Yesterday was our driving up the coast day – and we picked a good one for it!
No more hailstorms, hardly even a dark cloud (just enough to make the photos look good!) We romped and splashed and climbed on rocks,
Atticus joined us and loved every minute of it (although he was a little worried when his “pups” crossed over a waterfall to a rock and he couldn’t follow.) 
Gooseberry Falls is as lovely as everyone told us it would be, and it’s a very nice adventure for someone in a walker, too (nice, paved paths to the falls.) I’m only sorry that I didn’t get a pair of earrings I saw in the gift shop – they were stunning!
How cool that not getting something I don’t really need is my only regret!
Best part of the day – when Gerry agreed that next year, when he’s feeling better, he’ll be able to climb across the falls, too! Actually, that was the best part of the vacation so far – the hopeful feeling that we all seemed to gain just by being in such a beautiful location.
CLEAR AIR = BETTER BREATHING
Our fracas the other night was very necessary, and helped us clear and air and discuss things that needed to be discussed. We felt like our old selves as we drove around yesterday (although at one point, my mind was so crammed with stuff that after paying for my gas I drove off without taking the nozzle out of the tank… oops)
That was my Lucy moment for the day. It didn’t seem that a lot of damage was done, but I guess we’ll hear from the BP guy if there was…
BEAUTY
We’re blown away with this area.
The scenery is absolutely breathtaking – like walking through a post card, and the weather yesterday was perfect! We met very friendly folks along the way and a few nice doggies, too! Then we continued up to Split Rock lighthouse (what a CLEAN little lighthouse!)
I carried the walker up a flight of stairs and Gerry made his own way up so he could see the view (he didn’t make it up to the top, of course, but we were so glad he could see the vista from Split Rock!)
The colors of the lichen and the water was amazing – I’d love to find a yarn with those shades – just wonderful!
As a side note, I was very taken with the wonderful Split Rock Lighthouse logo – what a simple and elegant design!
But I’m kind of a nut for signs and logos – I always photograph them when I see them! 
Continuing on we had a terrific lunch, chicken for the kids a burger for Gerry and walleye for me – whooppee! I even got my non-fish eating kids to try it and sort of admit they liked it!
Then a drive home – back in time to receive a LOVELY gift from Beth at Lorna’s Laces (ice cream!!) and some grilling and walking and splashing in the lake (after a slightly nerve wracking slippery walk down to the shore!)
A great dinner of grilled chicken and corn (we were all SO full from lunch!) The kids slipped upstairs to watch TV, Gerry and I watched the Daily Show, and we just rested from our travels.
BUZZ!
Those who know me know of my fear of flying, stinging insects. I’m finally okay around bees (it’s taken me 40-mumble years to get to this point) but wasps and hornets paralyze me with fear.
So imagine my horror when I looked out onto the back porch yesterday and saw not one, but two hornets nests.
“Oh,” I thought, “surely they’re not active…”
Then a hornet flew out of one and onto the other.
So I contacted the house owner about it, and when we got h
ome from our trek north they had been smashed down from the rafters (using the big stick I’d used as a walking stick the day before) and our friends are now looking for new digs. It’s a shame to make them give up their lakeside retreat, but we’re paying more rent than they are.
Problem solved.
EMAIL
I’m only able to check email once a day or so, and when I do check I have between 50 – 100 emails to answer (NOT counting the viagra and Nigerian investment opportunities) so if you’ve written to me and I haven’t written back, I may not be able to until we’re home on Friday evening. Home. How nice it will be to be there. How we will miss this HUGE house, hornets and all.
Our cat sitter told us that Gigi hasn’t been out at all, but she DID kill a bat in the living room. Happy days.