tipped my jig with a jumbo leech. I spent more than an hour in spots from Second Duck Point to a spot in front of my house to in front of Malay's without so much as a bite. So I went ashore to get a little lunch.
Everyone was still busy or napping so I went out onto the water again. The water temperature was 75 degrees, the sun was bright and the wind had died down completely. With those conditions I figured my best chance to hook a fish was to go bass fishing. With a spinnerbait tied on, I set up on the edge of the reeds in front of Norm's cabin.
I fished for more than an hour, moving slowly all the way to Schiebe's cabin. I made a 100 casts or more and couldn't hook a largemouth, or even a northern pike. With high skies, no wind and hot temperatures I decided it wasn't a good time to fish so I again made my way to shore.
Ashley and I went up to Birch Ridge Resort to buy a scoop of fathead minnows and on the way I noticed that the check engine light was on. I just had the truck serviced less than 1,000 miles ago so I'm not sure what's up. I'll have to take the truck into Bemidji on Monday to ensure all is working smoothly before we head down to St. Cloud later in the week.
We got back from Birch Ridge just in time for me to listen to A Prairie Home Companion, something I really enjoy doing on Saturday evenings at the lake.
After the "News from Lake Wobegon" I went outside and joined Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley on the dock. Actually, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley were on the Hot Dog in the water so I jumped in and joined them. With the water at 75 degrees, it was very pleasant being in the lake. The kids asked if I could pull the Hot Dog behind the boat, and I agreed.
We gathered some snacks and drinks and all climbed into the boat. The water was still dead calm so I motored out just a short distance from shore before we dropped the Hot Dog in the water. Melissa and Ashley climbed on the tube and off we went. We raced around Sucker Bay for 15 or 20 minutes before stopping in front of our house. Jayden wanted a turn to ride on the Hot Dog, so Ashley got off the tube and climbed back into the boat while Jayden joined his Mom on the Hot Dog.
I started to make a slow trip around the Bay but Jayden wanted to come back into the boat. At that point we all decided it was time to go back on shore and get dinner ready. I had made some BBQed pulled pork earlier and we added onion rings and a fruit salad to complete the dinner.
We were all tired so after cleaning up the dinner dishes and getting Jayden to bed I called it a night and went to bed myself. We'll try some fishing again tomorrow. Good night from Leech Lake.
June 29,2012 -- At Leech Lake
This morning Jayden came into our bedroom and woke up Kathleen and me sooner than we would have liked. As it turns out he was on a mission. My father, who along with my mother were set to leave for home in the Chicagoland area this morning, was waiting for us in the kitchen. He was there to tell us that sometime during the night, my mother rolled out of bed hitting her head on a chair and hurting her rib cage, and was currently lying in bed in some degree of pain.
Kathleen and I quickly got dressed and hurried over to the cabin where my parents are staying. My mother had a black eye and was holding onto her ribs in pain. Kathleen sprung into action getting ice packs made, giving my mother some pain medication and calling the hospital in Bemidji to see if we needed an appointment to have a doctor see my Mom.
We managed to get my Mom dressed, out the back door of the cabin and loaded into the car. I then drove her, me and my Dad into town to get her checked out at the Emergency Room (which was the hospital's recommendation).
Since Kathleen and I had planned to take Ashley, Melissa and Jayden down to St. Cloud today so a) the kids could see Kathleen's Mom and b) we could get Ashley to the airport by 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, plans had to be changed. Kathleen pushed Ashley's flight back to California out a week, called her family in St. Cloud to alert them to the change in plans and then start looking into alternate flights for herself; she was set to fly back to San Jose mid next week.
In the meantime, I got my Mom to the hospital where she was checked out -- including an X-ray -- and was found to have a badly bruised rib cage and black eye, but that nothing was broken or otherwise damaged. Good news. From the hospital, my parents and I went out to lunch since none of us had eaten before leaving the house this morning. Kathleen, in an effort to keep a promise to take Ashley and Melissa shopping, drove into Walker on the south side of Leech Lake for a day of fun. Dramatic change in plans, but all things considered, things worked out.
As for the weather today, it was another hot day in the Northwoods. The temperature at the lake inched up all day long to reach a high of 82 degrees, although it was nearly 90 degrees in Bemidji. The sky was mostly sunny with some high wispy clouds and the wind was blowing out of the WNW at speeds ranging from 10-20 mph. By the time we had returned from our Bemidji hospital trip, the wind was such that it was just a bit to rough on the lake for me to go fishing. And with Kathleen and the kids still in Walker, I decided it was best to stay on shore in case my Mom (and Dad) needed any assistance.
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Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley and Jayden got home from their trip into town around 7:00 p.m. The temperature had climbed all day and was 82 degrees when I got dinner started. I had picked up a couple of pizzas from Great River Pizzeria on the way home from Bemidji. We all enjoyed Friday night pizza at the lake.
The cool breeze that had been blowing eventually calmed leaving the lake nearly still. My Mom, Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley, Jayden and I all sat out on the end of the dock and watched the sunset. My Dad, who was up most of the night worrying about my Mom, was tired and went to bed early.
