dreamshark | Iron Range Vacation: Pictures from the beach

I just couldn't get the LJ cut to work right with the pictures in the last entry, so I'm posting the pics in a new entry.

	Here's the entire business district of Side Lake Note the no-nonsense name: "Side Lake Store." That's how they name things on the Range. No fooling around with unnecessary adjectives. In Chisholm we saw a root beer stand named "The Stand" and a campground called "Campground Campground."
	And here's how you can tell what a great little place The Side Lake Store really is Here you have a general store, the only store in town, that must serve residents and tourists alike. It's not that big a place; they have to make every square foot count. And yet they find space for a free book exchange.
	McCarthy Beach State Park - the best park in the state! That's Sturgeon Lake over there - clear as a bell, sand-bottomed, exuberantly spring-fed. And look how beautifully the red pines have come back from the logging (it only took 100 years).
	The natural sand beach goes on forever, with just the right combination of sun and shade And best of all, no lifeguard telling you to take those float toys out of the water! Good thing, too. You pretty much need something to float on because the water is shin deep for the first 200 yards and it takes a while to get out there.
	The fabulous new bathhouse Big wood-walled changing rooms, flush toilets, and drinking water that tastes like blood.
	A quiet residential street in Side Lake The bike paths were all impassably sandy mountain bike trails, but the dirt roads were pretty nice.
	Attack of the float toys! And this isn't even all of them. That's Corky Crocodile (note the mean looking snaggle teeth). Not as sweet as old Albert Alligator, but actually a bit more stable. If only the handle were up on top of the head where it belongs - it's kind of in the way where it is. The big blue floating chair was also a great success. Although Richard preferred the plain old noodles to everything else.
	Porky the Porpoise didn't work out, but we found her a good home Really a cute float toy, but not balanced right for big people (the tail sinks and the bulbous head pops out of the water). However, she works great for little kids. These kids live in Hibbing, so I think they'll actually get some use out of Porky.

Iron Range Vacation: Pictures from the beach

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