We called it "Vacation"

After the Wright family reunion, we headed to the capital North Shore of Lake Superior. Growing up in Minnesota, one looks forward to viewing fall foliage along this marvelous coastline of the largest of the Great Lakes. Our departure of Minnesota was in July so we got to enjoy the glorious summer wildflowers instead.

 

 

We reserved early and camped at Gooseberry Falls State Park between Two Harbors and Grand Marais.  Hiking trails abound in the area and we hiked parts of the most famous the Gitchi Gami and C.J. Ramstad/North Shore State Trails.

The first we hike parts of the 270-mile-long Superior Trail.  A part of the trail connects to the campgrounds and follows the Gooseberry River. The day warmed nicely and we found a family enjoying jumping from the rocks into the cool waters of the fast moving water, floating down stream to a place to climb out, and drying in the sun until warm enough to do it again.  This part of the trail snakes along the river and its beautiful waterfalls and pools among the basalt makes the area a summer favorite.  We hiked over seven miles and got home warm and tired.

The next day, we visited the Splitrock Lighthouse.  Built in 1910 before the north shore highway existed, this lighthouse was home to three lighthouse attendants and their families.  Before the highway, supplies were brought to shore on the beach 127 feet below the lighthouse.  A special rail tram system was designed to bring items up to the lighthouse. A staircase has been built beside the rails and part of the adventure is to climb the 174 steps back to the lighthouse.  After touring the lighthouse, we hiked down to the beach. This reminded us of the 1267 steps on the Red Trail at Bushkill Falls in PA.  

 

 

Our friend and coworker from Tamarac NWR, Emily was completing her summer volunteering in Superior National forest and learning about sustainable farming.  We invited her over for dinner and a short hike.  After sharing a wonderful meal, we watched a beautiful sunset from the bridges crossing the Gooseberry river.

Our final outing in the area was Betty's Pie in two harbors.  Trip Advisor will confirm our belief that the pies were Yummy!  I had blueberry crumble and Kathy dove into Carmel apple delight.  We wished we had room for more so we took another piece home for breakfast the next day.  It didn't last that long.  

We ended our time in Minnesota by buying two new tires in Duluth for the RV at Discount Tire, our go-to tire shop. They had a much easier time getting them off than our first tire purchase in Houston over a year ago.  It's nice finding a nationwide business who can keep up with rotations and maintenance no matter where we travel.  Discount Tire isn't everywhere but they've been where we need them.  

The day got late so we crossed into Wisconsin separately and spent the night in the Walmart parking lot in Superior.  Quiet except for the trains, it was a small step in our Great Lakes journey toward the east coast.

Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes

Besides Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, we enjoyed the wonders of Minnesota during the summer of 2015. 

 From purple mountains majesty, aka taconite tailings, to the Bellamy award winning high school Joy attended,  

Enjoying the largest great lake, Superior and the largest weasel, 

 Eating the best potica from Sunrise bakery and bowling on historical lanes,

 We watched birds gather like family, 

And gathered family members together,  

 Visited old friends and made new ones,  

All this was just part of exploring Minnesota’s past and present.

  

Arizona

Leaving the Grand Canyon, we headed south to Flagstaff. Along the road we found a city of rocks - a roadside wonder that someone created using the precariously perched rocks.

Against the elements, Blanche Russell created her Rock House during the 1940s. She used local materials, built walls to complete buildings and carved niches inside for beds, chairs, etc. What an interesting little place located on Highway 89A between Jacob Lake and Bitter Springs. Currently, no one lives here.  Local merchants use the pull off as a place for roadside stands to sell native made jewelry and pottery.  It is a must see place and is close to the Vermilion Cliffs and Lees Ferry so many photo ops abound.

After driving through a sand storm, which is common place in this part of the desert, we turned onto Route 66 and entered Flagstaff.  This road brought the people from the east and west into the desert for vacations and spiritual healing.  The canyon to the north and the mountains to the southwest kept them coming back.  

We stayed in a quaint little RV park next to the dinner theater, Black Bart's Steakhouse, Saloon and Musical Revue. Of course we ate dinner there - partly because we were curious and partly because we didn't want to drive anymore that day.  It was fun having a decently priced dinner served by singing staff.  

The next day we ventured out into town, looking for an RV oil change shop.  Luckily we smart enough to ask the truck shop across the street from the RV park if they could do it. Turned out to be the best deal in town!  After telling them the make and model of our RV, they picked up the filter and oil and completed the job for half the price of any RV shop. 

We stumbled upon a bottle shop in town that Kathy fell in love with.  McGaugh's Smoke and Bottle Shop was a beer lover's utopia.  We only had room in our small RV fridge for Kathy to build one six pack but she could have easily built a case of various craft beers.  She hasn't looked back since and seeks out locally owned bottle shops wherever we land.  She enjoys trying new brews and only falls back to her mainstays (Left Hand Milk Stout, Guinness, Newcastle, etc) when this option isn't available.  

Although we considered visiting the Grand Canyon's south rim, we decided it was time to move on.  We did pass near it, though, and thoroughly enjoyed the views as we headed south and mostly down hill.

As we passed through Phoenix, I decided to see an old friend and find out what he'd been up to. He told us he was getting his life in order and would like to make amends for previous wrongs.  I appreciated the honest efforts.  As we sat drinking coffee, we received a phone call for our interview for Tamarac NWR in Minnesota, where we hoping to spend the summer.

The volunteer coordinator and I chatted for nearly twenty minutes while Kathy and my friend sat there watching me handle the interview.  In the end, we were offered another refuge volunteer position.  Since we had already spoken with Voyagers NP we would need to discuss our options and make solid plans for our next summer.  This was more difficult than we imagined as we were just heading to our second refuge, in New Mexico, for our first full time RV winter.

Back on the road late in the day, we located a fabulous state park. Pulling in to Picacho Peak State Park after dark was somewhat difficult because of the lack of lights but the amazing sunrise the next morning was gorgeous. We discovered there were only a few RVs in the park.  We enjoyed a morning walk as the sun warmed us quickly in the shadows of the Saguaro cactus.  Although the traffic in the Phoenix area reminded us of our previous busy life in Houston, the beauty of the desert helped prepare us for our next refuge in New Mexico.