It rained and thundered much of the night, and we awoke to a gray, rainy day. Fishing was off the table. Biking was not in the cards. So it was decided it was a winery and shopping kind of day! After a lazy morning in the cabin, we left with Beth and Bill for the winery, while Leah and Chloe drove Elise, Rebekah and Zach to Walker.

Unfortunately, we discovered the winery was closed on Mondays. So it became a "shopping only" kind of day! We met the kids in Walker. As we were browsing around “Reed's” we were pleasantly surprised to run into my Uncle Jim! He had driven up from his cabin on Rush Lake (85 miles away) to get some fishing supplies, and just happened to be in the store at the same time as us. It really IS a small world!

We shopped for a couple of hours in the fun gift shops around Walker. Bought some kitchen gadgets and Minnesota shirts, and dodged raindrops as we ran from store to store. As things in Walker closed down, Beth and Bill moved on down the road with their family to Zorbaz in Park Rapids for supper. We went back to Birch Villa for a quick supper before the girls joined the other cousins for a movie in Bemidji.

Tom and I walked down to Mom and Dad’s for ice cream, coffee and conversation. Beth and Bill joined us a little later. It’s wonderful being so close to family that we otherwise only see once every month or two!

Rainy days and Mondays