This time last year: October

This time last year I was dreaming about being back at Bethel for our 5 year college reunion and picking pumpkins in a t-shirt at Washington Farms.

Well, I am back at Bethel this year which I totally was not thinking about last year! Who knew we would end up back in MN and I would be working at Bethel?!? I have been wearing t-shirts on some days this October but that is not normal for this time of year. Last week we set some record highs for October temperature in MN. It has been unusually warm but I am loving it!

It was so warm last week that we decided to hit up one of the lakes in Minneapolis. We thought it would be warm enough to go swimming, but we were a little delusional. I decided to stay on shore while Eric ran in and out of Lake Nokomis.... It was cold!

Fall in Minneapolis

West River Parkway

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Eric and I have been biking around using NiceRide. We have really enjoyed being able to use the bikes whenever we want. Part of our normal routes include biking on the Mississippi River Banks. I took some pictures the other day of the West River Parkway so you could see where we bike....and it is very beautiful right now with the leaves turning colors.

Franklin Bridge, Minneapolis in the background

Mississippi River Bank

Cranberries!

Last Saturday I went with my mom and two friends out to Stone Lake, WI to check out their Cranberry Festival and see some cranberry harvesting. The weather was perfect and we had fun exploring a small town and trying some new things. I tried the apple cranberry crisp at the festival, it was SOOOO yummy! After looking around Stone Lake we headed to a local cranberry farm, Zawistowski Family. This farm is the only one in the area that is certified Ocean Spray Cranberries. In the small white building below we bought lots of fresh and dried cranberries (craisins). I bough 1 pound of fresh cranberries and 8 one pound bags of craisins. If you have a good recipe that includes cranberries, please share!! They had all sorts of different craisin flavors: blueberry, pomegranate, mango, orange, raspberry, and a few others I cant remember. :) After buying our rations we headed out to a bog they were harvesting. It was neat seeing how they flood the bog and scoop up the berries. It was such a great day! Great weather, great company, great fall colors, and great cranberries!!!

Me & my mom

Agitating the water so the berries come off the plant and float to the top of the water

Corralling the cranberries

Comments

Some of my blog fans (thats you mom) have mentioned that you cannot leave a comment without having a google account. Well, I think I have fixed it! Can you leave me a comment without logging in? If you can, please post a comment so I know!

A List

October is going to be a VERY busy month for us. This is what we have scheduled so far:

• Tomorrow I am going to the Cranberry Bogs in Wisconsin
• Sunday we are going to Zimmerman to make a massive amount of egg rolls (to freeze) with Eric's mom
• The weekend of the 8th we are going to the Cabin one last time
• October 15th we are going to a movie called Farmageddon
• Possibly on the 15th or 16th I want to pick apples and pumpkins at Pine Tree Orchard
• We plan on going to 1 Bethel Football game
• Spending another weekend on the North Shore with Aunt Ada & Uncle Chuck and adding some miles on the SHT
• HALLOWEEN

SHT: Fox Farm Rd to Reeves Rd

Last Thursday we made the 4 hour trek to the North Shore for our hike on the Superior Hiking Trail for our 6 year anniversary. We spent Thursday night with Aunt Ada and Uncle Chuck in Castle Danger. They were very nice and made us pancakes on Friday morning before driving us to the trail head. We were very thankful to have full bellies!

At the start of the trail

We did a total of 21.9 miles over the weekend. The best part of the hike was walking through lots of different types of forests. We saw maple groves, white pine, spruce, balsam, basswood, poplar and birch trees. Towards the beginning of our hike the color was minimal and we mostly saw green everywhere.

A little color at the beginning of our hike

Beaver pond

Maple Forest

Somewhere behind us is supposed to be Lake Superior from 12 miles away

We started our three day adventure on the SHT at Fox Farm Rd. We hiked 9.7 miles on Friday in a cool 53 degrees. It felt great to be out on the trail and not be hot at all. We arrived at our campsite at McCarthy Creek  at around 3:00. We were very happy to get off our feet and rest. We had not hiked with packs in a LONG time. We quickly set up camp and searched for firewood before settling down and getting off our feet. Eric set up the hammock and we settled in for a little reading. Once we stopped moving though, we realized it was a little chilly. We had to put on our hats, mittens, and get into our sleeping bags….it was cold! We enjoyed the evening drinking tea, eating couscous, and sipping bourbon by the fire. 

relaxing in the hammock after a long hike

 

On Saturday we woke up a little sore but were ready to keep hiking and exploring the SHT. We hiked 6.3 miles on our 2^nd day to Stewart River. Our hike on the 2^nd day was great. The Fall leaves started looking a little more colorful and the sun came out in the afternoon. We shared our camp with two older gentleman and a single guy. It was fun to talk to them about their other hiking experiences while enjoying the warmth of a fire.

Cool mossy knobs all over the forest

On Sunday we hit the trail even sorer than the day before and hiked another 5.9 miles to Reeves Road. This section of the trail had great Fall colors. Unfortunately the clouds and fog came back for the morning but it was still a beautiful hike! We reached our destination by noon and Chuck and Ada were waiting to take us back to their place for lunch. They cooked us a turkey! Everything tasted soooo good but as you know, the Turkey only made us more tired! We said goodbye around 1:30 and made our way back to Minneapolis after making a quick stop for coffee. Overall, it was a great anniversary weekend!!

This birch tree was growing inside an old dead tree....the old tree's bark was wrapped around the new one.