Fall Days on the Lake

The sunrise and sunset times are perfect: the pre-dawn glow coincides with the morning dog walk, and sunset is neither too early or too late.

Just when I think I can't catch a smaller fish, I do.

 

Gulf Sunsets

I was worried that sunsets over the Gulf of America might not be as good as those over the Gulf of Mexico, but there was no need to worry. They're still awesome!

 

Tropical Gardens

We had hoped to hit Selby Gardens while in Sarasota, but it was way to hot to be outside. Fortunately for us, BF's yard was a tropical paradise. JP was amazed to see so many indoor plants thriving outdoors.

As she walked around, she kept pointing out species that she had killed in their indoor incarnation.

 

PV Class of 86 Reunion

Including me, we had 14 people from a graduating class of 28 show up for our 40th reunion. We skipped the happy hour in the sun and instead met some friends for drinks in the AC at the hotel.

BF hosted a gathering at her house the next day and it was a blast. The table tasted as good as it looks.

It's funny how much we've all changed yet at the same time have not.

 

Beach Time!

We did a fast run down to SRQ for the Labor Day weekend where we hit the beach and took in the heat and humidity.

If all I had to do was to lay on the beach and sip drinks, I would be OK living in FL. But having to do anything else, it's just to hot & sweaty for me.

 

MSP

We are so blessed to have MSP as our hometown airport. It's a reasonable Uber ride away and the facilities are top notch.

You know you're in Minnesota when Spam is on the menu. Concourse G has all the crop art from 2025 on display. This one is of Melissa Hortman, our state senator that was assassinated last year along with her husband and dog. 

 

Fall Pots

JP hit Bachman's and put together the fall pots. 

 

Fall is Coming!

The first golden leaves are starting to drop from our maple.

 

Little Greenhouse

JP makes one or two little micro items for her micro greenhouse each day. It's really turning into something!

 

Early Fishing

The secret to getting out on the lake at sunrise is to take a nap later in the day.

I had the entire lake to myself for two hours. It was the smoothest I've ever seen.

 

Skol!

We hit the Vikings pre-season game on a picture perfect day. The large doors to the stadium were even open!

Wasp vs. Spider

We were sitting on the patio and this "thing" came drifting down out of the tree. It took us a while to realize it was a spider that was being attacked and stung over and over by a very angry black wasp.

 

Trolling

The beauty of the pedal kayak is that wind poses no problem and trolling is a breeze. Every time I go out, I get to see loons, eagles, the singular osprey, and sometimes a fish or two on the end of my line.

 

Micro Plants

JP is building a micro-sized greenhouse full of tiny plants. She makes each out of bits of paper and wires. 

 

Weekend Summer Weather

The Gs came up for a weekend of perfect weather and some Twins baseball and a table-sized pretzel at Glueck's.

 

Finishing Touches

JP found another bookcase on Facebook Marketplace for CP's place. We went over for a day to help him hang some frames and coat hooks. While we were there the AC died and we spent a few hours troubleshooting it. Turns out the batteries in the smart thermostat were going bad. The thermostat functioned properly, but it would only kick the compressor on for half a second.

While we were at Bachman's getting fall flowers, I noticed that they had their gas grills on sale, so we picked one up for CP's birthday. Once he realizes that he can cook a whole steak just for himself, there will be no stopping him.

 

Sunrise Fishing

I have been wanting to get on the water by sunrise, and I finally did it! It takes a bit of effort to pack the boat and walk it down by 6:30.

I caught two little pikes or baby muskies. I can't tell the difference.

The water was the smoothest I've ever seen it.

 

Minneapolis Summer Weather

We finally got a break from the unusually high temps and enjoyed a weekend on the deck with normal summer temps.

We've given up the idea of getting a lake home - we have everything we need/want here, and we have flush toilets and nice beds to sleep in.

 

Construction Progress

 

The corner where our street hits the parkway is torn up.

We went for TWO YEARS without lights around the lake due to copper thieves that kept stealing the wires. The park district switched to aluminum last year. Looks like were going to be without lights again for a while.

The RCBs (reinforced concrete boxes) started showing up. They measure 6 x 6 feet on the inside dimension. The idea is to bury them down the middle of the street with a very shallow slope so that the storm water slows and drops all its sediment. 

Day 8: BUD to YYZ to MSP

I was pretty psyched about finally going thru Toronto a.k.a. YYZ. One of my favorite bands is from Canada, and they have a great song called YYZ. It starts with a rhythm that is the morse code for the YYZ airport call sign the drummer heard on his friend's VHF radio.

We had bulkhead seats right behind first class with tons of room, so it was a relaxing flight across the ocean.

YYZ was not what I had hoped it would be. Oh well, it's one stop closer to home.

 

Day 8: Budapest Morning

On our final day, we had a few minutes between 6 AM and our bus departure to the airport, so we took in as much as we could.

All over the city are these bronze statues. Some are big, some are small like this guy. Once you start looking for them, they are all over.

We only had time to go around the block adjacent to our hotel, but it was worth it.