Relaxing at Lake Vermillion!!!!

After "A Cappella Love" closed, I had a few days to regroup (i.e. do all the stuff I put off/avoided/ignored/didn't do), then Duane and I headed north to Lake Vermillion to spend a few days with our friend Janet, at the FABULOUS cabin she and her family built. 

OF COURSE we had to stop (on our way) in Cloquet to eat at Gordy's Hi Hat, because we try to hit ANY place featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives"!!!  I had the pizza burger...it was DELICIOUS!!!!

After Gordy's, we hit up the Wal-Mart to buy food (WAAAAY too much food!), and finally got to the lake around 10:00.  We found the boat (in the dark), dumped all of our luggage and supplies into the front, and headed to the island.  Janet did a GREAT job driving in the dark...except for the low wake buoy that she hit halfway there, but...the boat didn't sink, we didn't get dumped in the water, and the buoy was still there when we sped by the next day...so it was all good! 

I LOVE going to Janet and Greg's cabin!  They built it from the ground up...on an island...by ferrying everything by pontoon from the dock at Timbuktu...the "marina" area about 15 minutes away.

It's always SUCH a treat to go to their cabin...it's rustic, but has running water.  It's rugged, but has a composting toilet (or an outhouse...should you so choose).  It's rough, but there's a coffee maker and really really comfortable beds.

We spent the first evening (after unloading everything) lying on the dock, watching the GAZILLION stars and the end of the Perseid meteor shower.  It was dark...and quiet (except for an occasional loon)...and SOOO starry.  AMAZING!!!!!

We were only there for ONE full day (and parts of two others...coming and going), but we managed to cram a TON of fun into that full day...kayaking, speed boating around the lake, more kayaking, s'mores over the campfire, FABULOUS meals (I made bacon and cheese omelettes for breakfast, and we used up the rest of an AMAZING cherry tomato pasta sauce I made earlier in the week over gnocchi), wine on the deck, cards on the porch, a hike across the island, and lots and lots of great conversation.

Wrigley loves the lake too!!!

loons!

Janet SWAM halfway around the island with me in the "support kayak"

(and except for that part where I almost whacked her in the head with the paddle...it went well...)

Wrigley keeping an eye on us from the neighbor's dock!

SOMEONE wasn't very successful at getting from the kayak to the dock...

Relaxing after her swim!!!!

After an AWESOME night's sleep (so quiet, and cool...and dark...PERFECT for sleeping!), we got up to impending rain and wind, so got ready and headed off the island as soon as we could manage.  The ride from the dock to the other side of the big part of the lake was wet, and bumpy, and, frankly, a little tense, but we made it, and headed to Ely to meet our friend Pat for lunch.

Pat was the art teacher at my school, and took me under her wing when I started, since I had no mentor (like the other new teachers).  She showed me how to work the copy machine...where the teacher's lunch room was, and helped me in innumerable ways to adjust to my new job.  It was DELIGHTFUL to see her, and even though the weather was CRAZY (raining one minute...sunny the next...then rainy again...), we had a great time!!!!

After lunch and a little shopping, we headed back to the cities.  Such a great (yet brief) trip! 

Here's hoping you were able to "get away" recently too!!!!!!