Back North

For those of you downwind, I have now showered. And it’s been good to sit and stand above water again.

It’s amazing how God can continue to impress me with His creation. Southeastern MN is a beautiful place. With hints of the Appalachians, we breathed in foggy air, drank in crystal clear cold water bubbling up from a spring at the entrance of a cave at the base of a 75 foot wall of limestone, and played Frisbee golf in a meadow which was home to about 50 dairy cows.
We rode our bikes, but wimped out in choosing a state bike trail that was actually too easy. The 6.5 mile section we chose was a continual 2 to 3 percent declining grade and only took us about 20 minutes. We would have continued on, but we had pre-arranged where the non-bikers dropped off our van.

About 100 Amish families live in this section of MN, between Harmony, Lanesboro, and Preston. Our daughter freaked out when we sped by a high-school-aged boy sporting a foot-long beard and riding his black carriage behind the tow of a very in-shape horse. They were going uphill almost as fast as we were heading downhill.
We even got to hear some live Accordion music as we waited in line for our homemade ice cream at the Wurst Haus.

Our dog Raven was thrilled with the nearby trout stream. He jumped in, lapped up a good portion of his daily water requirement, and seemed content to spend the entire day checking things out—chillin’, literally. Maybe he was catching the scent of trout. We discovered he has a real appetite for shrimp cooked in butter and herbs.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the cave. We spent an hour cooling off on our 85 degree Saturday. The cave offered us a cool 48 degrees plus amazing colorful formations. It’s incredible all the grandeur that is hidden from us at ground level as we go from place to place. Our “in person Discover Channel” was a good work out too. I believe we descended more than 200 feet, only to turn around and climb up the same way. Why didn’t God put elevators in caves? I’m glad the air-conditioning was working so well in that cave. The cave is named Niagara because of its 60 foot waterfall inside. Over 300 weddings have been performed inside the cave in its chapel.

But now I’m home and there is this amazing TV-like screen on my desk with a keyboard in front of it. And it’s plugged into the wall and I can read about stuff from all over the world. Wow. What would the Amish think? They probably wouldn’t be impressed. Oh well.