Glendalough

 For the past few days I have been on a mine road trip. I headed due west to stay at Glendalough State Park.  Light snow was falling (and continued to fall for the next two days) when I stopped to get gas in Staples. A group of eight Amish people disembarked two buggies to buy lunch at the Kwik stop. This unusual sight almost distracted me from noticing my front driver's side tire was nearly flat as I got gas. Lucky for me I could add enough air to get me to Scotty's Towing and Tires in Staples. I am an experienced tire changer. My father made me learn how to change a tire before I took my car out for the first time. In college I could not afford new tires so I bought retreads. Over the years I have changed many, many tires. This was the first, for me, to change a tire in the snow while parked on Highway 210. I rolled the tire into the shop and drove away on my doughnut to my destination. Our camper cabin was cozy with a propane Franklin stove. We saw some people bicycling through the campground but we appeared to be the only campers. A group of six deer observed my trek to the outhouse that night. The outhouse smelled strongly of Glade twist up cherry air freshener and although I don't like artificial scents, I also don't like some real scents, so I am not going to complain. In the morning we had coffee and breakfast and headed out to do some good deeds. We finished about 3 in the afternoon so we drove to Urbank to put flowers on the graves of some of our relatives. After that we drove by Phelps Mill to look around. We went back to our cozy cabin for dinner. We went out visiting and didn't get back until 11 p.m. I am not usually up that late and would have really liked to see some stars but it was still snowing so no luck there. Turkeys gobbled right outside our door to wake us up. In the morning I went back to the outhouse again. Just as I arrived a chubby chipmunk ducked under the door of the outhouse. I explained that I would like some privacy but the chipmunk would not listen. I held the door open. The chipmunk hid behind the toilet. I chased it out of there so it hid behind the stack next to the door. I held the door open. The chipmunk would approach the door and I thought it was on it's way out so I started to go in. Then the chipmunk would run back in and I ran out. We did this about six times before the chipmunk finally left for real. We packed up our vehicles and I drove slowly back to Staples to get my tire. Turns out I had picked up a screw and they were able to patch it. Plus they helped me put it back on so all was well. The weather was still snowy. Taking 210 East is a nice trip passing through Henning, Hewitt, Motley, Staples, Aitkin, Baxter, Brainerd, McGregor and Carlton before joining 35. Once I got to Cloquet the clouds parted and the sun shone for the first time in over a week. The weather warmed up to the 50's. Getting out of town was a welcome relief from staying home.