The annual expedition to Garrison, MN

It was a cloudy, drizzly day. Jon just got off a long shift, and I didn't feel like cleaning or cooking or anything else I might do inside while it rained, so we took off.

Garrison is a comfortable hour away on Mille Lacs Lake. Jon and I made it a tradition soon after we were married to drive up in the spring and take pictures at the 'big fish' and see if we can find any exotic-type ice cream in the tourist-y little town. Only ice cream bars from the SA this year.



We fought the May flies to get these pictures. They were swarmed all over the fish, and the monument, and the stone wall. Everywhere we went, the walls were covered with the black bugs. NASTY! Kristine found a cloud of them on her way down to the beach and purposefully ran through it. Gross. Then, on her way back up, she ran through it again. Really Gross.

Kristine and her 'sweet Papa' walking the beach:


Stinky, smelly, very interesting discovery:

What the 'sweet Papa' does with sticky, stinky, smelly, bug-covered little girls:
It was very good to get away for a day.

On the way home, we stopped at the Ojibwa Indian museum. I'd always wanted to go, but every time we got there, it was closed. This time it was open, and I saw more and heard more and began to understand more about the Ojibwa in our area than I'd ever expected! It was so informative and interesting. There was a life-size diorama showing life in the Indian camp through the year. Kristine said she was a little scared because the statues could talk; she was just waiting for them to move. And what would happen if that wolf actually came to life?! Poor girl clung to her sweet Papa and looked with huge eyes.

There was a great display of the beautiful bead work these people do; including a beaded bandoleer type bag that was said to be worth a pony in the 1860's. We decided that we wouldn't be able to trade our car for such a work of art. Beautiful. Kristine loves to bead, so this was wonderful for her. She couldn't get enough of the patterns and colors and sheer numbers of beads. And she really wanted to touch them. LOL. She couldn't see why we couldn't open the display cases.

Then we moved on the the birch bark baskets. I love those. So pretty, natural and useful. It's a good thing the trading post was closed.

We were wiped out when we got home. But it was a good tired.