Lake Minnetonka

Monday, August 10, 2009
Apple Valley, MN

It's time to remedy another long pause in this Journal. I suffer from a tendency to procrastinate at times and before I know it there's an 4 day hole that must be filled. So let's get to it.

We left Beaver Dam on Sunday the 9th of August, and headed northwest to the Twin Cities of Minnesota. It's been almost two years since we visited our good friends Jim & Sue at their home in Burnsville and with our westward travel plan this year we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend some quality time with them. We met these folks more than 20 years ago when we happened to buy a house right next door. Although we only lived in Burnsville for one very short year our friendship has endured for many more.

Our visits with Jim & Sue revolve around doing something outdoors and eating. On Monday the four of us put their boat in on Lake Minnetonka, probably the largest lake in the Twin Cities metro area. This was a first for us as we've never been on this lake before. The weather was sunny and warm, and the wind calm enough to keep the waters relatively still. The lake is really a maze of bays and connecting channels -- it'd be tough to navigate without good knowledge or a GPS. We had both aboard the boat that day.

The long and winding shoreline is dotted with a few of the older cabins and modest houses that used to line the lake a few years ago. But increasingly those small places are giving way to homes that could only be described with superlatives: huge, monstrous, ostentatious, showy places that are fun to look at but don't even spark a glimmer of desire on my part. I think I've become fully converted to the simple life.

The highlight of the day was lunch at Lord Fletchers, a local dining hot spot right on the lake. And as luck would have it we hit the right day -- it was "Manic Monday". They were grilling 1/2 pound burgers on the deck for only $4 and bottles of Miller beer were only a buck! What a deal. Thanks Jim & Sue for lunch and the boat trip around Lake Minnetonka.

As evening descended, we sat on their screen porch, had dinner, and talked smart until it was time for bed.

T