A Family Reunion at Fall Lake, Ely, Minnesota

It is surprising how fast the years go and they even speed up once you retire. It had been too long since Renita and her brother and sister had all been together and so Pam set up a reunion at Fall Lake, near Ely Minnesota. Reunion time for the Chandler kids!
The drive was pretty easy from Wyoming to Minneapolis, but as we got north the roads deteriorated and Highway 169 was as bad as any Louisiana road. We arrived at Fall Lake to discover that our extension for our counter top had broken and was hanging from the other metal hinge. A few trees had to be cut down to drive into our campsite, we are staying at Phils Mother in Laws land, but there was enough room to park our fifth wheel along side the garage.

We were soon catching up on all the news and other families and as we sat there a bald eagle landed on the island right in front of the house. The eagles here are pretty used to people and we even later had one try to take a duck that was sitting on the beach within fifty feet of us!
Of course I had to unload the canoe and so our days have been filled with visiting, canoeing, swimming, and basically just enjoying the beautiful lake and its surroundings. The fishing is great but the catching is slow and we haven't added any fish to a planned fish fry, but cornbread tastes good as fish when you don't have any fish!

My highlight so far has been a morning canoe trip with our daughter Jenny. We paddled down to the power plant and waterfall, passing eagles perched high atop red pines. We weren't able to see the waterfall near the plant but we did see a flock of young grebes and a mother redhead with her ducklings.
This is our second time, this year, in Minnesota and we have driven more this year then any other, but the drives have been to family outings and so we have been truly blessed. From here we are heading back to Wyoming and the Escapee Rally, but we are going to avoid South Dakota and the nightmare of the Sturgis so it looks like we will cross North Dakota. Clear skies.