Watching the lake

Part of the weekend included a visit to Tin Fish at Lake Calhoun, a patio that I've visited more this year than ever before. When I first visited, halfway through a bike ride on a warm Friday afternoon earlier in the summer, the lines were long and the patio was packed. Lately, with cooler weather, the patio has been much quieter.

When Josh and I were there over the weekend, we sat in one of the bar-height double Adirondack chairs overlooking the water. It was a windy afternoon, and instead of the usual kayakers and paddleboarders, we saw lots of people sailing and zipping around the lake on windsurfing boards. I'm not sure windsurfing is in the cards for me anytime soon, but it was beautiful to watch.

Our view:



I'm hoping I'll be out on this lake at least once more yet this fall for more kayaking. It's a wonderful place.

Calhoun sunset

Kayaking with Sara

Today Sara and I figured out that, two years ago this week exactly, we were on our Boundary Waters canoe trip together. It was kind of fitting, then, that we'd made plans to kayak on the Chain of Lakes tonight - for our first time paddling together since that trip!

Even though it was a perfect late summer night for being out on the water - 70-75 degrees or so - the lakes were much quieter than when I visited on a Friday afternoon a couple of weeks back. And the sky was spectacular! We paddled around a little bit of Calhoun, Isles and Cedar and watched the sun get lower. Sometimes we just sat in our kayaks and drifted.

My little scrapbook for the evening:

I give weeknight kayaking a ringing, resounding endorsement.

Over the last few days

In the last few days...

...the garden's tomato harvest turned into tomato salad:

Some new flowers appeared on the garden fence:

I volunteered for Twin Cities in Motion at Fifteen's 5K, a race that finishes on Target Field!

And I was excited for some more lake time:

We also wished Josh's mom a happy birthday from Minnesota. This week I've also been thinking often of a dear friend whose first baby will arrive anytime now. I was hoping that Baby would share that birthday, but Baby has other plans and is waiting a little while longer.

We did a serious, deep clean of our home today, and we are ready for the week ahead - which includes both the start of the Minnesota State Fair and (weather permitting) our annual Twins game with my grandma!

Kayaking on the Chain of Lakes

With the exception of some rain over the weekend, the last couple of weeks have been really enjoyable summer weather in the Twin Cities: low 80s, partly cloudy skies, and usually not too much humidity. On Friday afternoon I decided to make the most of this weather by renting a kayak and puttering around the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis before meeting up with my mom.

As you'd expect on a gorgeous summer day, the Wheel Fun Rentals kiosk was bustling, but I filled out the paperwork and got a kayak surprisingly quickly. Instead of meandering out into the more open Lake Calhoun, most people went into the tunnel that connects Calhoun to Lake of the Isles. I decided to follow the crowd through the first tunnel. (I'd guess that Wheel Fun Rentals has definitely expanded its paddleboard fleet in the past couple of years!)




After crossing under one more bridge, I arrived at Lake of the Isles, a more irregularly shaped lake than Calhoun with more little bays to explore. It also offers a view of the downtown Minneapolis skyline, only a few minutes away from where I was sitting merrily in my kayak.







I took this trip at a very gentle pace and effort. After the narrow water connection between Calhoun and Isles, people spread out father apart, and there were times when it was completely quiet on the water. I'd paddle for a little while and then let the boat drift while I watched the water or sky.

I paddled under another bridge and entered the little canal that connects Isles to Cedar Lake. Parts of this stretch were very quiet - and so green, with all of the trees reflecting in the water:




And then I was in Cedar Lake! Last time I kayaked on the Chain of Lakes, I was with my family and we went across Cedar Lake and into Brownie Lake. I eyed the beaches on the other side of Cedar and wanted to head over there, but my leisurely pace meant it was almost time to turn around.



I paddled back up the canal and across Lake of the Isles. The closer I got to Calhoun, the more people I saw:




And more sailboats, too!



If you're seeking a paddling adventure in which you may be the only person for miles, the Chain of Lakes on a summer afternoon may not be the right place for you. But even given how many people were out there, it was more peaceful than I expected - and renting a kayak is an easy way to access being on the water within the Minneapolis city limits to spend some time paddling (and drifting) on these pretty lakes. I'm glad I took this little local adventure.

Up north

We're back home, unpacking and preparing for the week ahead, after a few days near Mille Lacs Lake.

More about our little trip tomorrow!

To Medicine Lake

Two friends of ours moved last year to a place near Medicine Lake in Plymouth, about 15 minutes west of Minneapolis, and by all accounts, they are loving this location. They live so close to this big lake that they can (and often do) spend weeknights sailing or kayaking. After Josh and I spent yesterday afternoon with them at the lake, I can see why they love it so much!

