Route Recon, Recovery, And Relaxation Before The Run

 Today was supposed to be a day of recovery and relaxation.    We woke later than usual and enjoyed the wonderful breakfast they serve here.   Pretty neat food...pickled herring with  beets and tomatoes.   I guess that is supposed to be Scandinavian.    Even though Grandpa Allen was Swedish....  We never enjoyed a breakfast like this one.

Mile 5 photo location.

Zoom of Cheryl

On to the recon!   We followed the marathon route backwards and found the places we were planning on setting up for Photo Ops.   Having done all of this before helps...  and the Recon part of the day took less time than expected.

Cheryl in the distance.

I await my next assignment...

Now...what to do with the remainder of the day????

Exploring the grounds

The Fishing game room

My idea was camp out at the lodge and enjoy the hospitality and environment as much as possible.  however,   Cheryl had different plans....and "we" were "forced"  to obey.  

After a few gift shop visits to remind us of how NOT to spend our time or money,  we settled on walking around the lodge and scoping out the numerous trails and sites they brag about in their brochure.   Along the way we discovered ...Mergansers!      Cheryl thought there was a Loon outside our window last night...and there may have been...however,  when investigating the sounds by the lake...we discovered a female merganser and her chicks swimming about.    We also discovered that our new camera truly shines at wildlife photography.   The zoom was awesome!

Mergansers!

Cheryl on the rocks!

The lodge view from the peninsula

Clear Superior Water!

After taking way too many pictures of that family of duck,   we decided to hike out onto the peninsula that juts out in front of the lodge.   The water of Lake Superior is so clear!   Cheryl had a bit of a challenge navigating the boulders, but manage to make it out there.

Cheryl takes a stand!

Marmut or ground hog?

We moved on to the paved bike path that the area is known for and found a couple other examples of the local fauna.   Namely;   several whitetail deer and  a couple of groundhogs!    Once again the camera shines!

Flowers!  Flowers everywhere!

Cheryl hides with her blue camo shorts

We also found several fields of flowers.  I guess these are examples of Lupine.   Cheryl thought they were pretty cool.   So   She simply had to surround herself with them.

Small pretty falls.

Small pretty flowers.

We finally settled in for the evening with a local brew.    Lake Superior Deep Water Black IPA!   It is a very nice beer.   Imagine a place perfectly balanced between coffee and chocolate...with a hint of bitters at the end...but not overpowering.   A creamy smooth mouth feel and texture.   It would almost be like sipping a cappuccino malt shake.     We may have to find this again once we get back home.

Yeah,  kinda like that....

So that is all for now.   Looks like an early retirement once again.  Hopefully the beer will help a bit.   I always have trouble getting to sleep earlier than my normal lights out.  
 Cheryl, on the other hand,   seems to be able to turn herself off with the flick of the lights.    Maybe the pre-race jitters will not plague her tomorrow.   We shall see.   The weather is a mixed bag of promises, and vagaries that keep the runners always guessing.  I will truly know the weather forecast tomorrow...after the race.