The Long, Long Drive

We decided to leave the house at about 4:30 am on a Monday morning to go pick up Kahlen. I had worked but got off early at midnight. I decided not to take a nap or sleep at all, I know how hard it is to get my butt going after even a little sleep. It just didn't make any sense. I drank some ice tea and did some laundry. I didn't want to leave my glaze splattered clothes where they might attract ants into the house.

Willie got up around 3:30 am, which really is only a half hour before he usually gets up. We finished packing up the last few things and got Bazinga ready to go to our son Josh's house. Bazinga would get to spend the week with his best girl Talula. Mia would be looked in on by a neighbor. We were out of the house on time and on our way.

We dropped off Bazinga and got to Kahlen's house at around 6:30. She was up and ready to go. Paxton was up too, trying very hard to be a good sport about being left behind, this time. His turn will  come in three years. Lots of hugs good bye, and we were on our way.

The drive up to Minnesota was long. Once we got past St. Paul the scenery started to change a little which made it go faster. We thought about stopping in Duluth to ride the train, but were too late for the 1:00 ride and didn't want to wait until 3:00 for the next one.

After stopping at Subway for lunch, we stopped at Betty's Pies. When Willie and I had visited Duluth before I wanted to go there but we didn't make it. Valerie and Joel went up to Duluth for Grandma's Marathon which Valerie ran her first full marathon. (She amazes me so much!) They went to Betty's Pies one day for lunch, and of course pie. They said how good it was, so this time we would not miss it!

Kahlen ordered cheesecake. She saw cheesecake on the menu and knew right away that was what she wanted. Willie got strawberry rhubarb, and it took me a bit to decide on the Great Lakes Crunch pie. A fruit pie with apple, blueberry, rhubarb, strawberry and raspberry, all in one pie. One bite and I knew we were going to have to stop again on the way home. It was the best pie I had ever had. Kahlen decided she needed to torment her mother a wee bit by sending her this photo of her cheesecake.



Back in the car again we stopped a couple of times to enjoy the scenery of the lake. Each new curve brought more beautiful sites.

We got to Cascade River State Park about 5:30. We drove around trying to find our reserved spot, but couldn't find our site number. We stopped at the ranger station, bought our park pass and firewood, and got directions. Once at the site we set up the tent and started a fire to cook hot dogs for dinner. We played some Uno Attack and then got ready for bed. 

Oh, and guess who forgot to bring her camera with her? Yeah, me, thank goodness for iPhones.