Before we go we must celebrate the change of seasons with our Bonfire party. We dressed as “Barbarians at the Gates” (an allusion to the 99% – or the 47% from a certain speech) dead, and zombie-like of course!

The King & Queen of Barbaria!

And their howling Barbarian war-dog!

We got the smoking completed just in time, we had our first snow of the season! Time to start packing to move south!

The maple tree hadn’t even finished it’s fall color change!

We need to get the Bigfoot ready for travel….

….and make like snowbirds, flying south for the winter!

All that salmon Robert hand carried through Port Hardy, B.C., Vancouver B.C. and Portland, OR airports had to be dealt with! We bought an electric smoker and got to work!

This seemed to be the best model for our needs, and we also smoked beef jerky and even Gouda & Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese. Now that’s good stuff!!!!

The salmon fillets had to be prepared with a cure (salt, sugar & spices rub) overnight, then rinsed and air dried for several hours before going into the smoker for several more hours.

All but a few of the 48 pounds of fish were smoked, we had a few great grilled salmon dinners too!

We took a tour up the Minnesota side of the Mississippi river and down the Wisconsin side on a beautiful pre-fall day.

A panorama of a Mississippi slough.

A slough (pronounced ‘slew’) is “a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, or the like.” Along the Mississippi they have mostly been filled in for farmland or other development, but this area is preserved as the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Land (or water depending on the river level) owned by my Mother’s maternal grandparents is included in this refuge and immortalized as the Mertes Slough Landing. My great-uncle Jake once ran a marina at this site. I remember visiting and taking a boat ride and possibly fishing when I was just a little tyke.

This makes it Official!

Across the slough you can see Castle Rock. The Mertes farm is at the base of the rock and is once again home to a large family who are raising chickens and goats.

Castle Rock above the Mertes Slough.

Back in Winona, Minnesota. A view of Sugarloaf. My Dad told me that sugarloaf was the remnant of extensive gold mining on the bluff. I learned from Wikipedia here, that is was quarrying for the rock itself!

A perspective of Sugarloaf on the bluff above houses.

A close up.