My buddy, John, and his wife, Wendie, came up for a visit for my birthday/long Labor Day weekend. He brought up his Harley and had the dealer in Rice Lake mount up a new set of tires on it on his way up. We went for a couple of rides and looked at a cabin that's for sale on a local lake.
The weather has been dry and unseasonably warm the last few weeks so Nancy and I took the kayaks out for a trip down part of the Namekagon River.
As we traveled down the river, we saw at least 2 dozen turtles out sunning themselves on rocks and logs. Check out this one... He's got his hind legs stretched out and it looks like he's warming his toes in the sun.
The foliage along the river had just started to lighten. No color yet, as of the 8th of September.
This little guy was sitting in the tree watching us at the Earl Park Landing when we were getting out of the river.
About a week ago I got an email from Doug over at Coop's Corner. He told me that he was going to be up this way and staying in Herbster at a little campground the shore of Lake Superior. On Sunday the 13th, I went north and tried to find him. I found his van, trailer and camp site, but no Doug.
Sometimes, I forget that many people are far more technologically advanced that I am. I never thought to send an email before I drove up there. I figured he was like me and limited to email at home.... not thinking that he probably has a "smart phone"...
On Monday I sent him an email and told him that I'd been there on Sunday, and that I'd try to get back up there later in the day. I left home around 3:30 and made it up to the campground by 5:00. I met up with Doug at the campground and spent an hour and a half shooting the breeze. I made it home just as it was getting dark. Of course I didn't bring my camera on Monday...
It's been very windy and in the low 80's the last couple of days. I think this has made the leaves start to turn color. When I was driving up to Herbster on Sunday and Monday, I noticed that there was very little color on the leaves. That has changed in just 2 or 3 days.
Today, there are signs of color starting everywhere.... All of these pictures are from less than a half mile from home.
The first one is from a maple tree in my yard. There is ONE red leaf today, 9-16. In 2 weeks the whole tree will be a stunning red...
Now it's a race to see what happens first... my tomatoes turn red(some are getting there) or we get a hard frost(we've come close once)!!
