The Night of Magic Light - Photograper's Dream

Lake Kabtogema - Voyager's National Park - Minnesota 

Tonight we are in for a special treat with ace photographer, cousin Don.  After messing around with paddle boards, swimming, ball games for the dogs, a little kayaking, a great picnic lunch...we still have not finished the activities on the list for today.

What to do?

Thinking all there is to do now is answer the "hungry call" and head over to the local watering hole for dinner.  I remember this little spot, not far from the cabin, from 28 years ago when Steve and I visited Minnesota relatives after our wedding.  Yes, "The Bait, 'n Bite" is still operating...one half the building a bait store featuring your ever popular minnows and LEECHES....and the other half a good little restaurant and ice cream shop.

Heading back to the cabin, I'm thinking, to pack it in for the day...cousin Don has other ideas!  Hey, it's the "golden hour"....and the light, the night...it's all calling us out on the water to see what we find.  Don once told Steve, "To get the good photo...the really good one...you have to go out hunting for it...you can't expect it to come to you."  The three of us (and two dogs) packed our camera gear and headed out in the boat...to go "hunting."

The Breneman boat...our ride!

Don and Steve....set for hunting...

The first "find"....sitting right on the shore not far from the cabin....all dressed up with fancy feather heads and matching beaks and toes.

Merganzers with flashy feet

And then they were suddenly in...flight...into the night.

Coming around a corner, headed to Daley Brook, we spot a loon...with...a wee one!

Mamma Loon and lil' "Fluff Ball"

A little further on down the narrowing waterway, and a little further into the evening light, we find this mamma...and TWO chicks hitching a ride on her back.

And baby makes...three! (photo: Steve)

If this mom has a chick it's well hidden in the lake grasses and reeds.  Maybe she's out for a little break?

Out for an evening "glide" about.

We see signs of the local beaver population in this incredible beaver lodge.  What architects!

Anybody home?

Everyone seems to be "out for the evening" and much later we find one beaver swimming a circle around us in water turned pink by the sunset glow.

There he goes...

And then....there is the sunset....oh my...we wait, and wait....and wait...for the masterpiece to be displayed ....although we did go out hunting for the shot...in the end we did have to wait for it to come to us.  Collectively...I'm thinking the three of us took, um, maybe...100 images?

Just one more click of the shutter for Don.

As it happens, when caught up in a pleasurable endeavor...you have no measurement of time passing...and before we know it, it's more dark than light.  Time to call it a night!  One of magic photography.

Time to head home, back to the cabin, store the boat in it's tidy boat house and turn in.

Nan rides bow watch...all the way home.

Tomorrow's another day.  Our last day up north with Steve's cousin Don...and my last chance to get a few more photography tips.  We spend our morning packing up the boats and boards and reloading the Jeep.  Sparky and Skipper have a last good run around, we have one more picnic lunch...and I try to wrap my head around all the ideas for "settings" on my camera!

Just a little more of this, less of this, up with that, over with this....

And of course...staying true to Minnesota style...we must say good-bye a few times...and have just one more...

There's always just one more cup of coffee...

All good things must come to an end...eventually...really?  I'm not so sure...but seems we are headed off in a southerly direction...for another part of the "Great Cousin Meet Up 2015"....

Headed off to Wisconsin....

All loaded up....

Nan rides away!

Steve keeps the family tradition going....for over...um, 65 years?

                        Good-bye Lake Kabtogema...for now...get ready, "Luck-y Cousins!"

Love that idea of a boat house!

"Up to the Lake Cabin".....That's How You Say It!

Breneman Cabin on Lake Kabtogema

We have now officially entered the "Great Cousin Connection of 2015" part of this adventure!  First stop:  Littlefork, Minnesota to reconnct with Steve's cousin Don and his wife, Lynne...and fine kitty Midnight.  We arrive Littlefork, the tiny northern town south of International Falls, where Steve was born...um...some years ago.  Like 69 of them ago.  And, yes, many things are recognizable from time spent here as a child when the parents returned to visit family.

The part of this country that really "sticks" with Steve...still today...is the water part.  No surprise there.  So, we can't wait to get "out to the lake" and spend time at the cabin and on the water.

Paddle boards unpacked and waiting

Fine spot for the kayaks

Thunderbird Lodge for lunch

Awaiting the walleye sandwiches! (photo by Don)

The fearsome foursome (plus to fur pals) head to Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake for lunch.  How can you pass up walleye sandwiches?  You can't.

The fun never ends as we tour the little town of Ranier on the U.S. ~ Canadian border.  As seems to be the way of many small northern towns, once logging communities, then family farming communities....today there is not much left of "town."  A train still runs through Ranier and there is an ice cream shop...and...an opportunity to be a moose for a moment!

Once in a lifetime.....you betchca!

Back to the lake to get out on the water...and cool off.  Whose big idea was it to travel away from the cool Pacific Northwest to the hot pockets of the U.S. during July?  Oh wait...mine.

12 foot board!

With the boards and boats off the top of the Jeep, and waiting patiently by the lakeshore, we pack a picnic everyday and head for the cabin.  It's the place to be!  We trade paddle board lessons for boat rides and photography lessons with cousin Don.

Don and Steve

Headed out they are both in dry clothes...and...well....at least the water is warm!

Don and the board!

