Yesterday morning, fellow blogger and friend, Gypsy arrived for a two day visit on the refuge. The first order of business, of course, was to give her the grand tour of the refuge.
We were able to see a couple of bald eagles, a nesting pair of ospreys, a deer, and a whole bunch of trumpeter swans. I know a bunch of geese are called a gaggle, but I have no idea what the proper name for a bunch of swans is.
I took Marty on some of the back roads of the refuge in hopes of seeing a wolf, but our chit chatting probably gave them an early warning of our approach. 
After we got back to the rig, it was time for Marty to choose her new diamond willow walking stick from the three sticks I had finished. I was happy to see that she picked out the one with what I thought had the prettiest markings. I wasn’t sure if it would be tall enough for her, but she said it was just right. I hope it travels many miles with her.
Shortly afterwards, Steve declared that the smoked ribs were ready, so I brought out the homegrown tomatoes, Cole slaw, and watermelon that I had to complete the meal. It was a delicious ending to our day.
Today I got the chance to take Marty to Minnesota’s first State Park. Itasca State Park just happens to also be the place where the mighty Mississippi River begins it’s journey to the Gulf of Mexico. We spent most of the day there, took several short hikes to see some vistas and immense trees, and Marty got her feet wet in the headwaters of the Mississippi. I tried to get her to walk all the way across, but like me, walking on anything with bare feet just isn’t something either of us are comfortable with.
My chuckle for the day came when I used the ladies room at one of the two visitors centers. As I sat down to relieve myself, I noticed a poster on the inside of the stall door. On it was a lesson on what ground water is. What a state park. They even try to educate you when you are a captive audience. 
The plan this evening was to go to Ice Cracking Lodge (wonderful name for a place in northern Minnesota) for some tasty Thunder Burgers. I was shocked when we got to this little bar/grill to see the place packed to the gills at 5:30. It turned out to be Friday Bingo Night at the local lodge in Round Lake. Holy Mackerel! I think we got the last two available seats in the place, and the noise from the bingo caller and players almost made me deaf. I guess they take bingo seriously up here.
Sorry to say, Gypsy will be on her way to International Falls tomorrow, and I’ve got errands to run in Fargo. I’ve really enjoyed her visit, and hope we up meet again soon down the road.
THE END!!
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
