Days 42 - 66: Farming to Duluth, MN

Dear Friends,
It has been a strange feeling being back on the road after settling down for a month with home cooked meals, fresh vegetables every day, and intermittent manual labor. I believe I described our duties on the farm in my last correspondence, so I shall not go into further detail. Our gracious hosts were Paul and Becky and their delightful children Hannah and Li. Paul is a full time farmer and teaches part time at the local State University while Becky works for the Department of Natural Resources in land management and conservation. Hannah does just about everything not the least of which is beginning High School, and Li is a leaf blown by the winds of interest and opportunity. We have had a wonderful time being a part of their family and learning many things beside farming. We made a 30 minute goat cheese mozzarella, bottled and spun honey (the process of extracting honey from the comb by centrifuge), baked scones, pickled cucumbers, and became surrogate hens. We took our leave last Monday after the shares went out (the farm is a CSA, dividing shares betwen members) and made our way North to Voyageurs National Park which we discovered is a lake. A really big lake. All of the camp grounds are accessable only by boat (or an ice bridge in the winter) and are scattered throughout the many islands between Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. We did take a short walk in the abutting forest which was a beautiful mix of maple, aspen, cedar and fir trees. Yesterday we came down into Duluth and found that, despite being between beautiful woods and a massive lake, it uses neither of these to improve its aesthetic. We played tourist (i.e. drove aimlessly through town) for most of the day and ate truffels.
Today is a new day and the sun is shining here, as I hope it is in your corner of the globe.
Stay in school and out of drugs,
Pickles
Mileage to date: 7222 mi.