Voyageurs National Park: Kettle Falls

On the way to Kettle Falls, Herb sits in the left seat while Rick operates the boat from the right seat. 

Cool morning temperatures and a cloudy sky inspired me to wear my nylon jacket when we walked the forest trail to the dock on Rainy Lake.

This is the Kettle Falls Dam.  The U.S./ Canadian border runs through the middle of the dam.

The Land of Sky Blue Water

The first destination of our recent road trip was the border waters of northern Minnesota.  If this scene looks familiar, you may remember it from the old Hamms beer commercials.  The trees on the left are in the U.S., and those on the right are in Canada. 

Long Shadows on the Trail

Our part of the country has been baking under the August sun for pretty much the last couple of weeks.  We have had actual temperatures reaching over 100 degrees in the afternoons.


We have been taking our walks early in the morning when it's a "only" in the low 80s outdoors.  On the day of this photo we walked on the new part of the trail, made of crushed limestone.

Powell Gardens

This morning we took a look at The Weather Channel, and all indicators pointed to a pleasant morning.  The early morning temperature was around 70 degrees, and by noon it would climb to the mid 80s.  Considering that this is August in the Midwest, we were going to have a nice day for getting outdoors.  We decided to go to Powell Gardens, the botanical garden of the Kansas City area.  www.powellgardens.org/ 


After walking through the Butterfly Pavilion (the special exhibit this weekend), we walked all around the Gardens.

Look closely at the small dot at the top middle of the silo.  That's me with my arm raised, waving.  The silo is part of  the fruit and vegetable section of Powell Gardens.  We climbed a spiral staircase to the top, and enjoyed a really nice view.






  

Portrait of a Retired Person

 

Today I joined the ranks of the retired.  It was not an easy thing to do, because I had been performing my job for quite a few years, and there are many things about it that I will miss.  I will be forever thankful for the work I was given to do and the people with whom I worked.


It was time to retire, though.  I look forward to morning walks and afternoon naps.  If I get up at 5 am, it will be because I choose to get up then.  In high school I was known as an artist.  It's time to be an artist again.  Once an English major, always an English major, there are books to read and hopefully things to write about.  There are sewing projects.   There is a house that needs better feng shui.  There are grown children and growing grandchildren to visit.  There are national parks to explore.  It is possible that I will do better about cooking.  Next winter when there is snow and ice, I will be comfortably at home in my sweat pants.


This is something of a big change in my life...  we shall see how it all unfolds.

Improvements to the Longview Lake Trails

Improvements are underway along the Longview Lake biking and hiking trails.  The old asphalt is being removed and replaced with crushed limestone, as shown in the photo.  The improved trails will be considerably wider, too, which will provide added safety for bicyclists and walkers.  There's still a bit of work to be done, but progress has been made.

The Luna Moth

A luna moth has been on our patio door screen at least since Saturday morning.  Oh, and by the way, they don't glow in the dark like they show on the Lunesta commercials.