A Family Trip "Up North"

We've lived in Minnesota for almost two years now. Last week, we had our first Up North experience. We stayed in a condo at Breezy Point Resort on Pelican Lake just north of Brainerd. It seems everyone in the Twin Cities goes Up North at least once a summer (and almost weekly if they or their family has a cabin).

Now that we have been there, I can understand why. The lakes are beautiful. The woods are peaceful. The wildflowers and wildlife are pleantiful. Now I sound like Garrison Keillor. Erik would love to have a small cabin on lake so that he just go out and sit by the lake at night. Maybe someday.

We biked, hiked and canoed. We were bombarded by the giant Minnesota mosquitos at Crow Wing State Park and encountered stealthy ticks at Itasca State Park. But the highlight for us was seeing the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Due to the amount of rain we have had lately, the lake and therefore the river were high. Most of the rocks that you can use to walk across the Mississippi were submerged. Since I was carrying Tate in a backpack carrier and Ella was too small for the current, Erik and Megan were the only ones to cross. The rest of us settled for the first bridge across the Mississippi...a flattened log about 25 feet downstream.

Ella dangles her toes in the Mississippi River. See more pictures soon on sorensen4mn.smugmug.com.