The next day we headed back to town for some essential shopping together with boat fuel and postcard purchases in the morning and then in the afternoon, while Peggy was busy preparing for the evening’s party, the rest of us went sailing on the SuperCat. The forecast had been for light winds but there seemed to be plenty as we experienced life afloat on a trampoline. Tom was brave enough first of all to leave Ted and I alone with it and later to go out with Ted equipped for trapezing. He was mightily impressed, when the wind got up, to have 125 years on trapezes. (That’s both of them, not just Ted). Peggy had done a great job with the food and soon friends and neighbours were arriving for the party. A most convivial evening followed and we met lots of interesting new people.

The next day we took a walk down the road and met most of the previous night’s guests again doing something similar, before heading back as Rob Courneya (the third of the Remedios crew) and his wife Mary were coming to visit. As soon as they arrived it was drinks and nibbles on the pontoon boat again, while catching up with Rob and Mary, who we hadn’t seen since we were all in Portugal. The pontoon boat engine was playing up so on our return the men immediately took the opportunity to start tinkering while Peggy headed for the farmers cabin for freshly picked sweet corn and Mary and I enjoyed the sunshine and after Peggy’s return shucked the corn. The tinkering didn’t seem to yield anything useful but we all enjoyed a supper of sausages from the grill (BBQ) and fresh corn, followed by a delicious chocolate and zucchini cake Mary had made. Certainly a recipe I want to bring home. All too soon we were waving goodbye to Rob and Mary but we expect to see them again at Lake Superior later in the trip. Tom was keen to try more wish balloons and this time not risk setting fire to something immediately so we took the pontoon boat out to the middle of the lake and tried from there. We let the first one go too soon and it crashed into the water at the side of the boat but a second attempt was much more successful and we all made wishes as it soared to an estimated 1,000 feet.

Monday was our last day at the cabin and first of all Ted and Tom took the pontoon boat engine off and delivered it to Hoots in Perham in the hopes they could sort out what the problem was, although Tom seemed to be leaning towards replacing it with something bigger. Peggy and I took the opportunity to visit a women’s clothes shop having a sale, while the men hung about looking grumpy. A few purchases later we headed back for a last trip round the lake, this time in the speed boat, so fast and to finish packing up and heading back to Minneapolis, stopping on the way at Psycho Suzi’s for cocktails and a tasty meal in a riverfront setting.

Tuesday was to be our last full day before transferring to Pat and Michelle’s hospitality. We took the opportunity to visit the Mill City Museum, which was well worth the visit, being informative and imaginatively presented. While on the observation platform at the top of the mill we were lucky enough to see a tug pushing a couple of barges through the lock by the falls. Then we took the light transit railway to the Mall of America, the one thing everyone here seems to know about Minneapolis. It is a huge shopping mall combined with Nickelodeon Adventure (a sort of theme park but not as big as Alton Towers and inside) and a Sea Life Centre (we didn’t investigate how it compared with Birmingham’s or Hull’s). The number of shops alone is more than could be visited in a day let alone the few hours we had, but we lunched on Pretzel Dogs – a bit like a sausage roll – and wandered about mainly looking at the toy shops, particularly the enormous Lego shop, which is also a play area for the children. Then it was back home to toast our hosts and their wonderful hospitality with champagne and dinner at Rachel’s, where the owner sits down at your table to pass the time of day.

We certainly had a fantastic week and are so grateful to Tom and Peggy for inviting us and tolerating our rather untidy habits! We are looking forward to being able to reciprocate when they are able to visit us in the UK.

Readying the SuperCat                                                                                                                                                   Almost like old times

Almost 125 years on trapezes (unfortunately the wind was all on the far side of the lake)   Tucking in at the party

A convivial gathering                             

Rob and Mary join us on the pontoon boat                                                                                                      Men do love to tinker

Tom getting to grips with the problem                                                                                                                       Enjoying sausages and sweet corn

Lantern over the lake this time

     and this is it flying high

A black squirrel at the cabin                                                                                                                          and this fellow was determined to hang around

Tom and Peggy’s fleet                                                                                                                                               final spin at speed

Psycho Suzi’s (the toilet walls were blackboards with chalk provided for graffiti!)                                     Threshing engine at the Mill City Museum

The barges entering the lock                                                                                                                             the falls as seen from the observation deck at the museum

Lego at the Mall of America                                                                                                                                      Nickelodeon Adventure