Campfire

With our new firepit, we burned thru our old stack in no time. It goes thru wood like a full size pickup goes thru gas.

D & MN came up from Chicago to claim their dogs. We had a quiet evening by the backyard campfire.

 

Edina Theatre Reopening

We finally made it to the newly reopened Edina Theatre to see The Shining on the big screen. The lobby bar is a tribute to the Gold Room in the movie. The walls and ceiling are tiled in shiny gold and the cocktails are all themed on the movie. 

There are scenes from the movie on the walls and props, too. There's a smashed thru door with a fake axe so that you can get your photo with head poking thru.

My favorite prop is the typewriter with sheaves typed up "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

 

Work Cafe

One of the things that I love about work is our cafe. The food is all made fresh daily and there's a good variety. And they serve breakfast. And it's subsidized so that it's reasonable. 

The chef that runs the deli tries out new ideas all the time. This was a flatbread with squash spread and covered with craisins, blue cheess, candied walnuts, and pumpkin seeds. It was incredible!

 

Pike Island

The Gs came up for a weekend to see the fall colors. Most of the maples were already done, but trees along the rivers were going strong with their yellows. 

We walked the 3-mile loop around Pike Island and then up the bluff to Fort Snelling. It was recently remodeled and it looks great. We need to return with the boys.

 

Cooking with Gas

52nd Street was torn up for almost two months while the gas company installed a new 24" gas main. They pulled a quarter mile section under Minnehaha Creek.

One of the flag ladies that stood on the corner to direct traffic always had a goodie in her pocket for S.

 

Paul Bunyan Breakfast

Before leaving the Dells, we hit Paul Bunyan's lodge for breakfast. 

The entire way home the dogs were checking out every car that went by to see their mommy was in it.

 

Wisconsin Dells

We met the Ns in the Wisconsin Dells for a short weekend to pick up their two dogs. They had to take their entire clan to a wedding and needed a babysitter for them. We stayed at a fun little resort on Lake Delton.

Since we were not dragging kids along, we hit Del Bar for dinner. It's a classic Wisconsin supper club with yummy food and tasty cocktails.

 

Fall Colors

The day after we got back from Gunflint, we took a drive thru the MN River Valley on the way to Lincoln. Up north was mostly yellow aspen. Southern MN was lit up with all the normal deciduous trees.

 

1st Snow

Out first snow of the season was on Oct. 14. It didn't amount to much (unlike the 8" we got last October) and it was gone by noon.

 

Voyageurs

The sun broke out so we hopped in a canoe and paddled across the lake to Canada and the narrow passage into Magnetic Lake. S was unimpressed with the whole trip.

Gunflint Lake is only a mile across and 7 miles long. The entrance to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is at the far end of the lake.

 

Mellow Hike

On our last day, we hiked up the trail behind the lodge that lead to the top of the ridge. The last 100 feet were a scramble on all fours over wet rock. 

The view from the top was beautiful. The gap on the far shore is the border. USA is on the left, and Canada is on the right.

 

Hiking Companion

S had a good time hiking around Gunflint. It was not cold and snowy like he would have liked, but he tolerated it and had a good time.

 

Trails End Campground

After hiking back from Magnetic Rock and a hearty lunch at the lodge, we drove to the end of the Gunflint Trail. At the end is an incredible campground: Trails End Campground.

This is the view from Campsite #1. It's up on a bluff above the lake. Absolutely stunning view. It's on our list of places to go back to.

 

Magnetic Rock

We kicked off our first day with a hearty breakfast at the lodge and then set out to see Magnetic Rock. It was a beautiful hike up on top of a ridge with some fantastic views of the fall colors.

The highlight is Magnetic Rock. It's a HUGE rock standing on end at the top of the mountain. The rock is out of the iron formation and it's strongly magnetic. Scientists say that it was put there by the glaciers. I don't know about that - I've never seen ice cubes stand rocks on end. My guesses are (1) Paul Bunyan, (2) Aliens, or (3) Stone Age Giants.

 

Room with a View

Each cabin has a little seating area on the water where you can look at Canada.

The lodge has fishing boats, pontoon boats, and canoes. Gunflint Lake is an entrance into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is a huge chunk of northern Minnesota where motorized travel and machinery is prohibited. It's on our bucket list to do a canoe trip there.

 

Cabin in the Woods

Gunflint Lodge is a collection of cabins on Gunflint Lake with a central lodge for food & drink. They accept dogs, so S got to come along.

You can't have a cabin in the woods without a nice wood burning fireplace. The window looked out onto Gunflint Lake and Canada on the other side.

 

Gunflint

The day after the concert, we headed north for a much anticipated stay at the historic Gunflint Lodge. It's 3+ hours north of Duluth. We had a beautiful fall drive up and along the north shore. A flat tire added a nice stop in Grand Marais where we got lunch while the tire was repaired.

The Gunflint Trail goes from Duluth north to a dead end. Gunflint lodge is 12 miles from the end of the trail. The lodge was build in the 20s and is a Minnesota classic. They are open year round and have some nice ski trails and dog sledding in the winter. We went for the fall colors.

 

Pet Shop Boys & New Order

We kicked off our October with an amazing concert with the neighbors and their group of friends: Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Both are bands from the 80s. Despite the band members all being 10 years older than us, they put on an amazing show.

 

New Bike

We took CP to REI to get a new bike. His place in Eden Prairie has a ton of bike trails and he has an easy 1 mile ride to work.

 

Last Home Game

We picked our seats for the last home game months ago. At that time we didn't know what it would be like. We spent the summer sweating out the games, but this time it was chilly. Fortunately, there was a Twins hat giveaway. We had great seats right by 1st base and we sat in the shade for 5 innings until we had to find some sun and warmth.

Can't wait for the home opener next year!