A Fun Day and A Long Ride

Wednesday, September 20

We had a bad storm last night and woke to cloudy skies this morning. We decided to spend some time shopping - I had 3 stores that I wanted to visit. I don't go shopping often so it is a treat when we travel.

First was Creations Quilt Shop. As soon as I saw the store, I remembered being here seven years ago. The owner told me that she had expanded into the building next door. She has a good selection of fabric and notions and great prices. I found some blues to enhance my stash. I left behind a fantastic collection of batiks - I must go back! 

Then we stopped at Hannah Johnson's. This was a new place for me and it was a neat place with a friendly owner. She had a nice selection of quilting fabric and some other fabrics also - knits, laminates, oil cloth. I bought some hockey fabric for a child's quilt.

Just down the street was Yarn Harbor. I found some Quince & Co. yarn for a sweater that I can't wait to start! The sweater will be wheat colored with light blue, dark blue, pumpkin, and apricot highlights. With the help of the owner, I changed the original colors a bit. She was very nice and very helpful.

By the time we finished lunch, the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! We walked along the waterfront in Canal Park. There are 3 lighthouses but I'm not sure they are all working.

In addition to beautiful scenery today, there were statues,

water fun,

and pretty flowers.

On the way back to our rental, Ray noticed a tower so we went in search of it. We found the Enger Observation Tower in Enger Park just a short distance from our 'home'.

 

In the park, there was also an observation area overlooking Lake Superior. 

Ray and I were both looking out at the lake when Ray noticed the Aerial Lift Bridge was up.

We waited for a boat and a sailboat to pass through and then watched the bridge go down.

By sunset, there were no clouds so we decided instead of going to Canal Park for sunset pictures, we'd head back to Enger Park for pictures of lights.

The tower from different angles:

The Aerial Lift Bridge at sunset:

Tomorrow we'll head for home.

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Thursday, September 21

It was 48 degrees when we got up today and 59 degrees when we left at 8:30 AM. When we arrived home about 4:30, it was 84 degrees. Whew! At various times today, we were in bright sunshine, heavy clouds, and partly sunny weather. We thought we were going to be in rain but that never happened.

On the way south we stopped in Barron, WI. at Country Lane Market. Besides being a neat place with many gorgeous mums for sale, (Sadly, we had no room to transport any.) 

they host a big farmers' market on Thursdays. Although the farmer's market officially starts at 2PM, vendors often are there earlier. We arrive shortly after 10:30AM and picked up a few things in the store including some fresh raspberries. Some vendors were setting up but we decided not to wait - we had a long day ahead of us. These two older people don't enjoy too many hours in the car on any given day and we had many hours to go.

We are now home. All is good; unpacked, laundry started, few groceries bought. Now to get some rest - this weekend is our village's big festival.