Madeline Island

Cliffs of Madeline Island

Old Fishing Cabin on Manitou Island

Lake Superior Rocks

Canoe near the Lagoon on Madeline Island

Mr Beeper and Beeper Exploring Manitou Island

Old Fishing Camp

Cabinet Remains in Fishing Camp

Lagoon on Madeline Island

Rocks and Drift Wood

Tim Naps on the Dock

Sailboat through the Grass off Manitou Island

Tom's Burned Down Bar

Mr Beeper's Favorite Sign at Tom's

Mad Island Style at Tom's

Hammock in the Yard of the Mad Island Public Library

Little Miss Lily Leaps into Lake Superior

Beeper Fearlessly Hops In

Canoes on Mad Island

As a rule, given the inhospitality of the weather around here most of the year, we deliberately make our vacation plans for near locales and try to make the most of the what is right here while the weather is lovely--you may have noticed this.  Thus, we have been away in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior, staying at a friend's wonderful new home on Madeline Island--and then saved a few days on the back end for a short trip to Ludlow's Island for our annual summer's end visit.  I had never been to the  Islands before and as you can see, the beauty is pretty staggering.  For me, few things can compete the with the rocky shorelines, fresh water lake-swimming, boreal forests, and that rustic-feel of Lake Superior.  Having grown up in northern Minnesota, those red cliffs and cold waters feel like coming home and I can shuck off whatever else may be preoccupying me and just be right there, right then.


And for future reference: when it would seem I have disappeared off the face of my blog, you can probably safely assume I was on vacation.  I always have the best intentions of dropping in here to say hello, let you know where I am,  squeeze a post in here or there about whatever we are up to--but somehow, I just fall into my vacation headfirst, forgetting everything else.  I hope you understand.

I will be back tomorrow to announce the winner of the Tea gift certificate--I pinky-swear.