Mini Vacation

Last Friday Steve and Diane arrived here from Ohio. They were here to visit us for just a couple short days but they were days that I am so very grateful for as it is not often that we get our family home with us. I had to work from 4-8 PM on Friday afternoon but I was able to visit briefly with them before I had to leave.
On Saturday we took a wonderful drive up north to Duluth and beyond to Gooseberry Falls. We were hoping to see some fall colors as some of the Maples down here are already turning but as it turned out the trees were still very green up there. I spoke with my Dad tonight about it and he said that the reason for that is because the trees down here are too stressed from lack of water. I didn't think about that but it is true. They have received a lot of rain up north this year and we have been very dry and cool. We had some good rain in August but it has been 11 days since our last rain and then it was only 1/10th of an inch. We are still in a drought situation but those rains that we had saved the crops from being a total loss.
Our trip to Duluth was wonderful. We thought it was going to be cold up there but it turned out to be quite warm and very sunny. Lake Superior was fairly calm and very cold. Diane dipped her feet in the water and confirmed that for us. We visited the wharf with the Lighthouse on it and watched the draw bridge go up and down a couple of times to allow the taller boats to go in and out of the harbor.
From there we headed up to Gooseberry Falls. The river was very low and people were able to hop on the rocks out to the center of the river. We did likewise and took some pictures. I hadn't been rock hopping for a long time and it felt good to know that I could still do it. I'm a little bit slower these days and a lot more cautious but I still found it to be quite fun. Even though the water levels were low there was still enough to make some nice water falls. We hiked up the river a short ways and then turned around and went back to the car. After a wonderful supper at Culver's we headed back home. We decided to take a different route as Hwy 23 is under construction and there were two detours on it. So we went down to Hwy 95 and went through Cambridge only to discover that it was under construction too. We finally arrived home around 11 PM.
Sunday morning we went to church and then came home to pack up some things for Steve and Diane and for Melinda. They left around three. It was wonderful to have them home and hard to see them go but I am just so very grateful for our little bit of time and our mini vacation together!