Dolphins or Mustaches or Eyebrows?

Last Friday I went to the Master Naturalist Convention and stayed all weekend. This year we were in Bemidji and stayed at the Concordia Language Camp.  I drove up with a couple master naturalist friends.  Actually rode up would be more accurate as I was a passenger.  That was fun - not to be the driver.  It allowed me to take photos of some awesome clouds just outside of Wadena.  What do you see in these clouds?  I see dolphins.  Other people see facial hair.  We drove through Menagha where the wildfires had closed the highway the day before.  On Friday the highway was open but they had warning signs about smoke possibly limiting visibility.  The fire consumed several buildings.  Some pines were burned all the way up the crown on the tree.  We stopped for lunch in Park Rapids.  We drove down the main drag where cars park in the middle of the road like they do sometimes in small towns.  We had some dietary concerns going on with me being a vegetarian and my friend needs her food to be gluten free.  We found The Good Life cafe.  If you EVER go to Park Rapids I recommend you go here for lunch. They had vegetarian.  They had gluten free.  They had the best food, plus the best service and at great prices as well.  Our waitress was so excellent she could teach a class on great service.  The food is locally grown and made from scratch.  I could hardly believe our good luck in finding this place so quickly.  Be sure to use the bathroom while you're there.  I found out later the bathroom walls were covered with old Rolling Stone magazine covers and I missed my chance to see a young John Travolta in his underwear.  After lunch we headed to our first convention activity which was a tour of Itasca State Park (more on that later).  Now that the weekend is over, I am looking forward to the next convention.  I had a great time.  I think this was my fourth convention.  The people there are so nice.  They get me.  I get them.  We think alike when it comes to conservation, ecology, and science.  We appreciate nature with a passion.  When it comes to the master naturalists, I feel I really belong to this group.  Staying at the Concordia Language Camp was like going to summer camp.  At least I think it's like summer camp; I don't really know.  I never went to summer camp.  But if summer camp is living in tight quarters in a dorm in the woods and on a lake, having great meals together in a dining hall, forming close bonds, sharing secrets late at night, sneaking a bottle of wine in, and laughing out loud many times a day, then the convention is like summer camp.