Up North Again

We decided to head back up to the cottage one last time before this little baby comes. Scott suggested we bring one of the kayaks so we both could go. We stopped at Fleet Farm on the way to pick up a transporter. Unfortunately the vibrating ropes were so loud we couldn't handle the noise and after an hour we stuffed it back in the car.

It'll be fine to use on city streets, but on the highway it sounded like a turbine engine. Since we only had one of the kayaks it nearly fit in the car. I had to strap down the hatch, but it was a quiet ride the rest of the way up.

Every time we see my parents they say, "You didn't bring Peanut?" So this time we did.

For some reason Mr. Mike's pants were drying everywhere. I'm sure Peanut enjoyed the hiding spots they created.

I got started on my painting while Scott ate his pancakes.

It was a pretty chilly day. The coat I brought is getting pretty tight so I borrowed one of my moms. Scott liked the old name of my dad's business. 

I wanted to wear some rain pants, but we couldn't find any.

We were about to embark on our kayaking adventure when I heard my mom yell, "Careful don't tip over!" or something to that extent. I turned around and saw Scott's boat flipped over with him waist deep sitting in the water. My first reaction was where's the camera? He stands up and out of the water comes the camera. 

I briskly walked back to the house and found a towel and asked for a blow dryer.

We let it sit in the sun, used a blow dryer and tried an air compressor to get as much water out of the body and lens.

The rest of the day I had a lump in my throat.

For lunch we had grilled cheese and tomato soup. Scott added cheetos to his.

This is way better than I could've imagined.

This weekend happened to be free fishing weekend. Even though my dad had been out fishing the day before, we convinced him to take us. 

I was the only one who caught anything. A little blue gill. 

My pants and boots were a little wet from the brief dive into the lake. It was nice nonetheless to try my hand at fishing. I haven't went since I was in middle school.

I did almost caught a window screen.

I always wondered what a pier was doing in the middle of Dog Lake. Apparently this used to be rail bridge.

We tried several different spots and had no luck. My dad couldn't believe it. 

After a few hours of fishing we went back to shore. I worked on more of my painting. Only 7 more trips to the cottage and I'll be done. 

The D300 was working like a champ when I got back. I let it sit by the heat vent for the rest of night. I kept on drying out the innards of the lens since there was some water sitting on the second lens element.

With all the fish my dad caught the day earlier we had another fish fry. 

Mama Gail and I had some of the beer I got from my recent shoot at Harriet Brewing. I really dig their maibock.

Mom made potato salad. 

I actually really liked it, but she's got to use a bit less onions next time. Perhaps she could finely chop them while she's at it.

My little fish I caught only amounted to two bites. 

My parents had to head back home. We decided to stick around for another couple of days. 

As you can see, I'm always reading about how to be a mom. 

After leaving the camera near the heater all night it seemed to dry up all the water inside. Luckily it still works. 

I took the lens and camera out for a test run and it seemed no worse for wear.

I noticed a few water spots on the aforementioned second piece of glass, but it didn't show up in any images.

Scott made his famous crepes for breakfast.

Bananas foster this time. I should've cooked down some cherries.

We decided to try kayaking again this time leaving the camera behind. 

I wasn't quite ready to bring the D300 back on the lakes.

We made it all the way past Big Stone Golf Course before the wind got the best of us.

The sun was out and it was actually warm enough to sit outside. Had it been 5 degrees warmer I may have braved the water and went swimming. 

Brooke had a peanut butter sandwich while I ate leftover steak. Thanks Mama Gail!

After lunch I decided to do some more documenting i.e. making sure my camera and lens still worked.

Gail asked me to get the Dutch girl that goes with this, but I thought it better to photograph the desperate Dutch boy all alone.

Since we come up quite often and someone isn't always there we decided to get our own key. 

Then we walked around Three Lakes a bit. 

I had never noticed this little place along Superior St.

We picked up a few things from the grocery store. Scott made meatballs for dinner and then we relaxed the rest of the evening. 

We watched David Lynch's film The Elephant Man. It was very different from his other films. 

It did a great job at approximating the look and feel of the black and white era.

The next morning we had french toast. 

Lately baby hates car rides. It lets me know by flailing it's whole body the entire car ride. I really hope it doesn't act the same way in real life. 

We both woke up pretty sore from our previous kayak adventure. We debated on going again. I said we should just stretch and it will be fine. 

After a few lunges we were ready to go back out on open water.

This time Scott said no big lakes. 

They get boring after a while.

We decided to venture down a channel that would eventually bring us to a small creek. 

I decided I felt sure enough of myself that I could take the camera with me. We both launched from the beach instead of stepping down into the kayaks.

This ride was much more peaceful and relaxing than the one the day before. 

After a little while I wasn't afraid of taking photos out on the kayak.

It's fun to peer at people's docks. These guys are quite the perfectionists.

It's pretty cool when the docks come out of nowhere. There house has to be really secluded.

After awhile it started to drizzle on us. 

I put my camera down at the bottom of the hull and only took it out for a quick shot.

We found the creek and it started to get narrower and narrower. My boat is longer than Scott's so I was having trouble on the sharp turns. 

At some point we had to make a U turn. 

I stupidly didn't bring any food along. About a mile from home I started running out of energy. Home seemed so far away.

We made it nearly 7 miles!

I immediately ate some cherries and nuts. 

We were gone most of the day and missed lunch. Since it was pretty much dinner time Scott added some cheese to the spaghetti and meatballs and made it a bake.

I also threw in the sausage we had smoked over the fire last week.

We were pretty tired and sore from the last two days and it was cold and rainy so we stayed in again. 

This time we watched The Education of Charlie Banks. 

By the end of this film my back was killing me.

The next morning we cleaned up the cottage and packed up. This was the last time it will be just the two of us.

Baby's going to love going up north.