Vacation, Day 7

Thursday, July 24, 2014

We had blueberry pancakes with peaches and bacon on the side for breakfast. We relaxed on the deck until 10:00, when we set out to drive the Shoe Lake Road/Arrowhead Trail loop. We packed lunch of for a picnic at McFarland Lake. Our only wildlife siting was a ruffed grouse by the road. There were two ruffed grouse initially, but only one stayed around for pictures.

Ruffed grouse

 

It was a perfect day—upper 60’s, under mostly clear sky with a few wispy mare’s tail clouds. We got to the little park at McFarland Lake just at lunch time. I had a summer sausage sandwich. Jane had sliced summer sausage and cheese curds with crackers. We had carrot and cucumber sticks as well as yogurt with the last of the blueberries we brought from home. Our dessert was Lorna Doones (official cookie of Bev and Jane vacations) and chocolate covered almonds.



Our favorite picnic table at McFarland Lake

After lunch, I picked some wild blueberries at the Otter Lake portage. They weren’t at peak ripeness yet, but the ones that were ripe were a good size, as wild blueberries go. Jane was too sore and stiff from fishing on Wednesday to help with the picking.

My wild blueberry harvest, which I washed in a custard ramekin and drained in my tea strainer

We continued to Grand Marais where we got custard at Sydney’s (of course). We ate on our bench overlooking a very calm Lake Superior. Betsy Bowin’s studio had no calendars, but they were arriving tomorrow and there was a high probability that they would be there if we came back after 3:00 the next day.

Supper was a repeat of the WondeRoast chicken marinara. I stretched the sauce with a small can of garlic, basil, and oregano tomato sauce. I used the rest of the garlic for garlic bread and the pasta sauce, sautéing thickly sliced cloves in butter before adding the tomato and chicken. Two salads finished off the lettuce. I felt a great deal of pleasure in seeing the refrigerator getting empty.

WondeRoast Chicken Marinara with garlic toast and salad

Jane was ready for bed at 6:00, but we held out until 8:30, passing the time by playing Yahtzee. Two loons cruised around the lake. I went down with my telephoto lens to try to get pictures. I’d get the camera ready for the shot just as the loon went under. I waited, and it would pop up half way across the lake, out of range. It was rather frustrating.

It  was such a beautiful calm evening that I went back down with the regular lens to get some pictures of the sunset with the cirrus clouds reflected in the surface of the water.



Sunset