So...this is really off topic but I'm sure that it's a common experience among us...it's the summer camping vacation.

We did our usual thing and went "up North"...which in our case means going to Southeastern Minnesota to camp in the state park with a family from Minneapolis that we've been meeting up there for eight years or so. The long distance driving gene skipped over me...my granddad would just jump in the car and drive from Chicago to the Grand Canyon on a whim; the five hour drive to Minnesota turns into an eight hour drive for me...stopping to walk the dogs, getting food, potty breaks...and rain. This year, it was rain (again)...a torrential downpour that we caught on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi and which let up just long enough to let us drive over the bridge into Minnesota and then came back with redoubled fury on highway 14 into Winona. I yielded to family pressure and we bailed out in Winona and stayed at the Holiday Inn...nobody wanted to be out there int he dark and rain putting up this gynormous Coleman family tent...we've done it before and the prospect of a dry place to sleep and a hotel bar that carries Guinness swayed me.

By the way, "up North" is relative...when we get there, everybody's gone...where?..."...oh, they all went up North." How frickin far North can you go before you're shooing off the Polar Bears?

And what is the draw? Peace and quiet (yeah...sure...in a public campground)? Trout. You can actually flyfish in these rivers and there actually ARE trout...by August, there aren't many trout and those that are there are small...the locals nailed all the big 'uns back in the Spring...but it's an excuse to actually flyfish for something more dynamic than bluegills. The 14 year old daughter humors the old man and puts on the waders and goes out with him...and promptly scores a 13 inch rainbow. A miracle has happened...there are actually plenty of big fish in the river...and there was much rejoicing. A couple of days later I run into the lady park ranger who I always check in with every year and the subject of the fishing comes up. I'm convinced that a miracle has happened...she tells me that she's sorry to bum me out but the DNR just stocked the river two weeks ago...

More rain...we pack it in a day early and head back to Chicago...this time on HWY 14 instead of 90...what a great road! Finally get to see more of Wisconsin and it's really nice...hell, I love farms. And we found Veroqua...the town that time fo'got...lots of regular Wisconsinites and a lot of what looked suspiciously like old hippies that went out to the coountry to get their head together and decided to stay.

Now I'm cleaning everything and putting it away...for another year...trout, big hash brown breakfasts, cornfields, tap beer in a regular bar in a regular small town...summer should only last longer.

Best

AA