Peg and Roland

Our friends, Peg and Roland, have been with us for the last few days. On their way here, they stopped in Lansing to do some trout fishing and caught five nice Rainbows, which they prepared for dinner for us the evening they arrived. One of the best guest-prepared meals ever! They stuffed them with capers, onions, lemon juice, and other secret ingredients and then broiled them. Really good! To top it off, Roland was celebrating his birthday that day, so Kathie had prepared a birthday peach pie for him. She presented it with a candle, and we sang the usual song, for which, I suppose, we now owe some royalties to someone.

On Saturday, we decided to drive to Duluth for a portion of the day. Roland had not been around Lake Superior previously. I had also just learned of a highly recommended Wisconsin state park called Pattison State Park, about which you can learn more by clicking here. Since it was more-or-less on the way to Duluth, we decided to stop there first. What a treat it was! The falls, of which there are two, were spectacular. The geological history was fascinating, and the story about the involvement of the Civilian Conservation Corps in preserving the park was also very interesting. Nearly 100 years ago, the park and falls would have been lost to a hydroelectric plan on the Black River were it not for the efforts of Martin Pattison who quietly bought the land and donated it to the state for preservation and the memory of his spouse.

At the south end of the park is 31-foot tall Little Manitou Falls.

Big Manitou Falls is at the north end and cascades some 165 feet or so to the gorge below. This is the 4th highest water fall east of the Rocky Mountains.

All of us loved seeing these natural features, along with the sounds and the other scenery.

A couple of crazy "Sense girls" clowned around on a foot bridge which is near the "inter-falls lake" just above the bigger falls. ("Sense girls" as in members of the Sense and Centsability Investment Club, members of which will be convening here with us for the next few days.)

Yesterday, we did a good bit of fishing, although the results were pretty dismal. We did enjoy a shore lunch along the way.

Maybe the most interesting fish story of all time (for us at least) occurred during this outing. Roland reeled in a small walleye, which he discovered had two lines, minnows, and jigs in its mouth. The second one was Peg's! A tandem catch!

In the evening, we had dinner at Chippewa Inn with two other friends, Jan and Joe, who live nearby. Jan and Peg once worked closely with each other on a collaboration between ACT, where Peg worked, and NCS, where Jan then worked. The restaurant honored several occasions–Roland's birthday, Jan's birthday, and Kathie's and my upcoming wedding anniversary, which is about two weeks away.