before heading up to Baudette in northern Minnesota. 
It was a lovely day, warm and sunny. I felt a sense of well-being as I drove through the countryside, past the farmers working in the fields, the many green fields, and the fields of spun gold.
I took a drive “down Memory Lane”, on the way, visiting Maple Bay. Many of my happiest childhood memories were made there, staying with my grandparents. Though the house is long gone, and the yard mostly overgrown, I discovered that the phlox that my grandmother planted many years ago are still blooming profusely, and had a lovely visit with the neighbors. I also visited two of the churches that my grandfather served (the third is gone); I have so many childhood memories from those churches. I went on many day trips with my grandparents, when I was visiting them, as a child, and one of those was a trip to Itasca State Park, to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. So I visited it again, walking on a plank across the “great” Mississippi, again, as I did as a child. 
As I stood at the edge of Blackduck Lake that evening, watching an incredibly beautiful sunset [←], a flock of geese flew over my head, honking all the way, and landed in the middle of the lake. There were no others there – just me and the geese and the sounds of the lake in the evening. The lakes of northern Minnesota often give me a sense of serenity, but that evening will be one of those unforgettable memories from my travels that I will store away for good.I had a delightful visit with a cousin in Baudette that I’d never met before, and learned a lot about the members of my father's father's family who settled in far northern Minnesota (Canada is just across the river). I headed to International Falls on the highway that is just south of the Rainy River, that divides the US from Canada up here, the northern-most highway in the continental U.S.. I often got glimpses between the birch trees, of Canada on the other side of the river. And I saw more cattails than I’d ever seen before in my life. I watched another incredible sunset as the sun set over Rainy Lake, and visited Voyageurs National Park on my way to Duluth. I found a wonderful RV park in Saginaw, MN, beside a couple beautiful ponds. I hadn’t been to Duluth since my niece and her family moved here; they took me to Enger Tower and park, high on a hill with a panoramic view overlooking Lake Superior, the lift bridge, and downtown Duluth far below. I had no idea Duluth was such a beautiful city; on my previous trip, I’d just driven through town on my way up the North Shore.
I visited with another “long lost” relative, just across the river in Superior, Wisconsin, before I left town. This is a grandson of one of the Baudette relatives, and I was able to meet two of his sisters and his daughter’s family while I was in town. I stopped and visited an aunt in the Twin Cities on my way to the southeastern corner of the state.
The next stop was Rushford, MN, where my mother's father's mother was born. I’d never been there before, but found it to be a charming little town. One of the best things about Rushford was the lefse store downtown (for you non-Norwegians – lefse is a traditional Norwegian “bread”, kind of like a potato tortilla). What a treat! I bought a few pieces of lefse while I was there. The internet allows this little shop to sell and ship lefse all over the country. Their coffee shop is a favorite with the locals. They seemed to be doing a thriving business.
