Our House Was Just Around The Corner

We were on a mission. We needed to get to Woodstock by Sunday, June 24 and it was Wednesday. Just four days to do the trip and so many scenic roads to travel.
I checked the map and found the Jolly Green Giant resting in a small town along the southern border of Minnesota. Blue Earth, Minnesota was now marked in as a destination on this trip south. Other factors in determining our route were that we wanted to travel along the smaller county roads, and did not want to go near any larger cities. It may add miles to the trip, and definitely takes longer to travel that way, but it adds so much more to actually seeing the country and getting a feel for the different areas we travel through.
As you may know, Minnesota has a saying on their license plates "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Now to a Manitoban that may not seem like such a big deal. Our province boasts 100,000 lakes. But really, most of our lakes are up north, where most people never see them. Every square inch of Minnesota is accessible by roads and every lake is within a stones throw of civilization. We noticed this on our last trip when we pulled over on some dirt road between Fargo and Detroit Lakes only to find a lake on that road.

On this trip we went past many more small lakes just like this one. The terrain was rolling hills filled with ponds and lakes surrounded by farm land. I could imagine the farmers a few hundred years back finding this land and choosing a spot next to a lake. And today, after a day in the fields, jumping into the lake to cool off. I wonder if they go away to the lake on holidays, or if they just sit in the back yard and enjoy what they have right there.
As we were driving down one of the county roads, we came up to yet another lake. But this time there were signs along the side of the road. They said "no parking anytime". The road went right up against the lake. On one side of the road were houses, and the other was filled with private boat docks and their boats. These must have been cottages along the lake, and I bet they were not economy cottages. The scenery at that spot was amazing, and I am sure we would have pulled over if we could. But the signs said no. We went a little further on and came across another lake, and another set of signs stating that we were not welcome to stop there either. Then we pulled into town, and followed the signs to the public beach and park.

It was the town of Annandale, MN. We stayed at the park for the afternoon, having a picnic lunch overlooking the lake and enjoying the breeze. While sitting there we watched a heron perched on a post at the end of the dock. But before I was able to get my camera out and snap a photo, it was off. We watched it fishing for it's lunch and sat back and enjoyed the wonderful scenery. And our house was just around the corner.