1,800 Miles (and Chicago, too!)

I just got back from a very cool vacation. I was afraid it would be totally stressful and not fun ... but it was not stressful at all AND it was super fun!

Here's the short summary:
1. 6/30-7/2: I hosted the lovely Rhianna and her beatiful baby Emilia Noelle (age 4 months) for two days in the fun summerland of Chicago (photos coming).

2. 7/2: I drove 4.5 hours to the northeastern tip of Wisconsin to speak to 35 junior high girls at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp (www.llbc.org). I got there in time to join the girls and my good friend Margaret, the program director, for night games.

3. 7/3: I spent 14 hours hanging out with the girls. I also gave two hour-long talks, one on daily prayer and one on abandoning your life to God's will. The talks went very well and were so much fun to give, especially since I enlivened them with power points showing applicable photos and quotes. Since I also did the activities along with the girls and got to know them a bit, I think God made what I had to say a lot more powerful than they would have been otherwise. However, I was totally exhausted at the end of that day! I don't know how Margaret and the others do it for a whole week.

4. 7/4: I got up at 7:30 a.m. and drove 5.5 hours across the stunningly beautiful landscape of northern Wisconsin. My little two-lane highway took me through many small towns, all of them gussied up with flags for July 4. As I wended my way through pine forests, I even saw a bald eagle soaring above me. Talk about perfect. Halfway through the state, I headed down to catch I-94 into the Twin Cities.
I went first to visit Sonja and Rich and their new house in south Minneapolis AND I got to meet the adorable Luna Marie (age 3.5 months). Why are all of my college friends suddenly having baby girls? Anyway, Sonja and I played with Luna and I gave her a bottle and she fell asleep on me. Then Sonja and I went to Izzy's (www.izzysicecream.com) for incomparable ice cream and I bought Luna an infant-sized Izzy's tee, very appropriate for one of her parentage.
Then I headed to Sarah's apartment in St. Paul, from where we went off to the Taste of Minnesota and July 4 festivities held on Harriet Island in the middle of the Mississippi. We got to see the Beach Boys perform (with a couple original members, though not Brian Wilson) and we ate lots of Minnesota fried-food-on-a-stick, including pickle pups. (Follow this link to an amazing post by some blogger about both the Beach Boys ... well, sort of ... and pickle pups, though I warn you that it is PG-13 http://blogs.citypages.com/dcody/2006/07/cream_pickle_pu.asp). The night ended with fireworks over the St. Paul skyline, as viewed from an island in the middle of the Mississippi River. Well, actually, the night ended with the hourlong crunch to get OFF the island along with thousands of other people, most of them complaining.

7/5 part I: I had intended to leave Sarah's place at 9 a.m. but I was so tuckered out by now and her couch was so darn comfortable and her air-conditioned-apartment so luxurious that I didn't even wake UP until 10:30. But after a leisurely morning with sweet Sarah I headed on another drive, this one 3.5 hours to northern Minnesota and the family cabin on Howard Lake, between Walker and Akeley in the Northwoods (more specifically, Chippewa National Forest). Howard Lake is one of many, many smaller lakes surrounding the massive Leech Lake, Minnesota's 3rd-biggest lake. And trust me, MN has some gigantic lakes. Out of all 13, 492. http://www.leech-lake.com/

7/5 part II-7/8: I actually saw firsthand how huge Leech Lake is because I got to go up in a 1948 sea plane! This was just one of the many highlights of spending three glorious days on Howard Lake surrounded by my fantastic, if slightly crazy, family. The cabin belongs to Aunt Mary and Uncle Tim, although for years before that it belonged to Aunt Becky and Uncle Bob. But all four aunts and uncles were there, plus cousins Jack (17) and Anthony (19), plus Aunt Lisa plus Grandma Pat. It was a squeeze but it was delightful. There were two speedboats, two kayaks, a fishing boat, Tim's new 4-wheeler and tons of other toys. I did some great water skiing, even if I took some spectacular spills as Becky remembered how to tow a skiier and I remembered how to ski; went tubing (and have the bruises to prove it, esp. as I tubed alongside Anthony and Jack who are pretty crazy out there); I went kayaking; I went swimming, even though the sunnies and the blue gills in the shallow ends like to nibble on humans; Becky taught me how to drive a boat; I took Tim's ATV out on the old forest logging trails; I went up in neighbor "Pink Pants" Jack's sea plane, along with Anthony and Jack, on a very windy day and we saw the glory of the Northwoods from the air; I read an entire novel in three sittings; I slept a whole lot; I laughed a whole lot; I spent precious time with my crazy and inimitable family. It was absolutely perfect.

7/8 part II: I drove 3.5 hours back to the Twin Cities in the splendid company of Grandma Pat and got to hear how her family ended up in International Falls, MN, where Grandma (and her mother, Beth Young--1894-1993--) was born. Grandma then took me and older half-brother Shane out to dinner at Axel's and pampered us with fine wine and steaks. I stayed that night at Becky's house, collapsing gratefully into the first real bed I'd seen in a long while.

7/9: I woke up with an extremely stiff neck, most likely as a consequence of one Saturday's water-skiing wipeouts. It was worth the pain, though, and Becky did her darndest to pamper me, forcing me to accept massages and ibuprofen tablets and ice packs and time in the hot tub. That morning, all of the cabin people came over to Becky and Bob's house for a generous brunch, and we were also joined by Shane, cousin Ryan and his girlfriend Katie, and Gus! Gus is Ryan and Katie's new puppy and is an 8-week-old puggle. Gus is adorable. It was love at first sight for me and I was quite gratified when, during a rowdy game of Catchphrase, Gus clambered onto the sofa to be with Ryan and then, spying my lap, made a beeline for my folded legs and fell asleep on me.
At 2 p.m. I finally dragged myself away from the pampering aunts as two of them made me a gigantic lunch and another rubbed my neck. Surrounded by cousins and Shane and lots of hugs all around from aunts, uncles and, of course, Grandma, I made my way out to my car at last and sadly got in. I made the 7 hour drive back to Chicago and was kept company by the audio recording Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburnt Country" and my new favorite CD, "This Life" by Jocelyn Scofield (www.jocelynscofield.com)

And now all that is left is the laundry and the memories. *sigh*