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My Brother’s Cabin August 20 - August 24, 2002 Hi friends! (David here. Finally, I'm forcing myself to sit down and write a little.) The trip has been going wonderfully so far, as Betsy has been passing on in the travelogues. We're about 8 weeks in right now and I'm beginning to forget what life was like before we were traveling. Our days are definitely very full - and should be plenty full right through the end of this year at least. The East Coast will have a lot to keep us busy. Right now, we are on Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota, however, with my brother Mike and his family. My brother has been building - primarily with his own two hands and any spare hands willing to pick up a task - a cabin up here for the past 5 years (mostly on summer weekends). The scale of this task, and the quality of the work, is incredible. Think about the house you live in and then think of every nail, board, electrical conduit and plumbing pipe that's in it. Then think of where you would get electricity and plumbing from if it wasn't already there piped in. That's what Mike and his wife, Lori, had to plan out - almost completely - before the cement foundation was even laid down. And this is of course on top of full time jobs. And the last hurdle - the land is only accessible over the lake - no road access. Wow! I know this would be an impossible impediment for me, since I depend on daily (if not hourly) Home Depot runs during house projects. What they've accomplished is absolutely beautiful - a modest-sized, 2-story, wooden labor of love. This week Betsy and I have been able to help with putting the last of the interior paneling up - on the ceiling. I've found out that working 15 feet above the floor on a ladder can be a little dizzying. But the work is just a tiny part of the time here. Mostly we've been just hanging out - playing Hearts and 500 Rummy with my nieces, Stephanie and Kirsten, dropping a fishing pole in the lake (not pulling fish out, yet), and reading. A great way to spend a week - just hanging out in a peaceful hideaway in the Minnesota woods. Hope this travelogue finds all of you well. From the far north, David & Betsy & Pluto P.S. For the pictures below, click on any one to see a larger version. If you want to see all the big ones, just loop through using the arrow keys on any of the “big picture” pages.
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