Lindberg

Trillium in bloom all around our campsite. My tent is orange.

Our last state park on our 12 parks in 9 day journey was Charles Lindberg state park. We chose this one because it was on our way home and because it had an opening on Memorial Day weekend. We had to drive from Itasca through the Finnish towns of Menaga and Sebeka to get there.  We arrived about 6 p.m.  We talked to the ranger.  He had worked there 20 years. He said they used to have 7 staff at this state park and now they have 2 staff.  The place is run down.  One shower didn't work. The tenant house on the property got a hole in the roof a couple years. The hole hasn't been repaired and now we saw four trees were growing on the roof.  I believe that house is beyond repair now. We drove to our campsite which was the last one unoccupied.  As we got near site 22 we saw a group of kids in the road. We approached slowly. Four of the kids were less then five years old and on little bicycles.  Two bikes had training wheels and two bikes did not have training wheels. The children moved aside. That is when we saw a baby in the road. The baby was about a year old and had a blue pacifier in it's mouth.  The baby was kneeling on the campground road looking at us. We were flabbergasted.  We didn't know what to do. The other kids just stood there with their bikes looking at us. My companion moved her car a foot forward. I just couldn't believe it that minutes would go by and no parent would come to the rescue of this child.  Who was this child? Was it Sweet Pea?  Would Olive Oyl and Popeye coming running up to save it? When the baby saw our car move it raised it's left arm and put out the palm toward us as if to beckon us to stop.  We looked at this baby looking at us and we giggled.  After another 45 seconds a man did come running. He scooped up the child and moved it to safety. We proceeded to our camp site to pitch our tents.  Later, as we were having our evening meal, we saw the baby again. We learned the baby's name was Moira. She was on her way to get cleaned up. The parents who were taking her to get cleaned up were not the person who scooped her up from the road.  What a strange event.  After so many days camping by ourselves with very few other campers, this was an adjustment for us.  Kids rode their little bikes up and down the road by our campsite. I could just tell they were having a really great time.  Great memories were happening all around us.