Leech Lake, Minnesota

I picked a campground in the Chipewa National Forest for the night.  As we were driving there, Barb saw a sign for "Leech Lake."  She said "Ewwww, that doesn't sound very inviting!"  I informed her that that was were we were going.  Oh.  

As it turns out when the lake was first discovered by French explorers they wrote that it was the  "lake full of bloodsuckers."  Fortunately for us, as swimmers at least, they made it into a huge reservoir, now the third largest lake in Minnesota, and the game fish ate all of the leeches.  Phew!  So of course I dove in!  You would think they might have changed the name, to something like "the lake of sparkling waters" or something...

We met some interesting guys along the way - here's Paul hanging out by the highway.  

This guy was in the campground...

Dawn at Stony Point Campground...

On the way, we stopped by a little post office in Osage to mail some postcards, and the little store next to it had a big sign that said "Broasted Chicken."   I suddenly realized I ws starving and nothing would taste better than broasted chicken.  It was 10 am.  With high hopes I entered the store and inquired whether the chicken was ready yet or not.  Oh no, the lady replied, not until 11… and the teenage boy next to me said "I have to go cook it."  Oh….well…. so I perused the aisles looking for an alternative.  I found some local organic eggs and bought those…I asked the lady as I was paying "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  ...Now we know."   Not sure she was too impressed with my sparkling wit.  However, Barb was VERY impressed when I asked her if she wanted a fried egg. "What here?  by the side of the road?"  Yep!  Pretty cool, eh?

Order up in Mac.