Northern Minnesota

While we live in North Texas we have family in Minnesota and Iowa and have visited there just about every year for close to 30 years. On many occasions we have converged upon Brookside Resort near Park Rapids for a week of fishing, walking, and visiting with the family. It is always a relaxing time and I look forward to our next visit. The resort has wonderful cabins and sandy beaches that allow for a great sand building competition that shows off some amazing creativity. For me, though, the best part is how pristine and clear the water is and how amazingly quiet the mornings are. We were fortunate to get great weather this week and each morning I sat out on the dock and the water was a like a huge sheet of glass. There was a little steam coming off the water and not a noise to be heard. That quiet is something that you need to experience, especially if you live in a big city.

On one occasion we made drove to Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota which is the start of the Mississippi River. It begins as a trickle and flows into Lake Itasca and from there the river flows 2,348 miles until it pours into the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans. Gotta start somewhere!

In these photos you get an idea of how clear the water is and pristine this land still is today. What a treasure and let\’s hope this is preserved forever.