Williams Narrows - Chippewa National Forest - Minnesota

Sometimes it only takes a nap and a walk.

I wandered around Grand Rapids, Minnesota for a couple of hours trying to exercise but finally, enough was enough. It kept on raining. I tried some of the shopping areas, but who wants to walk around Kmart for any length of time? The Grand Rapids library is lovely, but I have enough to books to read on this trip. I tried the Minnesota Historical Society's Forest History Center. The paths looked inviting but it kept on raining. A light mist and I would have been off and trekking, but this was sheeting rain. The visitor's center offered rides through forest demonstrations, but in the rain? I passed on that, too.

So I drove on down Highway 2, then up Highway 46 until the Chippewa National Forest was in range. I took the second campground sign and wound up at Site 13 at the William Narrows Campground at 2:00 pm. Again, only three sites taken plus a camp host, so I had another quiet spot.

But it kept raining. I sat in the driver's seat and caught up on trip paperwork. I read for a while. But it all got old, so I went to my old standby, the power nap. I've noticed in the past that the world is always a sunnier place after a good snooze.

I crawled into the bed in the back of the car. An hour later, I woke up to a strange sound. Silence. No raindrops pounding on the metal roof.

I got up and looked around at the wet world. Dinner would have to be something warm, chili out of a can perhaps. But first, I needed to stretch sore muscles so I went for a walk through the campground and on down the road. I noticed a sign that said “resort”. Well, it wouldn't hurt to investigate. That's how I found the Williams Narrows Resort, that has been here since 1920, run by five generations of the Williams/Karau Family. The same families come here for their vacations year. One group has been coming here for 71 years. As I type this, a half dozen children are playing in the dining room.

Little Chicago it is not. Over the years, the owners have kept going upscale so that now the units are condos. It is a charming place at the spot where the Cutfoot Sioux and Winnibigoshish Lakes connect at the narrows. (Check is out at www.WNResort.com)

I decided to forgo chili out of a can and eat here at the resort. Not only am I eating a great hamburger, I can connect with the internet, check e-mail and even call Gary on my cell phone, because the owners have kept up with technology..

Gary always says I know where to camp and once, again, he is right.

But I will wait to post this until I take photos tomorrow when the sun is shining....I hope.