Heather and Barry's Homepage

Waking up today had the same pattern as almost all other mornings; Barry got up and began making breakfast and I started breaking up the house. I then went to the lake to begin the picture taking for the day. The lake at this campground had two lighthouse-type items on two separate peninsulas, which I recorded. There was also a “big blue ship” of which I took a picture or two or ten. Barry walked to the closest peninsula and started scrambling on the rocks. I quickly followed, taking more pictures as I went. When I had exhausted all of the image-capturing I could handle in this location, I let Barry know and we packed ourselves into the car for our last leg of our trip to Plymouth, Minnesota. applause

With our cell phones up and waiting to be used now that we were back in the states, we checked for coverage. It seems that cell towers alternate between Sprint and Cingular on Route 61 South, for there were times when Barry had coverage but I didn’t and vice versa. As soon as enough bars on the phone proved to be predictable, I called my aunt and uncle. I told them where we were and in return received an ETA as well as a “Heather-friendly” place to stop for a quick nibble along the way.

Between Two Harbors and Duluth along the scenic route of 61, we were told we should stop at the Scenic Café. Being the good little niece that I am, I listened to my wise and all-knowing relatives. Neither Barry’s nor my taste buds and tummies regretted it. The food was out-of-this-world yummilicious and the menu, as promised, had many vegetarian options. We ordered sweet corn and vegetable soup to start with, and sandwiches for a “small” snack. While we were eating our appetizer, a large group (I mean LOTS) of men on Harley’s drove into the parking lot. I finished the soup that I wanted and followed Barry’s advice to go and take some pictures. As I was framing this one shot that I wanted, one of the bikers approached me, saying, “what a great idea!” We talked a bit about his trip and then we wished each other luck on our adventures and said our good-byes. I returned just in time for the arrival of our sandwiches. Barry was braised beef with Asian sauce, pineapple, and cilantro on a bagel. I requested a made-to-order [don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it!] tempeh sandwich with asparagus, marinated apples, pecans, and raisin bread. Knowing that dinner was coming only a few short hours in the future, I restrained myself and cut my sandwich in half, asking our server, Jennifer, to box the other half for me to take with me. Barry and I also ordered a full triple berry pie to bring the hosts of the next few days of our trip. As we were paying the tab, Jennifer asked me to send her (and the café) the pictures of the Harley riders. She gave me the café’s email address and I told her that I’d get them to her as soon as possible.

With the tab paid, we gathered our belongings and headed straight to Medicine Lake where the MN Roes live. We were in the neighborhood three hours later when Streets and Trips led us astray again (perhaps it just doesn’t like Minnesota). Seconds after we turned around on Kirkwood, searching the numbers to find the right house, the cell phone rang. It was my uncle, who had seen us drive by without stopping, and had called to save us from driving around in circles and bring us to the mothership.

We got out of the air-conditioned car and I thought I had entered another planet; the temperature changes between the beginning of the day when we were chilly during our morning stroll and downtown Minneapolis were startling. Sweat pooled in the corners of my eyes within the few minutes that it took to gather the few bags that needed to be taken in to the house. My aunt and uncle met us outside (they were crazy to leave the house) and after smothering me with affection and giving Barry the appropriate handshake and/or hug, basically took everything from my arms. With sweat covering almost every inch of my body, I followed them into their refreshing air-conditioned house. They led Barry and me to the guest room and told us to let them know when we had settled in.

It was about a half-hour, forty-five minutes later when Uncle Steve, Aunt Sharon, Barry, Leila, and I sat down to eat. Already overstuffed from lunch, Barry and I ate small portions of my aunt’s delicious home cooking of gazpacho, rice, chicken (for all carnivores in the house), and the famous green beans that Barry loves so much and I have yet to replicate. We were content to know that despite our small intake of the scrumptious dinner cooked for us, leftovers would ensue for meals to come. The evening ended with Leila camping out in the cabin after giving us all goodnight hugs and the grown-ups staying up significantly later to fill everybody in on as much of a year’s worth of catching up could be done before eyelids started drooping at around 2:00ish AM CDT.