Bee balm and perennial geranium

First year for the bee balm which is blooming bright red.  The perennial geranium is a single plant the must be around 4' in diameter.  The color and blooms have lasted a really long time.

Retirement projects

With a big shout out to JT, the main project has been completed - the repair of the front porch door.  JT did a miraculous rebuild if the door from multiple pieces and shards to a brand new looking and functional door.  All I had to do was paint, reattach the hardware and hang.

Getting it the exterior white paint prompted me to also paint the nine porch storm windows.  I have a feeling that when they go back in in the fall will mean the porch ell also need to be painted.

The third project, and not on the original list, was widening the back walk next to the garage.  I like to keep the recycle bin under the garage overhang which narrows the walkway.  Also there is not a good path into the raspberry patch.

I have the stone pieces from the patio repair and thought they would look nice and function well.  And I always prefer to reuse whatever I have - I'm cheap as well as eco.

I think that expanded walkway looks great.  I still need to figure out what to do with the patch of land next to the raspberries.

Northern Minnesota adventures

On Sunday Father's Day, I went up to Jenny and Andrew's cabin in northeast Minnesota near Lake Superior.  It is a long drive so I left fairly early at 9:30am. The drive up was beautiful and uneventful.  The rest of the trip was not going to be as calm.

Jenny and Andrew just got a pontoon boat so when I got there in the late afternoon, Jenny and I went out for a ride on the lake.  Andrew had left early Sunday to return to Minneapolis.  Jenny is spending three weeks up at the cabin because her work has 3 separate groups of middle-school kids camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area (BWCAW).  She stays at her cabin so she can supervise getting the groups in and out.

Monday we went on a 14 mile round-trip bike ride on the "Grade" - the main gravel road near the cabin. We went to Thompson's Falls wherevJenny cooled her feet in the water.  It is a beautiful waterfall which we think is the start of the Cascade river.

After the bike ride, we drove a few miles to Crescent Lake to go swimming.  Crescent lake is another stunning lake up in the north country.

Back to the cabin where we went canoeing on Gust Lake which is where the cabin is. We were searching for a possible loon nest. A pair of loons seem to be staying on the lake.

We didn't find the nest but we did find the new beaver lodge and water iris blooming in various places.

The lupine are blooming everywhere especially along the sides of the roads. They are very so pretty.

Monday had been a day of health with all the activities. It was also a beautiful sunny day. That was to be the last.  It got cloudy Monday night ruining any chance to see northern lights.

Tuesday, the first group of campers were coming out of the wilderness so we drove up the Gunflint Trail to meet them and coordinate getting on the coach bus.

On the way up the Trail, we stopped to rescue a turtle that had been hit by a vehicle. Her shell was split so all we could do was put her in the grass and hope for the best.

It was wet and misty at the top of the Trail at Seagull lake but not too bad. All the kids and adult supervisors were in good spirits. We followed the bus down to Grand Marais and stayed there for a while so Jenny could catch up with work. There is no phone or internet service at the cabin so any trip to "civilisation" is used for multiple purposes.

Back at the cabin, I went for a run. My "retirement" is still supposed to be about restoring health.  I jogged to the "moose"pond but no sightings. However the 4 days was teeming with animals. I ended up seeing four moose including one bull with antlers, several deer including a fawn, a pair of fox, loons, lots of snowshoe hare including a very, very small baby one.

It stormed like crazy Tuesday night. Lots of lightening and thunder but none of that was on top of us. The topology in northeast Minnesota is strange. There is actually very little dirt even though it is completely forested. The trees appear to grow right out of the rocks -- which is precisely what they do. The rain immediately flows into creeks and rivers and lakes which all make their way to Lake Superior or flow north toward Hudson Bay (Laurentian Divide).

There are a few radio stations available at the cabin including a Minnesota Public Radio station which has news every half hour. We were hearing about the bad storms and rain in Duluth and were concerned that the bus that was scheduled to get the second group of kids on Wednesday would have trouble getting through.

I got up early Wednesday to check the news and it did not sound good. We decided to head out early to find the status of the bus. Another cabin owner had made it through Duluth Wednesday night and offered the use of his cell phone -- he had a long antennae installed. He did not have service so we headed to "the phone booth" - a clearing on a hill about 4 miles away. No service there either.

It had rained all night but had stopped by morning though the forecast for Duluth was for more rain. We decided our best bet was to get to Grand Marais as soon as possible.

No good news in Grand Marais. All that was available was local phone service - no cell phones and no internet. Jenny tried contacting the local sheriff office. We had 45 middle-school kids and 7 adults who were expecting to get back to the Twin Cities and so were their parents. Local emergency services were not able to help us. It was suggested we go to a lodge on the Gunflint Trail to see if they had a satellite phone. We got to Poplar Trading Post where they had satellite internet, no satellite phone, but were able to call up the Trail to the camp.

We had not been able to find the bus in Grand Marais. From Popluar Trading Post we were able to send emails to Jenny's work in Minneapolis and found out the bus and driver had gotten stranded in Duluth. It started to pour down rain again at Poplar and the satellite went out. We got back in the truck and headed to the camp.

It was not raining at the camp on the end of the Trail but we had to deliver the bad news that they would not be going home as originally planned. Everyone was soaked to the bone and so was most of the gear. The camp was great though. They have enough buildings and resources to take care of everyone and attempted to keep spirits high. Phone service was restored soon after we arrived so Jenny was able to talk to her co-workers on Minneapolis.

