We've arrived

We made it to Brainerd Minnesota the day a couple of days ago now. There's a lot happening with relatives visiting and evening BBQ's and camp fires. It's a big change from the quiet and somewhat lonely 2 months in Brownsville Texas.

Yesterday I got to go fishing at the local river. The fishing was fairly good despite the large number of people that were already there and had taken the prime spots... We caught more bluegill than we wanted (most of them small) and spent some time talking and just hanging out. Turns out that the bluegill like to eat the silk worms that were basically falling on us from the tree branches overhead. Nature provided the bait and you really didn't need anything other than a hook, bobber and any kind of fishing line.

We returned from fishing to a feast of hamburgers, salad and beer. AJ and family made a hallow log into a tiki pole and lit a fire in the center that burned for several hours during the feast. It would have been a perfect setting had it not been for the mosquitoes that descended on the event as the sun set. The locals don't seem to be as tasty to the little blood suckers - Our family on the other hand got bitten several times last night despite the many layers of repellant...