Itasca

My friend and I drove 30 minutes from her cabin on a lake to Itasca State Park. We entered in the south end of the park and stopped at the Visitor Center so I could buy a year long pass. I affixed the sticker to my window. We drove past Preacher's Grove to the headwaters. I love this spot and the water was high. We walked across the river on the wooden bridge. She wanted to walk back across the rocks. I waited. The path looked do-able from the shore but then she got both feet wet so I decided to walk back across the wooden bridge again. We drove down the wildlife drive hoping to see grouse. We saw no grouse but plenty of Monarch butterflies. Shouldn't they be flying to Mexico by now? We hoped to eat at the lunch buffet at the lodge but it was closed for the season. We drove back to the headwaters to eat at their cafe. We shared our table with travelers on a fall colors bus tour out of Medora, North Dakota. We thought it was a little early for fall colors. They were headed to the Glensheen Mansion and the light house at Split Rock. Maybe they will see more fall colors on the way back to North Dakota.