In the middle of the lake

The past week was all about winter here in the Twin Cities.  It was the St. Paul Winter Carnival with its ice and snow sculptures along with all the outdoor activities associated with the event.  I was fortunate to have a dear friend from the Seattle area here visiting (yes, people really do come to Minnesota for vacations!).  I wanted to show her something that’s unique to our area in the winter time besides all the piles of snow that are gracing our urban landscape.  So we headed north to the second largest lake in the state, Mille Lacs.  We got our road pass for the day and drove four plus miles out into the lake on the ice road.  How bizarre to look at my GPS and see the car symbol surrounded by blue water!  Just a reminder that there really is a lake underneath this layer of ice.  The lake is filled with fish houses now, as far as the eye can see.  Some are sitting out all by themselves, and others are close together forming their own little villages.  Although we didn’t see any large piles of fish sitting nearby, I’m sure the fishing must have been good on this blue-sky day.