I got a call from a former neighbor of mine who mentioned she was in town and wanted to know if I’d like to get together for a cup of coffee at one of the fine coffee houses in town. I said sure and we set a time to meet. Now, I’m not a coffee person. Mom and Dad always had a pot “on” and now my relatives have one of those little one cup brew machines in the kitchen. Anyway, I had heard that this place made a mean cup of hot apple cider and I knew that’s what I’d be ordering.

We got there and went to the counter to place the order. “Ladies first!” I told her. So she placed her order and my mind began to swirl. “I’ll have a tall with an extra shot.” “Shot” I asked? It was explained to me she wasn’t ordering booze but an extra shot of expresso. “Right, I knew that. Just kidding around.”

“Could you also give me two pumps of hazelnut?”

Pumps? What is she talking about? The person grabbed a pump bottle of what I assumed was hazelnut.

“Oh and make it half-caf (half caffeine) please with a dollop of whipped cream.”

I turned to her and asked if I was on “Candid Camera” or for you younger kids “Punk’d”. “How did you learn all that?”

“Oh you get used to ordering, and when you do it enough times it just rolls off your tongue.”

Folks, we’ve come a long way since Grandpa’s café’ in Holt Minnesota where you ordered coffee black, and either one lump, or two, of sugar cubes.

The waitress says “And what would you like sir?”

“Hot Apple cider please. Just a regular apple cider.”

“Would you like a little whipped cream on that?” I replied “Well of course. Do you think this is my first time in here?”

In case you missed it earlier, I spent a few days at the Northwest Angle of Minnesota for some a little rest. The neighbor in the cabin next door asked if we’d like to go for a ride in his boat, do a little sight-seeing and maybe stop at one of the island resorts and have a bite to eat. Fishing this time around just wasn’t high on my list so this seemed like a good idea and said let’s go. First thing that he points out is this massive boat, the NormaRay docked at a nearby island. I counted two levels with a wheel house on this beautiful houseboat. It was once owned by the man who had exclusive rights to the “Rapala” fishing lures in the U.S. It has since changed ownership and now belongs to a couple from Winnipeg. It’s 85 feet long and 30 feet wide and weighs 100 tons. I wonder what the mileage is with those two 300 horsepower engines?

But my favorite site was a barge and its special cargo. Have you ever wondered how they get gasoline to all those different islands at Lake of the Woods? Simple really! No pipelines, you just put the gas truck on a barge and just take the whole thing from island to island. It’s a sight you just don’t see too often.