Superi-air

Time is such a wondrous gift.

How many people carefully plan a vacation, picking out just the right hotel, scheduling around the best weather, reserving the most desirable activities, etc. – only to be foiled by circumstances beyond their control – a transit strike, Covid shutdown, an unseasonable storm, a family emergency. And what they had hoped and planned for is largely lost.

How lucky we are to have the time to wait out obstacles that may be placed in our way. Weather was not so good in Grand Marais upon our arrival, and we just managed to secure a rare pet-friendly motel room. We spent the next couple of rainy days scoping out the area, and found an ideal situation – a small dog-friendly lodge, adjacent to a lake, some ATV trails and – best of all – an abandoned airstrip! We booked it for five nights and then providence stepped in with a glorious sunny day with little wind. Let’s fly!

Here is a clip shortly after take-off, me bumbling with the camera while Henry gets the wind under control…..

Here’s the old airstrip we used, which ran alongside the Skyport Lodge on the bank of Devil Track Lake, about six miles outside town.

Here’s the lodge from the lakeside….

Just a perfect day for a flight. Once again, pardon the camera work – but we were excited to see a bald eagle flying alongside us for a while (watch carefully)…

Grand Marais from the air, with its pretty little harbor.

Flying along the lake shore….

A couple of beauty shots.

Our return approach to Devil Track Lake…

A couple more lake shots, as we wing overhead and think about landing.

Although we saw few people on the ground, the reverse was not true. Apparently a number of residents noticed our flyover, sparking a flurry of interest on Facebook and a visit from Dan, who used to be a professional pilot, formerly owned the lodge and coincidentally lived next door to it. We ate at the lodge with him one night, and he invited us to his home for dinner the next….

Dan’s a great guy, and we hope that our paths will cross again.

(We did fly again while in Grand Marais, but fog obscured Superior…. a nice flight but not so many good photo ops….)

In case you noticed the surge in entries posted over the last few days, I am getting caught up as once again we are lying low while we wait for a rain system to pass through……