Sunday on the Mississippi

We don't sleep in much. It's just not in our blood. But every Sunday, when we try to sleep in, we are instantly reminded that there is a church next to our condo, and that that church plays its bells at the start of its first service on Sunday mornings. They bells go off at eight o'clock sharp, and they go off for quite some time.

I realized today, that even with ear plugs in, which we both sometimes wear when we want to sleep in, we have never slept through the bells. We may return to sleep once they cease, but they highlight our weekend, every weekend.

We managed to toss and turn for another hour, and finally climbed out of bed around 9 a.m. We had missed first service at church but were planning on going to the 10:30 when JB decided we needed some outdoors on this 60 degree day. I of course told him that we should go to church. He of course told me not to be a legalist. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food for a picnic lunch (chips and salsa, crackers and cheese, grapes, and bananas, wine and juice) and headed to Frontenac State Park, about ninety minutes from Rochester.

What a beautiful day. We ate lunch and then hiked down to the water. It was a fairly easy half mile down to the Mississippi river and Lake Pepin (which is basically just a big bulge in the river), but the upswing required 2 stops for rest due to the hundreds of steps and stairs. Quite a view though as illustrated in the pictures below:

We left the park about two hours later and made a few stops on the way home including a close-up view with a duck JB had never seen. Probably for good reason. It's name: the Northern Shoveler, indicates that they aren't running rampant in the Florida Caribbean. Only a visit to his nature book revealed their true identity. We had a great time watching them scour the lake with their butts in the air searching for food. Here's a few pics of this beautiful duck:

I have actually been getting into birds more. On the way home I successfully identified a turkey vulture and red-tailed hawk, much impressing my professor (aka JB).

We also went through two very historic towns on our way back to Rochester (and I say this with a tad bit of sarcasm in my "voice"). Wabasha is known for the fact that it was where the movie Grumpy old Men was set. Most of the movie wasn't actually filmed in Wabasha itself, but it's still a great bragging point for this little town -- they had quite a few billboards advertising the fact.

We also stopped at this pier in Lake City, Minnesota, on the way back to Rochester. Did you know that water skiing was actually invented in Lake City, Minnesota? It's true! Eighteen year old Ralph W. Samuelson invented the sport back in 1922 on this lake.

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Days until I start Lupron: 7

Days until I go off birth control pills:11

Days until I start stims: 18