Once the sun was down, the mosquitoes came out so we retreated indoors. My Mom, also tired, went back to the cabin to go to sleep. Kathleen called it a day early, while I stayed up a bit and read the paper.
It surely was an eventful day, with a trip to the Emergency Room and significantly altered plans, but all in all, things ended up OK. My mother was not seriously injured and we all enjoying an additional day at Leech Lake. Good night.
Kathleen and I quickly got dressed and hurried over to the cabin where my parents are staying. My mother had a black eye and was holding onto her ribs in pain. Kathleen sprung into action getting ice packs made, giving my mother some pain medication and calling the hospital in Bemidji to see if we needed an appointment to have a doctor see my Mom.
We managed to get my Mom dressed, out the back door of the cabin and loaded into the car. I then drove her, me and my Dad into town to get her checked out at the Emergency Room (which was the hospital's recommendation).
Since Kathleen and I had planned to take Ashley, Melissa and Jayden down to St. Cloud today so a) the kids could see Kathleen's Mom and b) we could get Ashley to the airport by 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, plans had to be changed. Kathleen pushed Ashley's flight back to California out a week, called her family in St. Cloud to alert them to the change in plans and then start looking into alternate flights for herself; she was set to fly back to San Jose mid next week.
In the meantime, I got my Mom to the hospital where she was checked out -- including an X-ray -- and was found to have a badly bruised rib cage and black eye, but that nothing was broken or otherwise damaged. Good news. From the hospital, my parents and I went out to lunch since none of us had eaten before leaving the house this morning. Kathleen, in an effort to keep a promise to take Ashley and Melissa shopping, drove into Walker on the south side of Leech Lake for a day of fun. Dramatic change in plans, but all things considered, things worked out.
As for the weather today, it was another hot day in the Northwoods. The temperature at the lake inched up all day long to reach a high of 82 degrees, although it was nearly 90 degrees in Bemidji. The sky was mostly sunny with some high wispy clouds and the wind was blowing out of the WNW at speeds ranging from 10-20 mph. By the time we had returned from our Bemidji hospital trip, the wind was such that it was just a bit to rough on the lake for me to go fishing. And with Kathleen and the kids still in Walker, I decided it was best to stay on shore in case my Mom (and Dad) needed any assistance.
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Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley and Jayden got home from their trip into town around 7:00 p.m. The temperature had climbed all day and was 82 degrees when I got dinner started. I had picked up a couple of pizzas from Great River Pizzeria on the way home from Bemidji. We all enjoyed Friday night pizza at the lake.
The cool breeze that had been blowing eventually calmed leaving the lake nearly still. My Mom, Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley, Jayden and I all sat out on the end of the dock and watched the sunset. My Dad, who was up most of the night worrying about my Mom, was tired and went to bed early.
Once the sun was down, the mosquitoes came out so we retreated indoors. My Mom, also tired, went back to the cabin to go to sleep. Kathleen called it a day early, while I stayed up a bit and read the paper.
It surely was an eventful day, with a trip to the Emergency Room and significantly altered plans, but all in all, things ended up OK. My mother was not seriously injured and we all enjoying an additional day at Leech Lake. Good night.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
June 28, 2012 -- At Leech Lake
The wind this morning was blowing hard at 12-20 mph out of the WNW. The sky was mostly sunny and the temperature was 74 degrees. Although it was too breezy to go fishing or tubing, the wind sure cooled things off from the heat and humidity from yesterday.
We eased into the day with a pot of coffee, a breakfast of eggs, hash browns and sausage, and then went outside. It was such a wonderful day, despite the wind, that we all loved being outside.
Jayden and I played croquet, Bocce ball and had sword fights with sticks. We went on two different ATV rides including one when we went to the beach and threw rocks into the lake. Kathleen and the girls went for runs, bike rides and exercised out on the dock. What a fun day!
We had so much food left over from the past few days -- meat loaf, salmon, and ribs -- that we just had left overs tonight. Kathleen did make a cake so we could have an early birthday celebration for my Mom who has her birthday on July 2.
After dinner we watched the sunset, just hung out on the porch talking and enjoying the evening before going to bed. Tomorrow we need to take Ashley to St. Cloud so she can see her grandma Coyle before Ashley leaves early Sunday morning. We may stay down in St. Cloud until the Fourth of July, or we may come back up here. What we do will be determined in the next day or two.
As much as I'd like to do some fishing, I'm going to spend as much time as possible with my wife and kids before they all head back to California. Once they do, I'll focus my time on applying stain to the house and fishing. Stay tuned for detailed mid-summer fishing reports from Leech Lake.
We eased into the day with a pot of coffee, a breakfast of eggs, hash browns and sausage, and then went outside. It was such a wonderful day, despite the wind, that we all loved being outside.
Jayden and I played croquet, Bocce ball and had sword fights with sticks. We went on two different ATV rides including one when we went to the beach and threw rocks into the lake. Kathleen and the girls went for runs, bike rides and exercised out on the dock. What a fun day!
