Last of Itasca

John made brekkies again today, and Brownie came by to sleep on our couch all morning to stay out of the rain. Another morning like this and I could get just too used to this kind of living. Since it was to be pretty dreary all day, we opted for a long, lazy morning of double pots of coffee and lots of lake gazing. Around 12:30, we left for the Douglas Lodge Boat Tour of Lake Itasca. What an amazing way to spend the afternoon!! It was beautifully overcast, clouds of white and grey all over an expanse of sky that seemed to literally be half sunny, half storm cloudy. We saw a bunch of loons, an Osprey, a Bald Eagle and many beautiful trees starting to change color. They had a narrator on the boat that I feared might be a little annoying, but turned out to be pleasant and interesting. It was 2 hours of pure natures beauty.

Then it was back to the state park to try hiking again. Nope. We got all excited, started off on the trail, and within seconds we were turning back because the mosquitoes were eating us alive. John is covered in bites, itching miserably, and I even though dressed in long pants and hoodie, was getting annoyed with being so hot and unable to even remove the hood lest the bugs get right into my ears. Back to the car, back along the 10 mile scenic drive. We did take one .5 mile hike up to the observation tower that was a very wide, clear path and was nice despite a few mosquitoes. I got a little too wigged out about climbing this immense tower and wussed out about halfway up. John was a gentleman and just came down with me. We decided that between the mosquitoes, consistent rainfall and the fact that the afternoon was quickly turning into the evening, we left the park for the last time.

Dinner was on the grill again: chicken brats with spinach and sage, corn on the cob, baked beans and S'mores. Brownie the cat was there for more mooching; he loved sweet corn and snubbed everything else!! The corn really was fantastic, and it all hit the spot. The mosquitoes drove us in again, and we've been packing, cleaning and getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. We're excited to see our own kitties again, though it was nice to have a surrogate here :)