The rainy weather finally stopped sometime during the night, and we awoke to a sunny, fairly calm lake. We actually set our alarms this morning (I think for the first time since we've been here) so we could get out fishing early, since the weather forecast showed the winds were going to get stronger and stronger all day. Tom woke me by singing, "Wake up! You need to catch sunnies!" (to the tune of Stressed Out: "Wake up! You need to make money!")

Leah crawled out of bed and into her fishing garb, and the three of us hit the lake by 8:22 a.m. Things were calm on our side of Cass Lake, but when we arrived at Pike Bay the water was already choppy. We started beyond our usual spots and quickly drifted through them, catching one sunfish and three perch on our first pass. (I caught the sunfish to satisfy Tom’s wake-up request.) Our morning continued with more-or-less the same pattern for the next couple of hours. The waves got bigger and white caps were all around, but the perch were biting. We ended up with 20 fish total (19 perch, and my one sunny). Dad and his boat, carrying Bill, Beth and Zach, were fishing nearby for part of the morning. Their luck wasn’t too good, but considering it was their first time out on this lake, and the rough waters they had to contend with, it wasn’t surprising.

We came in after a good soaking (who needs amusement/water park rides, when you have a boat on a choppy lake?), and after laying our clothes out to dry, I headed out to the beach to visit with Deb. We began talking about a bike ride, and the next thing we knew, Bill, Beth, Deb and I were hitting the Migizi trail. Tom (after cleaning the fish), had taken his bike down to Walker to try some new portions of the Paul Bunyan and the Heartland trail on his own. Tom rode 28 miles of hilly, curvy bike paths he found quite challenging. The four of us rode 17.5 miles of the Migizi. All of the strong winds of the past two days resulted in quite an obstacle course on the trail. Branches and twigs, not to mention the six large trees that crossed our path, made for an exciting and interesting ride.

Tuesday night, for the past three or so years, has been date night for us in Minnesota. We discovered a great “date night special” at Tutto Bene’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant in downtown Bemidji that we now love to take advantage of every year. Mom and Dad, Beth and Bill, and Tom and I had a relaxing “date night” over wine, appetizers (pickled watermelon, goat cheese, prosciutto, Caesar salads and bruschetta), scrumptious entrees (marlin, hangar steak, lasagna), and desserts (tiramisu, budino (butterscotch pudding), almond cake). Everything was wonderful…the food and the company!

Wake up! You need to catch Sunnies!