Veritas, Racoons and Wimping out

I broke out our camping gear after a 20 year hiatus and prepared to give it one more go with Claudia, my daughter and grandsons. We headed to the headwaters of the Mississippi River for a two night excursion.

Here are the grandsons at the headwaters.

After wading across the Big Muddy we cashed in our chips having suffered a rainy night with marauding gangs of raccoons riffling through our campsite.

The itas in Itasca State Park and the lake its named after comes from the Greek word veritas or truth as in the true source of the Mississippi. That’s the name Henry Schoolcraft gave it when Indian guides or possibly Duluth resident, George Bonga, took him to the lake so he could “discover” it.

We found comfortable beds in a Super 8 in Park Rapids and a wonderful surprise of an Italian restaurant in the same city. Our grandsons ate mussles. Such refined barbarians.

My sister called me a wimp when she found out I’d broken camp early. I sent her this picture to restore my manly self respect.

I know. I know. That happened the day after we got home but my sister doesn’t read this blog.

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