Wordless Wednesday

 I~Love~Cut~Flowers

Vacation....just the two of us

After the kids had all left and went back to their perspective homes,

 Rick and I had 2 days to ourselves...

Thursday

 Rick wanted to show me one of his favorite up north courses 

and his precision putting techniques

I used to golf but now I watch ... and cheer him on

After golf we headed back to the cabin for a swim, then to Dorset

 (a few miles down the road from Park Rapids) 

Dorset is a cute little town made up mostly of 5 restaurants. 

We like the Dorset House.

Friday

 Walker is only about 30 miles from Park Rapids,  

It's a beautiful town that sits on the SW corner of Leech Lake.

(third largest lake in minnesota)

We asked ourselves...."why have we never come to Walker" 

 We sat at the marina for awhile watching the boats and seagulls....so pretty,

We walked up and down the main street, checking out the uniques shops

 Check out the thermos made into a lamp

 remember these....brought back memories for us

General Store

Our big purchase, a pair of Keen's Mary Janes for me

and some comfy Columbia shoes for Rick

main street

Hand made soap in about any scent

On the way back to the cabin we stopped in Akeley to say hi to this guy.

 Worlds largest kneeling, Paul Bunyan is 20 ft tall and was built in 1984

We really enjoyed the town of Walker and will make it one of our "shopping days" when we vacation in the years to come. I might add we enjoyed a breakfast sandwich at Hardees, Rick's favorite fast food in the whole world, Rochester does not have one, so this was quite the treat  :)

Going to town...

Warning.... lots of pictures were taken, and shared here

When ever we are Up North on Long Lake vacationing, 

we make time to go to town, the town being Park Rapids.

We love to browse the shops, eat at our favorites and visit the candy stores. 

Main street is unique in that cars park in the middle of the road as well as diagonal along the curbs.

 The store fronts are adorned with beautiful hanging flowers

This German restaurant has intricate details on the roof dormers 

 The Tin Ceiling... 

 a used-abit-store

 Loved how they display their old record albums

A drawer full of old utensils, I love the stenciling on the front.

Two candy store have been on opposite sides of the street for as long as I've been going to Park Rapids, I dont really have a favorite, they each seem unique in their own way...

I think "Cuzzins"has the best assortment of taffy 

bought a whole bag full, good stuff! 

 Fudge....always got to have some of this too

Then there's Aunt Belle's.... 

Best Chocolate

The beginnings of fudge,

 this big cauldron is full of butter and other yummy ingredients as the 

young lady stirs...and stirs....and stirs. "About 45 minutes for fudge" she tells me.

I passed this up, but it was hard 

They make all their chocolates

making "turtles"

Cant forget about "Ben Franklin", Love this store

Audrey just had to pick one flower, after all there are hundreds of them :)

We have a favorite eatery...

 MinneSODA Fountain

 

 It still has the "back-in-the-day" look

They make yummy sub sandwiches and have many many flavors of hand scooped ice cream.

 Carson is ready for some food, this was his first visit.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of one of our favorite up north towns

I'll be posting on a NEW favorite next time...stay tuned :)

Up and "posting" again

It's Monday and I'm grateful I didnt have to go right back to work. 

Today I've had some time to relax,  put some things in order around the house and 

run some errands after being gone a week on vacation.

This was our 1st attempt to rent a place up north for us and all our kids.

We have actually been spending time on the same lake (Long lake) for over 22 years and have so many fond memories, but our arrangements fell through 2 years ago and now we needed to start over.....

New Place....same Lake

New Frontier Resort, Park Rapids MN

We love Long lake , it's rated as one of the top cleanest lakes in MN

The beach was amazing, especially good for the little ones

The living area, plenty of room for all of us...

Or not!  (pig-pile on Gavin, on the bottom)

The upstairs was occupied by my daughter and family. 

Two big bedrooms and a bathroom. It was nice for them to have the space with the two littles

I loved the kitchen, very spacious and updated.

My one yr. old grandson loved the deer head on the wall (upper right)

 Doors out to a large deck with a gas grill.

This cabin was a perfect fit for our family. 

Four bedrooms, two baths and plenty of space  :)

~ ~ ~

On Saturday we arrived a little early and decided to head on up to the

 headwaters of the Mississippi in Itasca, only about 30 minutes from our place. 

Our daughter-in-love had never been there,

so now she has

Our son helping Jennifer to the beginning of the mississippi

 Our youngest and Rick cooling off in the ankle deep water

 ~ ~ ~

 Thought I would leave you with a few fun shots of the giant trampoline in the water

 that our kids enjoyed back at the resort....

Our daughter and granddaughter 

Our youngest catching a pass from his dad

 Little brother picking on big sister

Big sister trying to pick on little brother 

Big brother, not letting little brother on the tramp

They never stop pestering each other, no matter their age.... it's all in fun

Stay tuned for more posts on our vacation....