Travalon's Photos from His Trip Up North

 

Yesterday I had to work on campus, which is unusual for a Tuesday, but we have so much to do to prepare for the upcoming semester. (Though it hasn't escaped my attention that I'm the only one on the team who has to be on campus every day this week...) Then my Irish teacher picked me up from the Killer Building, and we met another woman from the Shamrock Club in the parking lot of a big box store. We were running a little behind because of the rush hour traffic, but it didn't matter because the picnic was in full swing when we got to the outdoor theater, with lots of other Shamrock Club members and some of the actors from the play. There was an acoustic band playing Crosby, Stills, and Nash, which didn't seem to have anything to do with the play, the story of five spinster sisters in Ireland in the 30's. The narrator was the illegitimate child of the youngest sister, and parts of the story were hilarious, but ultimately things did not go too smoothly for the sisters, or their brother, a priest who had worked in Uganda for years until he started "going native." We certainly had a beautiful evening for an outdoor play, complete with a full "super moon" shining above. Here is a photo of the stage.

Travalon is back from his sojourn up north with his buddy who lives in Japan. He took a lot of photos, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at, so I'll just make up a story, and he can correct me in the comments. The first thing he did (again, I'm just making this all up) is look out over Lake Superior.

I already know that's a lie, because the first thing he did was meet with a Wolverhampton Wanderers fan club in Minneapolis to watch the match (the Wolves lost), but he didn't give me any photos of that. Then he heard a little bird singing in a fir tree.

The fir tree was by the lake.

And there were lots of wildflowers!

The lake was still visible in the distance.

Then they crossed a stream.

Suddenly they saw... a lighthouse!

And also, an island.

Whose throne is this? Did Travalon usurp it?

They saw their first waterfall of the trip.

It flowed into a beautiful stream.

Later, they came upon a rocky beach.

The water was very clear.

Then they saw their second waterfall.

I think that's out of order - this river came first.

And these whimsical giant lollipops of animals in two languages. (Ojibwa?)

I am too tired to post all these photos tonight. Watch for Part Two tomorrow night.

Famous Hat