September got to love the fall colors

 The birds are heading south already. Our deer are getting their winter coats and the squirrels are busy hiding food for the up coming winter. We have our winter plans all set as of Sept 1.  Of course it's always possible that plans may change but we have a place to lay our heads from Oct 18 until March 30.  

Saturday Sept 4: We had our neighbors Rick and Rita for a fun early evening fire.  The weather was perfect for a fire, the birds and animals came out in force. Including the raccoons!  We have not seen them in the sunlight, they felt comfortable enough to come out on Saturday. Lots of fun conversation and laughs.  Lots of planets and stars out tonight. 

Monday our neighbors Pam and Terry came by for a hot dog roast.  they brought the hot dogs!  it was a last minute gathering around the fire complimented with some food.. 

Final golf game and banquet held on Wednesday Sept 8 at Tagalong.  I really enjoy golfing with the ladies each week. My game has improved over the years and I have met many wonderful people. 

Yard Buddies!  the Big Buck showed up, he is a 7 pointer with a very very thick neck.

Papa Crane and baby came by for a bite too.

they seemed to get a long as long as they each had their own piles of corn.  the Turkeys thought they would  come by but changed their minds when they seen these two guys.

Brother Ray came for a visit!  He had been in Fargo/Detroit Lakes visiting his college friends.  A bit of a long drive to our house but the bar was waiting for his arrival.  Also a wonderful pasta dinner made with last years tomato sauce.

A fun pontoon ride on Upper Long Lake on a sunny afternoon was just what we needed.  The lake was pretty much ours as we only seen 2 other boats as we were heading back to Mud Lake.  

A cool misty day was perfect to look through letters etc from Eric and Ray's dads world war 2 effects. We found some foreign money, many many letters to the family and lots of pictures without any names, dates or locations.   The sun did come out later in the day, nice late afternoon fire and hamburgers on the grill.  A pretty relaxing visit with Ray except when the raccoon and Papa crane got into a little scuttle!  

We went for dinner on Wednesday at Lehman's in Rice Lake.  Afterwards I headed south to Eau Claire for my trip to South Padre Island TX and they headed north for home.  Ray left for St Paul to visit Jenny and family on Thursday.

Thursday I flew from Eau Claire Wi to O'Hare to pick up Rose Williamson.  We flew to Houston then onto Harlingen TX, where Kim Galan picked us up for our weekend on South Padre Island!  We rented a 2 bed, 2 bath condo on the north end of the island. The weather was hot and humid.  perfect for hanging around the dinning room table or on the beach. I was able to get a few birding walks in before it got too hot.

Lunch at Louie's Backyard on the bay side

walking the beach on the gulf side.  

our cute little pool.  the water was very warm but refreshing.  We were the only people using the pool!  

we were a bit of a walk form Claytons, music on Friday night and fireworks.  how fun that was.. 

We took a Dolphin watch boat ride on Saturday.  We seen a few dolphins and it was perfect day for a boat ride.

on Saturday we did not walk to Claytons to see the fireworks, we went to our beach access to see them from there!

Almost Full moon!  We could see Jupiter too.

Sunday, Kim and Rose went to Turtle Rescue while I went to the Birding center. 

Monday: time to go home!  we made a stop in Port Isabel for a bit of shopping before we went to the airport. 

Our flights were pretty uneventful until I flew from O'Hare to Eau Claire.  A storm made us fly north to Michigan then west to Eau Claire.  It added about 15 minutes to our trip.  since I arrived so late I stayed the night in Eau Claire for a good nights rest... We had so much fun, lots of laughs, too much food and drink and some great walks and sight seeing..  perfect weekend with great friends.

Eric's weekend began on Friday afternoon.  He had time to clean up and set up the games and food on Thursday and Friday.

not sure how long they were planning staying!

Added new member: Bob M. came up from Houston to join the weekend

Of course a big campfire and fireworks on Friday night

Breakfast around the fire on Saturday AM

Wood chopping was on the schedule, they did a great job!

the gang: Bob, Kevin (Pogo), Scott, Lee, Kevin (Gibby) and Keith!  what a great looking crew!

much needed rest?

working for their stay

A bit of golf, bean bags, pickle ball and shooting beer cans was enjoyed by all.  

BB shooting 

Group photo

Night time Bean Bag game!  who does that??

Boating out on Long Lake. what a fabulous day to be out and about..  

The last time our crane family was seen was on Saturday Sept 18.  they must have gone south.  the turkeys sure have grown in the time I was gone and the trees have really changed colors.  

Havesting apples to make applesauce, baked apples etc..  We did not can any other food this year.  We have a few weeks left before we head out so lots of planning and packing is underway. 

Every 5 year or so the county comes and clear cuts the right of way areas under the electrical lines.  Yes we still have overhead lines running through our property!

Eric is very proud of his teams!!  some win and some lose when he wears his shirts...

applesauce making:  we made two batches of delicious applesauce!

Off to Duluth for the Hawk Migration.  Unfortunately the winds were not in our favor but we had sunshine and warm weather!  

No worry about going into the lake...

From our room at the Edgewater on the north end of town.

on the door to our balcony!

Tuesday Sept 28:  today's weather was perfect for tourist but not so much for migrating birds.  Sunny and light winds out of the east make for slow migration.  We headed north to Two Harbors stopping along the way to look for birds.

By noonish we were done looking for migrating birds and got distracted by an Ore Boat leaving dock, then shortly after another one came in to dock.  Lots and lots of other people got distracted too.  People raced to a parking spot to watch the show!

We got a bit thirsty so stopped at Castle Danger for a cool refreshing beer.

Dinner at Union Burrito, was OK.  Burrito and beer was good the tortilla chips were stale and tasted like cardboard.  But we would get the burritos again.  

We stopped to watch a group paddle boarding!

Sept 30: I got my Pfizer booster!  no issues, just a little soreness at the injection site...