Namesake

While I try to get my legs back from all the travel, here are some pictures of the Blackduck namesake.

I think our cabin was technically located in Hines, Minnesota, but that appears to only have a post office and zip code. The lake and nearby town are both named after the mallard.

The road home

All trips must come to an end, and this one nears its conclusion. This jaunt began with two Chicago legs and then shifted to eight nights in Minnesota. After stopping in Eau Claire, Wisconsin last evening, we made the rest of the drive to my parents' home today. I think it's time to be back, even if I would have preferred more time to do exploring of my mine way up there in the great white north.

There's not much to say today, so I present to you a couple shots taken while on Blackduck Lake. After a windy first two days, things settled down, as you can see in the glass-like surface in the top photo. I'll have more to say about the trip and various other things (and eventually a report on the Twins game I attended and Minnesota in general), but for now I'm satisfied to call it a blog entry and relax a bit before making the drive home tomorrow.

Road socks

Super Quick Baby Socks

Yarn: Dark Horse Yarns-Fantasy (50% nylon, 50% acrylic; worsted weight)
Colorway: 14 (French blue)
Needles: US 7 dpns
Stitches: 24

There's not been much time for knitting during this vacation, but I utilized time in the car today to finish a second baby sock shortly after we passed around Bemidji, Minnesota. Just in time too. We dropped off my brother and sister-in-law near the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport before continuing on our way, so I was able to give these baby socks to them.

The sock on the left in both pictures was the second one I made, and it's definitely an improvement over the first. I'm still having an issue with a hole on one side at the ankle, although I did a better job with that second sock at picking up the stitches. One side has a smaller hole. The other has none.

True to their name, these baby socks are quick to knit, and I may have another go at these before starting work on a pair of socks for myself. Yes, I've knit socks before, but it's been two years, I believe, and these are good practice. For instance, the first one--the sock on the right--is really my second attempt as I ripped out my first try when that ankle hole was really bothering me. I've made incremental improvements from one to the next, but I'd like to solve my recurring issues. Is there any advice you have for eliminating that hole around the ankle or, based on the photos, how I'm doing picking up stitches?

Final tally

It's been a little hectic putting a cap on this last full day here in Minnesota. Lots of time was spent on the lake, and then the better portion of the evening disappeared negotiating a plan for how to deal with the first day of traveling back home, booking the hotel rooms, and packing up.

I can tell you, though, that I had a fine finish fishing. I caught thirteen fish, a tally that topped everyone else. Granted, some of them decided to focus on casting rather than fishing off the bottom like I was, and not all of mine were keepers, especially a couple tiny ones. Regardless, the point remains that I caught more fish today than I did the rest of the week. The final count of what I caught looked like this:

Sunday: 0 fish
Monday: 0 fish
Tuesday: 1 perch
Wednesday: 1 smallmouth bass, 1 fishing lure and lots of cut line
Thursday: 7 perch, 1 rock bass
Friday: 12 perch, 1 largemouth bass

For the record, those bass were quite small, so banish any thoughts of me reeling in a fish that's jumping halfway to the moon, such as might be portrayed on a bait shop or fisherman's cap. The perch were pretty good sized. One of mine today weighed 11 ounces. I don't know if it was the biggest I caught, but it had to be up there on my list.

I went out every time the boat left the dock, so I definitely fished more than I intended. I may get into that in more detail in a later blog post, but for now, suffice it to say that I enjoyed the time fishing even if I can't say I have any plans to do it again in the near future.

Catches of the day

The hours spent on the lake finally paid off. We found a spot where we were catching fish on a regular basis. Even I was pulling them in, as you can see above with one of my catches of the day. I caught eight fish--seven perch and one rock bass--and all but two were keepers.

The perch we caught today were pretty big. My dad wasn't getting them in quantity, but he made up for it by getting a two-plus pound walleye and capping the day with a seven-pound freshwater drum. The latter fish was so big that it broke the net when one of my brothers held it out to help get the creature out of the water. After some research and a split vote in the family, my dad cast the deciding vote and released it. The freshwater drum is in the carp family, and opinions vary whether it is considered a good fish to eat.

