Wednesday morning saw us packing, blogging, writing a note for Tom and Peggy, who had gone to work before we woke up, and waiting for Michele to come and collect us. We said goodbye to Debbie and Charlie, the concierges at the condo, and headed off to Roseville, a leafy suburb of the Twin Cities. (To be fair it is leafy almost everywhere as there are many parks and trees in Minneapolis/St Pauls)

When we arrived we just had time to unpack and make ourselves at home when a flat pack coffee table was delivered, so Ted made himself useful assembling it. We promised Michele we would tell Pat she had done it but when he arrived home from work she immediately confessed all. We made a token gesture at helping the preparation of dinner by scraping and chopping some vegetables while Michele wrestled with a large turkey breast and as with Tom and Peggy, conversation flowed as if we had all known each other for years. Dinner was served on the porch and later next door neighbour Ron dropped by to join in the chat until biting insects drove us inside and the party broke up.

The next morning Michele took us to the Minnesota History Museum. Of particular interest was the special display about the Dakota Indian War of 1862, in honour of the 150th anniversary. There was also an absorbing exhibition of “Minnesota’s Greatest Generation”, which covered the period 1918 to 1960. Unlike the UK, the USA had a baby boom after WW1 when the soldiers came home so the exhibition focused on these children and the lives they led, including WW2 and the life after the war. I had not realised that the US had any sort of rationing in WW2 as the GIs in Britain apparently had everything. Another section focussed on all the families that had occupied a particular old house in Minneapolis, which showed how different waves of immigrants had played their part in the development of the city. Then we headed home as Pat & Michele’s twin daughters, Krista and Nicole were coming over with their 8 children. Unfortunately their son Ben was busy so we had to wait to meet him and their other 2 grandchildren later. The gang kept us well entertained until Pat, together with Mitch and Tom (Krista and Nicole’s husbands) arrived from work and we all shared 4 huge pizzas.

After this the children all went home and we packed the car for our visit to Lake Superior, Wisconsin, and Remedios. The 4 hour drive seemed to fly by and in no time at all we were re-acquainting ourselves with Pat’s well travelled boat. Pat must have been particularly pleased to get there after having driven all the way on top of a day’s work.

The following morning we drove into Bayfield to pick up some essential supplies and to take a trip round the beautiful shops. I left The Quilt Shop determined to take up quilting when I get home and Ted was able to buy me an early birthday present in the handmade jewellery shop. Then it was time to head over to “Big Top Chautauqua”. This is a tent in which music concerts are held throughout the summer. Michele’s sister Sharon’s partner David was competing in the final of a singer songwriter competition and we were all there to support him. This proved fascinating although David, unfortunately, was not among the winners. The styles were very varied and it was hard to see what criteria the judges were applying, although they had said marks were awarded for lyric, melody and overall impression but not for performance. It appeared that they just rewarded the young, good-looking ones however, as I found the lyric of the winning song fairly incomprehensible and didn’t like the second one at all! We all agreed David had been robbed and then went back to the boat where we went out for an afternoon sail. Sharon and David had not been on the boat before and seemed to enjoy themselves. We all ate on board that evening – a delicious stew of the leftover turkey and vegetables – and shared experiences until it was time for Sharon and David to leave. I think he wanted to get back to the Big Top where there was an open mike session after the evening’s commercial performances.

The next morning we visited the local farmers market, which was a most interesting experience. As well as locally grown and unusual produce (including sumac with which to make an infusion) we were able to admire embossed and painted leather pictures while discussing their creation with the artist who was also a musician. Then it was time to return to the boat for lunch and the sail to Stockton Island, one of the Apostle Islands managed by the national park service. Conditions were ideal for an excellent sail, Ted’s only complaint was the amount of winch grinding needed to raise the mainsail! After a scenic ride amongst the islands we anchored in a peaceful bay edged by a long sandy beach.

After a good night’s sleep we were keen to explore the island so we all squeezed into the dinghy, which claimed to have a capacity of 3 very lightweight people, and Pat and Ted paddled us to the beach. The morning was spent enjoyably walking along the beach and through the woodland interior, stopping at the information centre near the harbour on the opposite side of the peninsula we were anchored. There were lots of birds in the woods some of which we spotted and Pat identified for us and we also spotted a snake.  On the way back to Remedios we paddled over to spot the wreck partly visible on the sandy bottom in the clear water, too cold for snorkelling though. Unfortunately the wind was unhelpful for a sail back, so we motored back to Pikes Bay Marina. Our first choice for dinner, Maggie’s, proved to be too busy to accommodate us without a long wait so we returned to the restaurant at the harbour and enjoyed an excellent meal.

The next morning Pat was keen to show Michele a 40 acre plot of land he had seen, with a view to purchasing it and building a cabin. It was in the wooded hills behind the town, we were flabbergasted by the low price of the land and the ease with which landowners could develop property and rely on the local authorities to take responsibility for the access roads. It seemed a very exciting project. On our return to the car we were surprised to see another vehicle approaching along the dirt track, which stopped by us and proved to be the only US Border Control officer operating in the area. (The only foreign border there is with Canada in the middle of the lake). He enquired what we were doing and on hearing that Ted and I were British asked to see our passports. Luckily I had mine but Ted had left his in St Pauls, although he had his driving licence with him, There were some anxious moments while we were told that it was a legal requirement for aliens to carry passports at all times, before he let us off with a warning. After Michele reminded him that they had met before, when he boarded Remedios, while they were swinging their compass, he softened and got very chatty, explaining he was looking for illegal immigrants growing marijuana, which apparently was commonplace in the area. He even went so far as to tell us his medical history and then removed the metal plate from his bullet proof vest so we could feel the weight of it. (It was designed for high velocity hunting rifles’ shots and was at least an inch thick). He then drove off further into the woods and we went back to Bayfield to see if we could get lunch at Maggie’s, but they weren’t open on Mondays so crossed the road to a nice little cafe for a sandwich. After packing up Remedios we made tracks for the Twin Cities. We arrived back in good time to get a Thai takeaway, which was also shared with next door neighbours Ron and Rosie, who managed to extract our life story without too much effort it seemed, while also sharing theirs with us. A most convivial evening was had by all.

Pat & Michele’s back garden                                                                                                                                 A different sort of planting in the front garden

Ted assembling the table                                                                                                                                             We watch while Pat and Michele prepare dinner

View of Minnesota State Capitol from the museum                                         Michele, Nicola, Patrick and Davis

Ride a cock horse seems to work all over the world!                                                                                       David performs in the competition

After our evening meal on Remedios                                                                         Interesting produce at the farmers’ market

Embossed leather pictures                                                                                                                                                Ted sweating over a hot winch

Pat directing the anchoring                                                                                       Remedios’s dinghy – will we all fit?

I wonder where the boat’s gone!                                                                                                                         View behind the beach on Stockton Island

At least in this one we can see the mast in the distance                                                                                      Rocky ledges surround the bay

A pitcher plant (a fly eater)                                                                                                                                      The woodpeckers make big holes in the trees

The woods in the interior of the island                                                                                                         But this was the only bear we saw (in the information centre)

The boat was still there when we got back                                                                                                        View of Bayfield town from the sea

Pikes Bay Marina restaurant meal                                                                                                                            Exploring the “homestead” plot

In search of the river                                                                                                                                                 Reviewing the alternative plot, with more mature trees