There is a disconnect in schedules between Grandma at age 74 (who comes from the eastern time zone) and a sixteen-year-old (from the central time zone.) I am always up very early, spending some quality quiet time on the shore, enjoying the silence, and hoping for a rosy, beautiful sunrise. I made a trip to the main lodge to connect again with the wi-fi and the phone, trying to set up a time to meet our friend Marti Marchino the next day. By mid-morning we were enjoying breakfast of sausage, cinnamon bread toast, and of course coffee and hot chocolate. We ended up driving down to Marti's, on Shorts Road near Clearwater Lodge, and checking with her about the time for tomorrow. I was embarrassed to find out that I had been calling the wrong phone number, but we were still glad to see her, and relieved to know that the lack of communication wasn't anything serious.

So. . .what to do today? After a little bit of discussion, we decided to paddle down the lake to Trail Center and have our lunch there. It was a beautiful day for a paddle and we thoroughly enjoyed the three-mile (each way) trip in the canoe. We were using the aluminum canoe that was provided with our cabin, and in the photo of the cabin from the water, you can see that we also had brought our Bell Northwind for any trips on lakes other than Poplar.

Our girl was in the center seat, paddling most of the time (and occasionally taking photos.) In the years since her first trip, she has become a strong paddler. But sometimes I still see that little girl. . .and I feel so blessed that we have had these times with her on the canoe country lakes.

Anna always gets a BLT at Trail Center, and we usually have malts. This time we mixed it up and ordered floats: root beer for me and orange for Anna. They were delicious.

As we were paddling back to the cabin after lunch, Anna wanted to photograph a water lily along the shore, and she managed to get a nice shot of a dragonfly, too. We also saw a pair of immature loons, and she was the one who got the best photos.

The canoeing was fun, but it wore me out. I am still adjusting to dealing with my heart disease, which makes me short of breath and also robs me of my usual stamina. In addition to that challenge, I was troubled by rotator cuff pain in one shoulder. I declared that I wasn't cooking dinner at the cabin, and I retired to my room to read and rest for a couple of hours. Actually, I cannot prove it, but I suspect that everyone took a little nap this afternoon. :-)

In the early evening we decided to try dinner at Hungry Jack Lodge. Overall, we were not that impressed. They didn't seat us in the lodge where we would have a lovely lake view, but in a bar area in the basement that was quite dark. The food was OK, but nothing special. It is my humble opinion that bleu cheese doesn't belong in coleslaw. And Anna's "three-cheese sandwich" had a copious amount of Pepper Jack cheese--not a favorite. Anna did enjoy climbing on a new set of rocks, however, and she found things to photograph, mainly fungi. After we returned to the cabin she baked--and ate--a whole can of crescent rolls!

It is fun for me to see places through Anna's eyes.