Summer road trip, part 3
Monday, July 2 to Thursday, July 5
A spouse is the only member of your family who you choose. Everyone else is your family by fate.
Fate was kind to me because Phil's family includes a big, friendly band of aunts, uncles, cousins on both his maternal and paternal sides. Get-togethers are usually a delight.
But I would be honored to be friends with Ann and Paul, Phil's cousin and her husband, even if family ties were not the reason we became acquainted. After spending time with them over the years at Indiana lake houses, this was the first summer we visited Ann and Paul at their lake house in Minnesota.
Besides standing on the shores of a couple of the Great Lakes, Mille Lacs was the largest lake I have ever visited. It covers more than 200 square miles spread over three different counties.
It's perfect for swimming off the pier.
Phil and I are accustomed to puttering in a slow pontoon on a tiny lake in Indiana, which is pleasant and relaxing.
Skimming over the waves of a huge lake in a boat with a 300 hp motor is a thrill ride.
Fishing is one of Mille Lacs' primary attractions but fishing for walleye, as it turns out, is subject that threatens to fracture the sense of community among residents and business owners.
No fishing for us while we were there, and I am OK with that as I prefer eating fish to catching it. We did, however, get to see one really big fish.
(Gnome added for scale.)
Fortunately, we did get to enjoy walleye one evening with our imported-from-Wisconsin Spotted Cow.
Our fish fry, by the way, featured walleye that was lawfully caught on another lake.
Not sure that there is anything better than freshwater, kissed with a dash of hot sauce, and accompanied by an ice cold beer.
Weather was kind to us; there was only a few showers and they arrived and left in the early morning hours. Temperatures were in the low 80s and the humidity was negligible. Over the course of three days, we toured the lake for the sheer joy of it and to visit a couple of local bars, Bayview and Izaty's, for lunches
One trip took us by Spirit Island, the smallest national wildlife refuge and, apparently, the biggest meet-up joint for water fowl on the lake. While this crazy symmetrical pile of rocks is kind of wondrous, as a roost for so many birds in such a tight place, the putrid stench assaults the nose from more than 200 yards away.
We ventured out in the boat for fireworks on the night of the Fourth of July, heading out just as the sun was dropping into the horizon. The show was about 12 miles from our pier, which didn't seem like such a long trek while there was a coral-tinged glow on the water.
After the fireworks, we scraped off bug guts from the bazillion gnats that swarmed us while we were idle and we glided back to the lake house. In the now-inky water, those dozen miles felt more like a hundred. But we had total faith in our seasoned captain Paul.
And while it wasn't exactly a sky full of stars, the night is so much brighter over the lake than it ever is in the light-polluted city. Gazing up was just a little magical. I may never forget that boat ride.
And I will never forget spending a few great days with great friends. When it comes to family, I got very lucky.
