Training Alaskan Huskies, St. Croix Haven

Carol lives up the street from the campground on the Old Ferry dirt road. She works the summer months here and in October begins training her huskies for a cross country dog sledding adventure. She hooks the dogs up to her ATV and lets them pull it at a low speed, going down Old Ferry to the river then back up and through the campground. Positively amazing.

Trees Changing Color, St. Croix, Minnesota

One of the things I really wanted to do was take a trip up the North Shore while the leaves are changing, but it does not look like we are going to make it. Our next days off are bringing in a cold front with it and highs in the mid to high 40's - brrr. So I took some pictures around the campground of the various trees as they changed. We have so many leaves on the ground now around our campsite and it is very dry. Fire danger is high, and with the wind we have not had a campfire lately.

Lucy's Adventure with a Stick

Yesterday started out as most of our days off do ~ lazy morning walking the dogs, making blueberry pancakes for breakfast and looking at the computer. Discovered that chipmunks have been putting acorns in the back of the Excursion in the body housing that covers the gas tank. Lucy smelled them and chased some out of there but the last one she chased out and into the brush she pounced on and ended up impaling herself with a 1/2" diameter stick in her leg about 4" deep. Nasty. Happened just as we were getting into the truck to go to Walmart and do grocery shopping. 

Afternoon at the Beach: Lake 26 (Wisconsin)

Went to Lake 26 Wednesday afternoon to enjoy the water and beach. Had lunch and then down to the water and beach to cool off. The dogs had a great time swimming and running around on the beach and around the area. The water was nice and shallow and the lake looks like a good place to canoe.

It's a pretty big lake but the beach is quite small. We were the only ones there for a while and the dogs had a great time in the water swimming and running around. Lucy actually learned to swim and would swim out to Jim and jump into his arms like a little kid trying to get out of the water. The water was quite shallow and warm - we were able to kneel out there and enjoy the water.

Duluth, Minnesota

Went to visit Duluth on a bright, sunny day in July. Spent some time at the museum at Canal Point which told about the ships that sailed on Lake Superior. We walked a little along the walkway next to Lake Superior and let the dogs go swimming on a stony beach we found. 

St. Croix Haven Campground, Independence Day Parade

There is always something going on at the park. On July 4th weekend there was a parade around the campground where Jerry the owner decorated his antique Fire Truck and other campers decorated bikes, golf carts and trucks and drove around the campground.

I walked around the campground to take pictures of the parade, which was a lot of fun to watch.

Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area, Grantsburg, Wisconsin

Crex Meadows is a 30,000 acre state wildlife management area. It's objective is to restore the area to its original condition of a brush prairie-wetland complex. It was altered by settlers in the late 1800s - wetlands were drained and much of the brush prairie was allowed to grow into a jack pine-oak forest. As a result, much of the original native plants and animals were significantly reduced or completely disappeared.