We had so much food left over from the past few days -- meat loaf, salmon, and ribs -- that we just had left overs tonight. Kathleen did make a cake so we could have an early birthday celebration for my Mom who has her birthday on July 2.
After dinner we watched the sunset, just hung out on the porch talking and enjoying the evening before going to bed. Tomorrow we need to take Ashley to St. Cloud so she can see her grandma Coyle before Ashley leaves early Sunday morning. We may stay down in St. Cloud until the Fourth of July, or we may come back up here. What we do will be determined in the next day or two.
As much as I'd like to do some fishing, I'm going to spend as much time as possible with my wife and kids before they all head back to California. Once they do, I'll focus my time on applying stain to the house and fishing. Stay tuned for detailed mid-summer fishing reports from Leech Lake.
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.
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.
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.
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| Another amazing sunset over Leech Lake |
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.
June 26, 2012 -- On Leech Lake -- 31st Wedding Anniversary
Today Kathleen and I celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary. We were married on the shores of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, MN, and here we are all these later once again in Minnesota, this time at Leech Lake.
And it was a beautiful at the lake. By 10:00 a..m. the temperature was 70 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny and blue and the wind was 8-12 mph out of the SSW so there was a bit of chop on the lake. Melissa and Ashley want to go tubing on the water as soon as possible, and if the wind dies down just a bit, we'll try to get out today.
Most of the morning and early afternoon we -- Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley, my parents, and I -- just hung around the house, drank coffee, had breakfast and enjoyed the beauty of the lake. By mid-afternoon, the temperature had risen to 78 degrees, the wind was still a bit breezy at 10-15 mph out of the SSE and the sky was sunny and blue.
The girls really wanted to go tubing (on the Hot Dog), so even though it was a little more windy than I'd like to pull a tube behind the boat, I acquiesced and onto the water we went.
I couldn't go real fast, nor could I swerve side to side and give them as crazy a ride as they like, but we still had fun on the lake. Even Jayden and Kathleen went for a ride.
Once back on shore, Jayden took a nap while Kathleen went running and Melissa and Ashley went on a bike ride. Jayden didn't sleep all that long and when he woke up he wanted me to take him on the ATV to find his mom and Ashley.
Jayden joined my on my Polaris 500 Sportsman and off we went. I didn't go much more than 10 or 12 mph because Jayden was with me, but we did manage to traverse the entire loop from our house to the community center up Ottertail Point Drive to 26th and back to our house. Somehow during that entire loop we didn't see Kathleen, Melissa or Ashley. Jayden and I arrived home to find Melissa and Ashley on the dock.
After we all cooled off and cleaned up we had a wonderful salmon and risotto dinner before we moved next door to have a camp fire. As the sun set and the sky darken, the clouds moved in and as a result we couldn't see the stars as well as we were hoping to. On a clear night, the stars are so bright here at the lake that it is easy to see the Milky Way, and billions of other stars.
We didn't have a chance to fish on the lake today, but we did have a great time at Leech Lake.
And it was a beautiful at the lake. By 10:00 a..m. the temperature was 70 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny and blue and the wind was 8-12 mph out of the SSW so there was a bit of chop on the lake. Melissa and Ashley want to go tubing on the water as soon as possible, and if the wind dies down just a bit, we'll try to get out today.
Most of the morning and early afternoon we -- Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley, my parents, and I -- just hung around the house, drank coffee, had breakfast and enjoyed the beauty of the lake. By mid-afternoon, the temperature had risen to 78 degrees, the wind was still a bit breezy at 10-15 mph out of the SSE and the sky was sunny and blue.
The girls really wanted to go tubing (on the Hot Dog), so even though it was a little more windy than I'd like to pull a tube behind the boat, I acquiesced and onto the water we went.
I couldn't go real fast, nor could I swerve side to side and give them as crazy a ride as they like, but we still had fun on the lake. Even Jayden and Kathleen went for a ride.
Once back on shore, Jayden took a nap while Kathleen went running and Melissa and Ashley went on a bike ride. Jayden didn't sleep all that long and when he woke up he wanted me to take him on the ATV to find his mom and Ashley.
Jayden joined my on my Polaris 500 Sportsman and off we went. I didn't go much more than 10 or 12 mph because Jayden was with me, but we did manage to traverse the entire loop from our house to the community center up Ottertail Point Drive to 26th and back to our house. Somehow during that entire loop we didn't see Kathleen, Melissa or Ashley. Jayden and I arrived home to find Melissa and Ashley on the dock.
After we all cooled off and cleaned up we had a wonderful salmon and risotto dinner before we moved next door to have a camp fire. As the sun set and the sky darken, the clouds moved in and as a result we couldn't see the stars as well as we were hoping to. On a clear night, the stars are so bright here at the lake that it is easy to see the Milky Way, and billions of other stars.
We didn't have a chance to fish on the lake today, but we did have a great time at Leech Lake.
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