Summer vacation

This past week I was on vacation up in the glorious Northwoods. Specifically, I stayed at a resort with my family on Lake Vermillion. I knew I would love it because the second we pulled up to the cabin, a half dozen cats came out of the woods. We fed them our leftovers, as most of the people there did, so they hung around a lot. Most of them were pretty wary of humans, but one little girl was especially friendly and lived in our cabin for most of the week. Here she is:

Very, very nice cat. My mom almost took her home, and I did my part to encourage the idea. I would have taken her, save the inevitable lynching from disgruntled roommates. So, aside from my first love, cats, I indulged in my second love, fishing. In these "dog days of summer" the fishing is pretty slow, so going out for 6-8 hours a day for a week didn't yield much. We didn't catch any walleye, sadly since they are delicious, but caught a few bass and small northern. Here was my biggest one:

Another exciting event was my discovery of how I react to bee stings. See for yourself:

So, I got to make a trip to the small town doctor. The clinic was a nursing home/clinic/dentist office. The front desks for the clinic and dentist were side by side, so all the people back there poked their heads out to gawk at my rash. They probably had never seen anything like it. I am now the proud owner of an epi-pen, so if I get stung again and my throat swells up I won't die! I hope I never have to use it, since someone told me that a friend of his tried one on a cardboard box and it blew up the box. One of my favorite parts of the trip was a hike I went on with my parents and dog in Superior National Forest. It was beautiful, as you can see:

I really love it up there. I would love to do a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters. There is a problem with fires up there though, so once that settles down I'm ready to head in. It was great to get away. Oh, and if I do ever write a hobbit's tale, here is the cover for the book: