Labor Day Weekend

Friday, August 31 2018

Phil & I locked up the shop at 5 PM for the long weekend. Gina and the rest of “Team A-1” had already escaped the city for parts unknown (well some parts are known but more on that later…).

I walked home to find Mary had already packed the car for our trek to Mille Lacs Lake.
So… off we went.
I expected heavy traffic headed north and got exactly what I expected, heavy traffic.
There were bottlenecks on 10 at I-35 as well as the “usual” one… Elk River, MN.
After that it was relatively smooth sailing all the way to our command center for the weekend, Eddy’s Resort on Mille Lacs.
We made it in just under two hours which was pretty darn good for a holiday weekend.
We checked in and threw our stuff in the room (#210) and headed back down to the restaurant for dinner.
It rained a bit on the way up to Mille Lacs Lake and was still threatening so we stayed inside. The few diners outside were soon inside also. Between the bugs and the rain outdoor seating was not a good option this evening.

After dinner we relaxed, unpacked a bit and ended up reading, fiddling on our electronics and finally hit the hay around 10:30 PM.
Good Night!

Saturday | September 1, 2018

I was up early but didn’t want to wake Mary so I stayed in bed until she awoke.  We made coffee, took turns in the shower then headed downstairs for breakfast. The restaurant wasn’t as busy as at dinner so we were able to relax with our breakfast and still get through the process quickly.

We re-loaded some of our essentials back into the car and headed for “Camp Capistrant” on Sunfish Lake.

We arrived to find the Capistrants up and getting ready for the day. The weather was perfect, warm and calm. The lake was just beginning to see some activity, mainly water skiers and tubers. Jamie set out what was our “brunch” but the kids breakfast after which we all headed down to the lake.

But something was missing…

 

 

 

 

So Mary and Jamie got to work and inflated “Francis” for the day. Quite the site once we carried down to the lake…

 

 

 

Which made for an interesting balance of the day. Much fun was had… 🙂

Lots of water and fun with the family. Francis was “tired” (deflated) by the end of the day but it was reported he had a good night’s sleep and was “revived” (patched and re-inflated) in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

After a full day in the water we stayed for dinner before heading back to command headquarters for the night.

My only concern was deer jumping out at us in the new vehicle so I took it easy and stayed alert. We made it back just fine and hit the sack.

Good Night!

 

 

Sunday | September 2, 2018

Up again with the sunlight I stayed in bed until Mary woke up. As she headed for the shower I went down to get some coffee. I filled both of our mugs and headed back up to the room to find out my room key didn’t work so I had to go back down to the lobby to find someone to re-program my key. I had no ID and only my coffee mugs to show her my predicament but after a couple of questions she “fixed” my key and off I went hoping Mary wasn’t out of the shower wondering what I was doing that was taking so long. Turns out she was out of the shower but not quite ready to send out the posse…

We had our coffee, I jumped in the shower then we checked out of Eddys and loaded up the Honda for the trek to the “Battisto Clan” at Rock Lake…

Another beautiful day in paradise. Warm and sunny.
The “twins” were solving the world’s problems after a scrumptious breakfast as the rest of the “clan” headed for the lake.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of warm sun and fun activities filled another great day at Rock Lake including water sports, refreshments and relaxation.

Wayne dragged the kids around the lake for quite a while including a stint with Erica and Tanner. All went well. Everybody enjoyed the rides and all returned with BIG smiles.

We ran Wayne’s pontoon out of gas (sort of) so we headed back onshore for more “land-based” games along with snacks and refreshments until it was time to get busy with the evening meal. And once again the clan outdid themselves. We enjoyed a fantastic meal compliments of the usual suspects (too many to name OR at the risk of not acknowledging some of the chefs I’m leaving this a bit vague) but I do thank ALL who contributed to another fantastic day of activities and great food. Too much but I guess that’s what it’s all about…

After dinner as the sun set in the west across the lake we said our goodbyes to all and headed home as Mary and I had to open at work and start a new work week… I beautiful weekend and great company! Thanks to all!!!

Good Night!