We fished from this spot on the lake. The temperature was again in the mid to high 60s, and the wind was minimal. We've experienced remarkable weather here in northern Minnesota and had none of the drawbacks. Mosquitoes have been a non-factor. Even if the fishing hadn't improved, we've had a good week here. Yes, my family has driven me crazy from time to time, but considering this trip wasn't something I was entirely sold on, it's been better than anticipated.

Here you see my parents' dog, a schnoodle who eagerly goes along for the ride and keeps track of everyone.

I've spent more time fishing than I planned, so knitting time hasn't been as plentiful as I intended it would be. Nevertheless, I should have a finished pair of baby socks when I blog tomorrow.

Lake views

I'm finding that the days and nights have been going pretty quickly on this trip up north, so I'll keep matters brief with a few photos I've taken from the boat. The top picture was taken Monday evening while we were out fishing at dusk.

If I'm correctly oriented, this place is at the other side from where we're staying. It's been a rare spot where we've caught much of anything, although the truth of the matter is that this location is only producing fishing action, not any keepers. I wasn't able to reel in any fish from this spot, but usually within ten to fifteen seconds of dropping my line in the water here, I'd lose my bait to nibbles. It was ridiculous, actually.

While we were anchored off shore from that cabin, an eagle stopped for a rest in the nearby trees. This is one of the better photos I snapped.

For the record, I did catch the day's first fish--a minnow-sized smallmouth bass that maybe reached two inches--and reel in a long-abandoned lure and maybe 50 feet of line. So, my tally is up to two fish of the real variety and one fake one. Clearly I've not been exaggerating the size of these fish as they've been awfully small.

Fish story

I headed out for the third day on the lake and had yet to reel in my first fish. They haven't exactly been leaping out of the water, but everyone in the family had caught one except for me. Look, if I'm going to play along and fish, the least that could happen is that I catch a few. (To address a comment on another post, knitting or reading in the boat doesn't seem feasible, especially when the choppy water meant I got soaked on the way back on both days.)

The weather was a little warmer today--mid 70s in the afternoon--but still quite comfortable. Trolling and casting weren't producing any results other than snagging weeds, so we switched to bait and anchored near the far shore from our cabin. Slowly everybody on the boat started pulling in small perch. I think there was only one keeper in the bunch, if that tells you anything.

At least I was starting to get nibbles on my line. Still, I hadn't hooked anything. Come on. Finally, the bobber was yanked below the surface of the water, and I pulled up a perch estimated at four to six inches long. No, it wasn't one worth keeping, but I was glad to have ended my streak of not catching any fish.

The afternoon/early evening session was inconsequential in terms of catching fish. I had a bite or two, but that was pretty much the extent of it. No one went back out after supper because the rain and thunderstorms rolled in. Who cares, though? At least I caught one.

Local yarn shop, Bemidji style

The weather here in northern Minnesota has been much cooler than I was expecting for this time of year. Apparently the balmier temperatures arrived when we did for this vacation, which is all well and good except I wasn't prepared. A few of us headed into the closest city of any size to pick up some things. (I needed a sweatshirt, especially if I am to spend much time on the lake.) One of my requested stops was a local yarn shop. I thought I might get some Cascade yarn to make a hat to help keep my head warm during the windy days on the water.

Yarn Dance is the only local yarn shop in Bemidji, Minnesota. If I remember correctly what I was told, the place opened just this past December and is the first LYS here in 25 years. I'm surprised that this part of the country, where knitting would be eminently practical for dealing with the weather, didn't have a couple such stores. It certainly makes me appreciate the number of options I have in Columbus, not to mention others within relatively short driving distances.

I'll apologize upfront for the less than expertly framed photographs. I always feel a little weird whipping out a camera in these situations, and I tried to snap a few shots as quickly as possible. On this occasion I explained why I was doing so. For starters, I imagine that they don't see many men pop in for some yarn, and I highly doubt those that do want to document their visit.

I had a good idea of what I wanted before I walked in the door. That focus, and having some family members waiting in the car for me to get in and get out, minimized how much I poked around. Still, I was impressed with the yarns they were carrying. I saw a good variety of Cascade, Malabrigo, and Noro, to name a few. The selection may not be as diverse as what I've come across at my local yarn shops, but for Bemidji knitters who have been limited to what Jo-Ann Fabrics carries, this place must seem like a godsend.

