Kabetogama, Minnesota

Good Minnesota morning to you, my friends, and Happy September! We got on the road early yesterday morning for a drive of nearly 350 miles. What remained of our drive through North Dakota looked like all the roads we traveled there...wide open and flat. It was our first time traveling to that part of the state, and we were pleasantly surprised at the beauty we found there.

We traveled around 50 miles when we crossed the Red River...yes, of the Red River Valley...

and hellllllloooooo Minnesota!

As we made our way in a north-easterly direction, it didn't look much different until we started seeing more trees.

We passed by Itasca State Park, where one can find the headwaters of the Mississippi River. We'd visited there before, and so we passed it by this time. If you want to read more about it, though, you can read this old blog post from our visit in 2014. You can also see where we met up with a giant Paul Bunyon and his ox Babe in Bemidji. We drove around the perimeter of Bemidji yesterday, but never ventured any closer to the lake.

We were traveling mostly straight, two-lane roads during yesterday's travel, but here in the Land of a Thousand Lakes, we saw a lot more water. On our previous trip, a native Minnesotan claimed it was really the Land of a Hundred Thousand Lakes.

We passed by a lot of farmland, but not very many barns.

But there were plenty more lakes.

We've noticed that the trees get scrubbier and shorter as we get farther north. We're heading toward International Falls, where the weatherman often reports the coldest temperature in the nation.

When we crossed over the Little Fork River, we were getting close to our final destination in Kabetogama.

We aren't camped within Voyageurs National Park, but it seems the park is all around us.

We're right beside Kabetogama Lake. When we were set up, we took a little stroll down to the lakeshore. There were some beautiful flowers growing there. These are Cosmos.

They were humming with bees.

There were some pretty daylilies there too.

To the right of the flowers, the pet station gave us a chuckle.

Turning directly around, there was a small dock with boats that were available for rental.

Since we're taking the Grand Tour of Voyageurs National Park tomorrow, we probably won't rent a boat here. The Kabetogama Visitor's Center is just around the bend in the image below.

We've taken the same tour before, and we loved it so much, we decided to come back and do it again. Our shadow selves are excited about it too.

You can read my post about our last tour right here. On that trip, we took off from the International Falls Visitor Center, and this time, we will leave from a different place.

Now that Smitty got a taste for walking outside at our last stop, he was chomping at the bit to get outside again here. Although there were strange noises and Mans running around, he was very brave and got in a good half hour walk. Also, the grass here in Meownnesota is flavorful and delicious.

We have three nights here in Kabetogama (two now), and our boat tour is not until tomorrow. Today, we don't have anything planned. We'll probably head over to the national park just to get our bearings and learn if there are some hiking trails. You and I will both find out together what's in the works for the day. I can assure you, laundry will be on the list. It's been five days since I've been able to run our washer. Since it takes only small loads, there's a lot of catching up to do.

I have a couple more things to tell you today. You might remember when I participated in a "Collaborative Embroidery Project," at the request of Sam Hunter of Hunter Design Studio. Participants were sent an email with the following instructions:

Cut a piece of solid-colored cotton fabric to 6'' x 6''

Mark off a half-inch border all around with easy-to-remove tape, like blue painter's tape (I need this for seam allowance) leaving a 5'' x 5'' window in the middle.

Mark your name along the bottom of the fabric window in stitch or permanent pen on the FRONT. This will indicate which way is up and credit you visibly as a contributor.

 

Follow these stitching instructions:

This is the part where you get to do it *your* way. Don't consult with anyone about it!

Choose a thread that contrasts with your fabric

Using the thread, stitch a line on the fabric

Choose another color of thread

Stitch a second line that crosses the first

The reveal for the quilt blocks is today. Below is my contribution. 

She received 220 submissions that have now been sewn into a quilt. Reveal for the whole quilt will be in November. I'll admit I'm very excited to see it. You can see more block submissions at this #myriadinterpretationsoflanguage hashtag.

Oh yes, and one more thing. You might remember when I took this photo...

on one of our visits to Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, Arizona. Mike and I follow a newsletter entitled RVTravel. Recently they started a twice-weekly photo contest where readers are invited to submit photos for a chance to win. I was notified a few days ago that my photo was a winner, and that I'd won a $50 Amazon gift card. Not bad! I was supposed to respond within 24 hours...which I've done...but so far haven't heard anything more from them. It's been nearly 48 hours now, so I'm hopeful they'll follow through and get back to me about the gift card soon. 

All right...time for breakfast and to get on with whatever the day holds. There will be laundry. And there will probably be cat walking. And there will be dispensing of kitty treats. And there will be kitty petting. And there will be slow-stitching. (I'm close to finishing my current quilt block.) Other than that...the sky's the limit.