Still in Minnesota

Hi,  Can you spot me in the flowers?

How about now?

I have seen  so many beautiful wildflowers on our trip.

We are finishing up our stay in beautiful Minnesota, so thought I catch you up on what else we did. After Ely we drove to Grand Portage, at the northeast tip of MI, on Lake Superior, right next to the Canadian border of Ontario.

Our first stop was to the Grand Portage National Monument.

The Grand Portage was the 8 1/2 mile route that the Voyageurs  carried two 90 pound packs of furs, along with their canoes, between Lake Superior and Fort Charlotte to bypass a long stretch of waterfalls and rapids to get to northwest Canada.   

From 1784 to 1803 the Northwest Company ran the most profitable fur trade operation on the Great Lakes and their headquarters was in Grand Portage. They controlled 70% of the fur trade business, which is like controlling70% of the oil business today.  The national monument is a reconstruction of the headquarters.

Kitchen and main building

Dining room

Collection of furs

The next day mom and dad left me in the RV and they took a boat to Isle Royale National Park, located on Lake Superior in Michigan. I am glad I didn't have to go on the boat because I haven't been feeling too well lately. My stomach has been bothering me and I have been having problems at both ends. Mom took my temperature, which wasn't too much fun because it didn't go in my mouth, if you know what I mean. But, I didn't have a temperature, so off they went.

It was a very foggy day so they didn't get to appreciate the sights along the way.  But it cleared up a bit when they arrived.

They took a hike in the heavily forested woods and listened to some ranger talks

and then headed back

 to me - I am now on a diet of rice and baby food - hope it works!

Our final stop in Minnesota was Duluth. We were able to park in a Marina close to the famous Aerial Lift Bridge - can you see it behind our RV?

Dad took me for a walk at night and we got these shots. Here it is when it's down.

and here it is going up....

and it's up!

Here is what it looks like in the daytime. Huge 1,000 foot freighters from around the world glide into the harbor beneath the giant silver bridge. It was quite a sight.

There she goes....

We also saw the "Tall Ships" pass under the bridge and have a battle in the harbor.

Mom and Dad ended the trip with a visit to Fitger's Brewhouse, a Duluth tradition since 1859. Dad liked their beer.

Next stop, Wisconsin!

Adios,
Yuki

The Land of 10,000 Lakes

Greetings from Minnesota!

 

We are spending  20 days in Northwest and Northeast Minnesota. Both are very beautiful parts of the state.  As some of you may have heard on the news, Minnesota did not pass their state budget on July 1 and all state services were shut down, & over 20,000 state employees were laid off. That also meant that all the state parks were closed, yes the parks that mom had booked months ago for the July 4th holiday. Luckily, at the last minute, mom found a great little RV park for us in Bemidji, with lots of room for me to play ball in our "front yard".

We stayed for a week to relax and enjoy the beautiful Lake Bemidji, and the many other huge lakes in the area.






Mom and dad were happy as we were right next to the 100 mile paved Paul Bunyan bike trail  - so off they went for long bike rides while I caught up on my sleep.



One morning  we all got up at 5:00 in the morning so dad could go fishing. In this area, you need a boat to do any serious fishing, he wanted to catch a walleye, but no luck this time.

Our next destination was  Voyageurs National Park, near the Canadian border. Voyageurs is named for the French-Canadian traders who paddled Minnesota's northern waterways over 200 years ago carrying loads of beaver and other fur pelts.The park is dominated by its 30 lakes and is best explored by boat. We stayed at the Harmony Beach resort, right on Lake Kabetogama, one of the larger lakes at the park.

Here is the swing that mom and I would sit on each afternoon to watch the boats (actually I was looking for chipmunks.)

One day mom and dad took a ranger led boat tour of the park.

Lots of beautiful greenery and small islands eveywhere.

They saw many bald eagles. Can you see one in the tree?

Another day  they took a canoe ride in a canoe similar to the ones used by the Voyageurs.












and led by rangers in period costumes, french accents and all.

Looks like mom is ready to paddle!

Dad hired a guide and a boat to go fishing and he caught  his limit of Northern Pike and we had one for dinner that night. It was delicious. Mom thought she took a picture, but it was a video so I tried to insert it here - hope it works.

Dad made sure our windshield was clean before we took off.

Our next stop was Ely, a small, but popular town, at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, part of the Superior National Forest.

 We got a great national forest campsite at Fall Lake, with a big "backyard" for me.

Dad and mom decided they wanted to try and canoe on the lake so they rented a huge, but stable canoe.

The next morning, they got up early and watched You Ttube videos on how to canoe, but from where I was sitting (in the car), it didn't seem to help them very much. Lots of the time they just went around in circles, with dad yelling at mom to "Paddle, Paddle"!!!. Somehow they did get out on the lake and about 2 hours later managed to make it back to the dock without tipping over.  

They left me at home while the visited the  the American Bear Center.

Then they visited the International Wolf Center, exciting to see wolves in the wild.

Well, it sure has taken me a long time to put this together and get it out to you. We are still in Minnesota, but will save that for the next blog.

Adios, Yuki