The employee I dealt with was helpful and friendly, and I left with two hanks of Cascade 128 Tweed in colorway 7712. I wish I had had more time to look around. Perhaps there will be at least one more trip into Bemidji before our departure. (We'll pass through it on the way home.) Whether I make it in again or not, I'm glad I was able to find to a local yarn shop while up here and wish the best to those who own and operate it. On the off chance that you live in this neck of the woods and are reading this, I recommend paying Yarn Dance a visit. From what I can tell, it's a far sight better than the other limited options available to you.

Angling

First and foremost, this family vacation is oriented around fishing. When I agreed to come along, I made it known that I was not sure if I would do any angling. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I just wanted it to be clear that going out into the middle of a lake and watching a bobber for hours wasn't what I necessarily wanted to do day in and day out.

We didn't go fishing all the time when I was a kid, but it was a common thing for us to do on a Sunday afternoon in the spring through the fall. We didn't go on many family summer vacations, but I can recall two--one to Wisconsin and one to Michigan's Upper Peninsula--that were built around going fishing.

I'm not sure exactly when I chose to stop fishing. I think it was in high school. I remember being bored with it. It probably didn't help that the activity basically consisted of sitting in a lawn chair on the shore and not catching anything. There's also the possibility that I was simply being difficult. Still, it cannot be discounted that I have no desire to touch fish or to have them touch me. (This also explains my great hesitancy to get in natural bodies of water. I don't want fish touching me. Where this came from, I don't know.)

It was the morning of our departure for this trip, and I still hadn't purchased a seven-day Minnesota fishing license. I explained that I didn't know if I would fish or not. Deep down I knew that I likely would, in part to be a good sport, but I put off making it official until the last minute. Not that having the license meant I would have to fish, just that I legally could.

I decided that I would go out on the pontoon boat when everyone made their first venture onto the lake this morning. No one would have been upset if I hadn't gone, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. I stated upfront that I did not want to touch any fish, which is probably the behavior of a jerk, but I'm not joking around. I needed to drill this into them.

I baited wax worms on my own line, but I let others put minnows on. I used to do the latter, but I do find the thought of doing it now somewhat disconcerting. No one seemed to mind, so I was happy to let them take care of it.

The winds were pretty strong all day. Driving through some whitecaps this morning left me drenched and cold. (It was in the 60s, and the low end at that, here.) No one was catching much, just four keepers (two perch, one sunfish, and one walleye) and one throwback (a northern pike). I didn't have as much as a nibble, yet I did go back out for an afternoon in which the wind blew us all over the lake and no one caught anything.

I can't say that I want to go out every single time that the rental boat is fired up this week, but I'll probably go more than I had been planning to. I didn't mind the time on the water, even if all that rocking in the wind-tossed boat had me wiped out early this evening. There should still be plenty of other time for doing what I'd like--reading and knitting--and I imagine I'll seem less aloof to everyone else if I tag along. Is that the maturity that a teenage me didn't possess?

But I'm still not touching any fish.

Double rainbow

Today's intended blogging topic is delayed for my own sake.

When I consented to go on a family vacation that would require several hours in the car--or cars, in this case--I knew there would be times that tried my patience. The crux of it: in general, my family members are not big on planning or making decisions. This makes me crazy. With seven people, myself included, and a dog in the mix, having a firm idea of what is being done when is essential. Otherwise, well, you can imagine how it can be at times.

So I just don't have the energy that the regularly scheduled blog entry would require. In its stead, I give you a picture of the double rainbow spotted outside our rental cabin here in northern Minnesota. (Perhaps you are familiar with the double rainbow meme from earlier this year?) Let's take it as a sign that with the traveling out of the way, everyone can relax more.

In a northerly direction

For the sake of familial and fraternal goodwill, I check in briefly to give a teaser of my next entry--The Mall of America, Minnesota Twins baseball, and (maybe) Minnesota nice--rather than stay up and compose a full blog post on my laptop.

In miniature, the day started with a late bedtime the night before, a 5:15 a.m. rousing, several hours of travel, and a near midnight return to the hotel. I'm actually fairly alert at this late hour, but my brother was in bed when I got back from the game.

So, check back tomorrow for the details.

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