Northern Minnesota

I'll keep it simple...few words, many photos.

Our route: Rochester, Duluth, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Ely and the International Wolf Center, Voyageurs National Park, Rochester.

Here's the crew at Gooseberry Falls!

The Aerial Lift Bridge at Duluth is quite unique in that it raises up for boats and ships to pass, then lowers again for cars to drive. Built in 1905, it was the first of only two such bridges built in the United States.

Split Rock Lighthouse is definitely worth the stop. Completed in 1910, all of the materials for the lighthouse, fog signal building, and three houses were hoisted up from Lake Superior. The lense that magnifies the light and rotates to send a light signal every 10 seconds was imported from France. It runs like clock work with the gears as shown in this photo.

In Ely, we visited the International Wolf Center. Ely is a major point of entry for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Who wants to go exploring with me? The boundary waters is the place to go for a few days of real wilderness river and lake canoeing. Perhaps our favorite part of the trip was the time spent in Voyageurs National Park. The first evening we took a tour boat to Ellsworth Island, where Mr. Ellsworth spent 20 summers working on his rock garden. I guess that's one way to spend your summers.

We stayed near Kabetogama Lake. The sunrise was irresistable, so I went out to watch the fisherman leave, the ducks swim, the beaver glide in the water, and just enjoy some time alone in one of the most peaceful places in the world.

Then we got a ride to an island, where we hiked a couple of miles to Locator Lake to canoe, where we saw no one else for the whole time. On Locator Lake, we relaxed, watched loons, ate blueberries, and even had a little fun!



Okay, what in the world did I do or say to deserve such looks?

Apparently, there is more than one way to canoe...Micah and Daniel had to give it a try.

I don't know what the above is called, but it was fun. The best part was Mama, our watchful lifeguard wearing Daddy's "I Dive" hat!

To conclude the trip, the family helped me move my couch and chair to the new house where I will be moving by the end of July. I took the weary travelers all around Mayo Clinic and St. Mary's Hospital on a tour before I let them rest up for their flights home today. All around, I would call the trip a success! Now, it's back to work, packing, moving, and planning.