We happened to be driving through Manitowish Waters so figured this was finally my chance to go to Little Bohemia Lodge . Brooke's wanted to go here forever. So why not? Even if you arrive when the restaurant opens, expect to wait. Better yet, make a reservation if you plan on going. Rookie mistake on our part. But I guess it could be worse than hanging at their old school bar with some brewskis and Shirley Temples. There seemed to be a lot of open tables. Sounded like they were understaffed.  Most had went back to school for the season. I did not expect the famed bullet holes to be right next to the tables. There were holes everywhere.

The  kickoff to our Boundary Waters trip started with a cookout in Duluth.   Right along the rocky shores of east Duluth. Burgers and playing in Lake Superior, what could be better for this little bub. We camped at Jay Cooke state park for the night, then drove back to Duluth for some Duluth Grill breakfast. Had we known that we were meeting with Blake and Daniel on the far side of Duluth, we'd have stayed in Two Harbors. But I guess it worked out. Duluth Grill is still delicious. Meadow is now in her, "Why are you taking photos of me" phase. We had some time before getting to Voyageur Canoe Outfitters so stopped in Grand Marais. 

On my visit to Wisconsin last week I accidentally left behind my rain coat. I wasn't going to see my parents until Labor Day. With this rainy summer and a Boundary Waters trip coming up I was going to need it back. They happened to be in Duluth this weekend so we agreed to meet halfway. To make the drive a little easier I booked a campsite at Banning State Park. This is our first camping trip with our new car. No box needed. I was in Cincinnati, so couldn't tag along. Mac and cheese for dinner. I was worried with all the rain this summer the bugs would be terrible, but it wasn't bad at all. We played a few rounds of catch-em stick-em. Then popcorn before it got dark. Meadow helped me with breakfast.

  On our drive to the cottage we stopped at our favorite ice cream shop: Klemish Creamery .  One of the farm cats wasn't looking so good and kept coming over by us so we finished our ice cream in the car.  He reeked.  That cat's gotta be put down.  Not a great endorsement, but ate our ice cream in the car and enjoyed it.  Meadow and Theo went straight to coloring outside when we got to the cottage. While waiting for breakfast we played a round of Cards Against Humanity family version.  Even baby Viola joined in. At least for a little while. Blake is always playing some sort of game with the kids. 

Thank goodness Meadow had her last day of school and Scott had some work up north. We got out of the boring house and tagged along with him. On Tuesday night I had worked in New York Mills for my annual Lund boat shoot. I stayed at Menahga's Spirit Lake Motel and Resort as a change of pace. When I returned I finally confirmed that I'd be shooting on Friday in Park Rapids just up the road from Menahga. After debating whether to camp we decided to just stay at the Sprit Lake Motel since we'd be arriving late at night. In the morning Theo was ready to take pictures with one of our old cameras. We had first breakfast at the local bakery. Chocker's Bakery . Comes highly recommended from, well, all of us. Meadow approves. We all approve. Scott had to work so us kids explored Park Rapids. Who knew Park Rapids was the Wild West? In all seriousness, I came up to photograph the Jeweler of the North . They'd recently moved from their old location up on the North Shore. After h...

We're trying to enjoy our last few weeks in our condo and the neighborhood. We have been going for daily walks, to the park mostly.   We will miss the park so much.   I saw on Instagram that Bogart's now has donut sundaes. We convinced the kids to leave their kickball game to go get some.    Also loving our new blender.    Thanks basement store.  

  Theo and I have been getting in Lake Harriet adventures since we won't be as close after the move. Theo loves his secret hideout. He even manages to pronounce the h these days. Theo still brings his blankie everywhere he can. At least when I don't catch him before we get out of the house.  

I had a gig up in the Boundary Waters with Voyageur Canoe Outfitters planned six months ago. It was only a couple weeks before that, eight other locations signed onto shoots in Cook County. We started our Gunflint Trail trip in Duluth with dinner at OMC.