Nearly "skunked" on lake and on trail

It’s our last day, and that means we try to squeeze in a little of everything. First up: fishing.

We left earlier today, shortly after 8:00, and decided to focus in on the two spots we’ve had a little (and I emphasize little) luck. Dad, Tom and I took the pontoon back to the Potato Islands in hopes of finding more crappies. All we found was a perch that I caught. But considering it was 12”, we didn’t complain about that! Still, after an hour and half with no crappies (or other fish, for that matter) we moved on to the Green House.

The fish continued to evade us, and by 12:30, we had one rock bass, a small walleye, and a normal-sized perch, for a total catch of four. Although we did great in Pike Bay last week, the pontoon limited where we could go this week and we often wondered: “Where’s The Fish?” in Cass Lake.

The second item on my “last-day bucket list” was kayaking. Armed with paddles and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Deb, Melissa and I attempted to solve the world’s problems (i.e. talk about our kids, families, and life in general). Since we didn’t quite solve all the problems, we’ll just have to reconvene–same time, same place– next year. (Right, girls?)

Next, we had a little business to take care of. We walked down to Sah-Kah-Tay with Mom and Dad so Dad could give Sue the puzzle he preserved to hang near her ice cream counter. She seemed genuinely impressed and happy to receive it! Since we had ice cream on the brain, we enjoyed one final treat. We walked over to Birch Villa’s lodge next where we checked out with Tony and made our reservation for 2020.

Finally, Tom and I took our last ride on the Migizi. We had the entire trail to ourselves, unless you count the turtle we said “hello” to, the black flies who pestered us for awhile, the crow that chewed us out for invading his space, and the skunk (yes, SKUNK!) standing right on the edge of the path who luckily did NOT penalize us for invading his space! (Below are a few video clips of our ride. Sorry about the wind noise…I’m a newbie at this! Also, you can hear the crow, but I didn’t get the skunk on video.)

Back at the resort, I threw together some pasta and sauce and four small tossed salads with the little bit of lettuce that remained. I emptied the fridge of several other tempting sides (i.e. two slices of deli turkey, three slices of pepperjack cheese, three tortillas and a tiny bit of shredded co-jack, a serving of pulled pork, vanilla yogurt, etc.). For some reason, I put most of it back in the fridge, destined for the trash the next day. So it goes.

I was happy to check everything off my last-day bucket list, and have most of the packing done by midnight. We will be up early tomorrow so we can hit the road by 7:00 a.m.

And so ends another year “at the lake.”