We met up at the beach at Clifton E. French Regional Park, part of the park system where I worked for several years in high school and college. I haven't spent a lot of time there in my life besides skiing on the cross-country trails and a few visits to the awesome cargo net-themed playground as a kid, but it's a beautiful park with lots of skiing, biking and walking trails. There's limited parking at the beach, so most people park at the main lot and then choose either a 0.3- or 0.6-mile walk/hike to the beach. The 0.3-mile path (our choice!) winds through the woods and over a bridge with a big view.

Our friends kayaked across the bay to meet us, and the plan was for Josh and I to rent kayaks so we could paddle with them, but the park staff weren't able to rent any boats because it was too windy. There was a 40 percent chance of storms all afternoon, but it never actually rained: just a cloudy day with warm gusts that did create some whitecaps early in the afternoon on Medicine Lake.

We decided to wait an hour to see if the restriction was lifted and turned our attention to horseshoes. We played two games, and Josh and I lost both times. (I should be clear that this was not Josh's fault, but it was very fun.) The rental restriction was still on after we played horseshoes, but the wind had quieted down, so we headed over to the beach with a plan to use their kayaks to go out on the water two at a time if we wanted.

My friend K and I hopped into the kayaks first and headed into a quiet little bay adjacent to park territory. I've known her since sophomore year of high school - in fact, we both did our first triathlon at the same race that year (14 years ago!). She moved away from Minnesota for college and a few years after that, and now that she and her husband are Minnesota residents again, I've enjoyed seeing them more! We paddled leisurely, and the water was calm in this tiny pocket of the large lake. There are so many different parts of the lake to explore, and so much variety. Again, I see why they love it.

We returned to the beach to find our husbands listening to a radio broadcast of a baseball game (another sound that is completely congruent with the notion of summer to me). We dragged the kayaks up onto the sand and sat down on the towels and relaxed for another stretch.



In the late afternoon, our friends got back in their kayaks and Josh and I headed back to St. Paul. A big thank you to them for the great day - and for showing us around this beautiful park and lake.

Lake Calhoun afternoon

Back on two wheels for the first longish bike ride in ages: to Lake Calhoun and back, via the greenway (also for the first time in ages), with a break at Tin Fish. I have a hunch my legs will be feeling those miles tomorrow, but this was a good start to the weekend.

On the water

In Minnesota, there are a lot of lakes. (Nearly 12,000!) Because of my running routes, I spend my fair share of time near some of the Twin Cities' prettiest lakes. But there's something especially wonderful about being on a lake up north, especially during the first few weeks of spring and summer. Over the weekend, I spent time with my family near two of the state's lakes: a small lake adjacent to the campground as well as nearby Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota's second largest lake.

A visit to the dock

On Saturday afternoon, a few of us took a stroll over to the smaller lake. The rainclouds had cleared out completely by the time we made our way over to the dock, and it was so peaceful in the warm sun that I think we all could have napped there. (I think my sister did, actually.)





In the evening

Later that night, my mom and sister and I circled back to the water. The water was more still and I loved the reflections.




In the morning

I don't often see lakes in the early morning light, so as soon as the sunlight woke me up on Sunday morning, I trotted back to the lake. I was so glad I did. The overnight low temperature had dipped down to 44 degrees, and there was steam coming off the water.





To the big lake

On Sunday morning, my dad took most of us over to Mille Lacs for a short boat ride (Josh and Wish stayed back). I haven't been on the big lake in many years, and it was a treat to be out on the lake with my dad, who fishes there often. There were only a few boaters nearby, though the boat launch picked up after we returned.





The weather (and water) was just cool enough to keep me from jumping into either lake, but I'm putting that goal in writing right now to make sure I do that sometime this season, too.

A Lake Harriet jaunt

Hi, Reader! Ellie is visiting Minnesota this weekend (coinciding with Emily being back in the Twin Cities for awhile, too), so I've spent the last couple of days around town with these two dear friends from college. Yesterday was beautiful. We had brunch, strolled around the neighborhood, and sat on a patio - and we capped off the day with Josh waking up the grill for the year and cooking us dinner.

Today is cold and windy, but the goal was to run around at least one of the lakes, and we did it!

Here's one side of Lake Harriet. Placid and peaceful, no?

We thought we had started the loop going into the wind, but it wasn't until about halfway around the lake that we realized what into the wind really felt like. Check out the whitecaps!

In the last mile, it became Photo Time. First, Emily and Ellie running:

Then Ellie and me:

Then we tried to take a group photo, and a man came up and volunteered to take our photo. Nice!

(We did not plan our outfits, I swear.)

We wandered over to shore to look at some ducks. Emily got in the tree.

With the wind at my back, I decided it turned out to be a pretty beautiful morning after all.

And then it started to snow - how does this keep happening? - and we scurried back to Dunn Brothers for some coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and a scone.

Runs with these friends, let alone three of us on the same run, happen once every couple of years, and I am grateful for the miles we get to run together.

Stand up paddleboarding

It's especially fun to work on activities on my 101 in 1,001 list with my friend Kate because she and her sister are the ones who inspired me to start my own list. Earlier this week, I checked #8 Try stand up paddleboarding off my list with help from Kate!