We stayed a couple of hours. Jenny talked with everyone and calmed down the most stressed out. We headed back down the Trail to have dinner in Grand Marais and celebrate the summer solstice (see separate posting).

We got back to the cabin exhausted from a long, long day. We did find out that the bus and driver had gotten out of Duluth and had made it to Grand Marais. That meant he would be able to get to the campers early Thursday morning and hopefully back to the Twin Cities. I was also hoping to make it home Thursday

Thursday - I got up early to see Jenny off. She wanted to get to the camp by 7:30am. The sky was clearing so it was looking hopeful though the news out of Duluth was not good.

I went back to sleep for a while and left around 9am. I drove by the "moose" pond but no moose. I headed down the Caribou Trail to the Highway 61. About a mile before the gravel road becomes paved I saw my last moose! Good omen I thought..

Thursday's weather was gorgeous. I stopped at the Split Rock Lighthouse wayside to see the lighthouse. Lake Superior was brown from all the rivers spilling the rain runoff into the lake.

There were a couple of washouts close to the side of the road but nothing blocking until just north of Duluth. Bypass 61 was closed at the Knife River. Detoured to old 61 where you could see just how high the river had been. There were logs and trees piled over another bridge which was closed but not the one I was on.

I made it to and through Duluth but Interstate 35 was closed south of Cloquet. No detour signs here so had to figure out a route. Ran into another detour but did get back home by about 2:30pm.

It ended up being a big northern adventure.

Summer Solstice - Grand Marais, MN

Jenny and I were in Grand Marais Wednesday for the solstice, however, it was all fog and no sun.

Hail

Was just about to go to late coffee when it started to hail big time.

Leaving Twins - Phillies Game

Twins lost - barely.  It was a nice evening for a baseball game.

Retirement breakfast

At Isles with Liz, Donna and Christine.

My new favorite fish

This is an actual fish, actually one of many, that was swimming around me while snorkeling today. It is black as velvet with these two white neon lines where the upper and lower fins connect to its body.  It propels itself with those upper and lower fins.  It doesn't have side fins.

I have done nothing to enhance the picture other than crop to this size. 

There were many of these guys along with other kinds that stayed around me. 

Today, I joined a family that were taking a diving lesson. I snorkeled while they dived with the instructor.  We boated to a reef just south of the international pier.

A valuable lesson

After walking a few hours in the heat and humidity...with a backpack restricting circulation to your arms and hands...do not use the meaty part of your thumb as a drum pad and an empty plastic water bottle as a drum stick.

It may be a little subtle in this picture but my thumb is all black and blue and very sore.

bruised thumb

A lot of wind

Yesterday was very windy and overcast, however, it was rain free.  I've been jogging/walking first thing in the mornings.  There is a new bike and walking paved path all the way from town to almost the golf course. It is signed as being 5 kilometers.

I've been jogging from Coral Princess at about marker 1.5k to the end and back.  Have yet to jog the entire distance without walking part if it or getting distracted by the wildlife.  Finally saw some iguanas this morning sunning next to the beach.

Had a very relaxing massage yesterday.  It was outside in the tent at the far end of the property.  Natural ocean and breeze sounds.

Walked into town yesterday to get some supplies - water, crackers, and very expensive peanut butter.  I also walked back from town instead of catching a taxi. That was a lot of walking for one day.  I may lose that 5 lbs afterall.  If I just didn't stay for happy hour each evening.

No snorkeling yesterday.  Took a day off.

Happy Hour

A beautiful mostly sunny day today.

A lot of rain

It has been raining quite a bit.  Walked to the corner store, Sedena, in a slight rain.  Didn't get too wet but the humidity basically means nothing ever dries.

It stopped raining long eniugh to take a long snorkel.  Saw some fantastic fishes including a stick crab, a sea snake, two eels (one out hunting), a lobster, two moe lion fish, and lots of beautiful sponges.

stick crab

something I'm calling a sea centipede

  Flowering trees, shrubs and vines are everywhere.

Was walking in to town in the evening for the Sunday festivities when I got caught in a downpour. So I ducked into the Love Bar on the edge of town.  I had already had two happy hour margaritas at Coral Princess and was still kind of tipsy but it was happy hour at the Love Bar which was two-for-one.  Had a couple of beers and listened to a great cover band while waiting out the rain.

It finally easednup and I walked the rest of the way to the main plaza and dinner at Casa Dennis.  The same waiter that has been there every time I go is still there.  It had completely stopped raining but the plaza was very quiet.  I took a cab ride back to the hotel.

Vacation started

Arrived a bit late.  There was a problem with the airplane's radio on the flight from Atlanta to Cozumel.  Had to change to a different plane. 

I missed happy hour but I still made it in time to do a little snorkeling.

This is a lion fish that was lying on the sea floor.  I don't recall actually ever seeing a real lion fish in the wild.  Supposedly they are very dangerous.

It hadn't gotten very cloudy so I thought the sunset would be a bust. Instead it was quite the opposite. This picture was taken several minutes after the sun had gone below the horizon.

Post retirement party hangover food

Fun time last night.  Flying to Mexico today.  Craving junk food.

Early (and short?) Retirement

A big "THANK YOU" to my friends who showed up in the backyard to celebrate my new retirement (unemployment status)!