bass lake trail Archives

So it’s about time I got around to telling y’all about my 4th of July weekend, right? As always, Mel and I headed up North to Ely to see the in-laws. Here’s one of the fantastic sunsets we saw while we were there:

On Saturday, we decided to go for a little hike on the Bass Lake Trail. Mel told us it was about 1/4th mile, which sounded just about right seeing as how Mel’s foot is broken and she has to wear this funny plastic boot all the time. (did I tell y’all that Mel broke her foot? Well she DID). Turns out, though Dry Falls was a little further than 1/4 mile. It was probably closer to 3/4 miles, which is a long way to go without bending your ankle (or so my wife tells me…).

But the view was worth it:

Dry falls is awesome, and there were peeps all over the place:

(Dry Falls Trivia: 1. Dry Falls isn’t actually dry. Both times I’ve been there there’s been water flowing. 2. The banner photo at the top of the SingleSpeed blog was taken at Dry Falls a few years ago).

On Sunday, we went to the Ely 4th of July Parade, which is always a total treat!!!! Here’s some of my favorite shots:

Ely High School marching band:

WHOA!!! It’s Miss Babbitt Leah Bissonette!!!!

Ely dancers are a mainstay of the parade:

The ZUP’s guy handing out Butterfingers and pepper (yes, you read that correctly, pepper – you don’t ask questions in Ely):

As always, the Lawn Chair Dancers were a crowd pleaser:

Also, the clown band is one of my favorites:

Back at the in-laws place on Moose Lake, I decided to take a dip in the lake. I know it looks like I’m about to belly flop here, but I’m really not:

OK fine. I flopped.

This weekend, we drove up north to Ely, MN to spend some time with Mel’s family. We drove up early Friday night in time to watch Mel’s record-breaking little brother Matt play in his high school football game. We were disappointed to find out that Ely Memorial High School does not sell hot dogs at their football games, but we were satisfied with the popcorn. Saturday, Mel and I decided to ride our bikes from her home to downtown Ely for some ice cream and then ride back. Round trip, it would be about 38 miles.

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Here’s a couple of photos taken by myself while riding:

We made it to Ely without any problems, but our return trip was frustrated by a flat tire. Luckily, we were near the small town of Winton, and the kind folks at the Winton Liquor Store let us borrow their phone to get a ride home.

While we were waiting, we went across the street to the city park.

After a while, I was tired of the park, so I gave myself a self-guided bicycle tour of Winton, where I discovered the combination Post Office/Fat Chicken Feed Store.