Kate had been paddleboarding once before, so she walked me through how it all worked. After last summer's kayaking adventure, I came across a Crowd Cut coupon for Wheel Fun Rentals, the company from which we rented kayaks last year. They also rent paddleboards and paddleboats, so I figured I'd use it sometime this summer even if my family didn't get out on the lakes again. The coupon cost $15 and bought $35 worth of rentals, and an hour's worth of two paddleboards cost $32, so it was just about perfect.

We went over to Lake Nokomis after work. The weather was perfect - the combination of 86 + sunny + a light breeze that makes for a great summer afternoon.

Basically, the day looked like this:

We rented our boards and dragged them from the beach into the water, and we were off!

And if you're hoping for a magic formula for perfecto paddleboarding, you've come to the wrong place. You hop up on the board, feel your balance muscles kick into gear, and then just start paddling. I'm sure there are technique guidelines that flew over my head, but the upside is that the basic paddleboarding motion is pretty intuitive and definitely not complicated.

That's not to say there's not a thrill every time you think about how you're standing on a little board in the middle of a lake! I see Lake Nokomis pretty regularly from the paths that circle the lake, but these vantage points of the lake were totally new to me. I've never actually gone, for example, under the Cedar bridge.

You can make your stand up paddleboarding experience leisurely, like we did, but I can also see that it could easily be a really great workout with just a little more effort. On my first trip, though, I just enjoyed hanging out on the water with this view in front of me:

And there's Kate!  Thanks to her for showing me the ropes!

And then she fell in!

No, I'm totally kidding. We actually weren't close to falling at any point in the trip, with such sturdy boards and such a placid body of water, and falling into the water seems to be a paddleboarding exception rather than the rule. I was a little envious because Kate had her swimsuit on and I just had a tank top and shorts, and it turned out to be the kind of day where you wanted to fall in. So when we were almost done and near shore, Kate hopped into the lake to cool off and swam next to her board the rest of the way.

Want my tips for stand up paddleboarding?

1. Wear a swimsuit in case you want to jump in! But as Kate noted, it might be hard to get back on the board in the middle of the lake. (Save it for the end.)
2. An hour of paddling was perfect for my first go. If I kept doing this, it'd be fun to start at Calhoun to have the Chain of Lakes as options for a longer trip.
3. I want to go again! If you're at all curious, give it a try. It was really fun.

It really felt like play - and since we headed to the lake right after work, it was all the fun of meeting a friend for happy hour but with the added bonus of spending a summer night out on the water.

Bellow trees

This morning I got to run with Katie, my running buddy from the training group I joined last year!  It was the first time I've run with her this summer, and it feels so strange to type that because we did literally almost every Saturday long run together last year - plus most of the workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays, too! Anyway, she's wonderful, and I was happy to get the chance to spend a Saturday run with her.

Added bonus: the weather was amazing! Minnesota is in a nice little streak of just plain old sweet summer weather: lower humidity, temperatures in the low 80s - you get the idea. This morning was sunny and breezy, with temperatures in the mid-60s when we started. We also got out early enough so the trails around the Minneapolis lakes weren't too crowded. We circled three of the lakes - Calhoun, Harriet and Isles - and I know I've written about this before, but the miles tick by so quickly when you're chatting with a friend like Katie. Most of my solo runs, even the best ones, include as least some element of counting down the distance remaining. Not today! When we were back onto Lake of the Isles to close out that loop, I couldn't believe we were almost done with 10 miles.

Katie was looking to run about 10, and I had 12 on my schedule, so I headed back out for a little shuffle around Lake of the Isles to finish up the distance. (I cut a bunch of runs short this week for various little reasons, so I figured I could finish up the full 12 miles on a gorgeous Saturday morning.)

But make no mistake, it was leisurely. Lake of the Isles is the most quiet lake on our loop, and it's chock full of beautiful willow trees - or as I used to call them when I was little, bellow trees. I started my cooldown on the trail and kept zigzagging over to the trees, all in the name of practicing using my camera. Let's be clear: this mile probably took twice as long to cover than the mile I raced on Thursday night. It sure was fun, though.

You can meander over to the trees, stand under one, and have a peaceful little moment when you look up:

And then you'd back away and see an even prettier view:

And you'd probably get distracted by some little yellow flowers next to the shoreline, too, right?

There are no willow trees in this photo, either, but look! You can just barely see the Minneapolis skyline on the horizon:

Finally, just as I was about to veer off from the lake paths and head home, I saw a kayaker paddle past:

It was a peaceful way to close out such a fun morning with a friend.

The forecast for today is beautiful, so I'm off to either resist or give in to the urge to watch Olympics coverage all day and read my book about fonts. Pup and I went for a long stroll yesterday, and another one of those could be in the cards, too. Happy Saturday to you!