Taking the aqua-lele out for a test paddle

Waterproof!

Bath time....

Tryin' it with a kayak paddle!

My new ride....a 12 ft. SUP by Creed!

Are you tired yet?  

One night we get back into town in time to head off to...the Koochiching County Fair.  Parking is $3 and entry is free.  Steve remembers his first job...ever...being a "go-for" at this tiny fair for a grand total of $13.00.   His words: "A fortune in those days!"  Especially for a 13 year old boy!

Oh...noo!  Not the funnel cake! (photo by Don)

What got Jessica going so many years ago....at our fair.

Every fair has to have one....

Uh ohhh Lynne...hard to keep one of these in the city!

One evening finds us taking the boat over to The Rock Garden.  However, the deer flies are aware of our arrival and welcome us at the dock...in a BIG way.  Here a man with time and passion has created a unique garden of rock sculptures and flowers....however,  Nan retreats to the boat after a quick photo.  

A brief pause at the Rock Garden on Kabtogema.  (photo by Don)

How can a week fly by so  quickly?  But wait...on one of our last nights we grab a quick dinner at a favorite local watering hole...(still there after all these years), The Bait and Bite (slogan: Eat Here and Get Worms...yes, they sell worms...and leeches, and minnows...for the bait part)...and then...off for an evening photography tour on the lake!  We find some fantastic shots...but, that's the next post!

Midnight and Lynne say "Good-night!"

The Mission.....Kayak, SUP or Wade Headwaters of Great Rivers!

~ Instructions from Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis, July 4, 1803

“The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River and such principle stream of  it....and what may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent....” 

Standing here, we are where the Jefferson and the Madison Rivers converge, and next, the Gallatin, to form the Missouri. Yes, the town is named “Three Forks,” Montana!   Meriwether named the first two rivers after the President issuing him orders, and James Madison.  

In 1805, Lewis and Clark stood where we stand today, two hundred 210 years later...in the very same month of July (very hot and buggy). This is the spot where the longest river in the United States begins.  “The Missouri River provides water for commerce, irrigation, recreation and wildlife to a large portion of the nation.”  Guess we’ll try the recreation. 

Surveying the situation, we get the kayaks down from the top of the Jeep.  

How about over that way first?

Or....this way first?

Coming to some agreement....maybe like Lewis and Clark on deciding routes, departure times, stopping places??...we take the dogs back to the rig, set them up with peanut butter laced chew bones, and return with the kayaks.  There is a current, but it doesn't seem all that swift.  Yeah, right.

Heading across the Jefferson...or is it the Madison?

Here we go!

Ok!  We did it~

Cooling off....today it's 95 degrees!

Seems calm enough now.

We spend about an hour paddling up and down, over and around...finding that the current where the two rivers converge to begin the Missouri is pretty swift. (no pictures there!)  Kayaking rivers...definitely different than our lazy Sea of Cortez - Conception Bay.

Two nights here and we are off toward the mighty Mississippi Headwaters...with a little stop over in Medora, North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt NP...mostly to sleep.

Medora Musical set

A little after dinner drive takes us to the top of the hill overlooking the infamous...or famous...Medora Musical in progress.  We didn't get here in time for the show...but I think I might be able to skip it for now...I saw enough!~

Road rodeo....

Our day of driving proves interesting...it's the old two seasons of the year in this part of the county..."Winter and Road Construction."  The dogs are totally bored, the driver is focused and the passenger (me)...is, well, not bored...gasp.

Ho Hum...

Checked out...almost...still watching with one eye!

Another long day of driving takes us into Minnesota and the back roads bring us to Itasca State Park.
After dinner we drive the Jeep up to the headwaters area.

We wade the Headwaters of the Mississippi

Steve and Sparky make it across first....of course!

We have only one night at Itasca State Park on Lake Itasca, Minnesota.  I remember a day experience here as an 11 year old...and Steve remembers one too.  So why not, over 50 years later...do it again!?

We arrive late in the afternoon and head for our camping spot.  Then it's off for a tour of the headwaters area and the now closed visitor center.  The art and displays outside the center are great!

Here's a bronze sculpture of "Turtle Woman."  Since we have named our RV "Honu Two" (honu = Hawaiian for sea turtle and our RV moves at turtle speed and has a nice protective shell to keep us safe and sheltered), we enjoy reading the legend portrayed by the sculpture.

The Objiwe People believe that women are the keepers of the water.  Here a woman releases small turtles into the water.  Her hair represents the flowing water.  The round turtle shell represents earth, moon, sun and seasonal cycles. The turtle's four legs point in four directions, head points up to honor GrandFather Sun and the tail points down toward Mother Earth.  They live in the water, walk on the earth and breathe air.  A strong symbol of the importance of this site, The Headwaters of the Mississippi!

Women and their turtles!

Same sign?!

A little reminder that water from this very spot ends up in the Gulf of Mexico some 2,552 miles later.

The next morning we are up early (for us) and off to SUP (paddle board) Lake Itasca up to the point where it empties into the spot where we stood last night.

Pondering the launch...and waiting for Nan

First time on the 12 ft. boards!

Almost to the actual head of the Mighty Mississippi, by SUP!

Ok then!  Check the Mississippi off our list...pack up the boards and by noon we are on our way to Voyager's National Park on the northern border of Minnesota and some cousin time with Don and Lynn!