Northwoods Trip

Back in early June we took our annual trip up to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We enjoyed a few days of staying at Bearskin Lodge with friends, and all the good times of a cabin trip on the lake- hiking out to waterfalls, fishing from a pontoon boat, relaxing on the water, viewing wildlife (including two baby moose!), and a favorite activity of the under-5 set, throwing rocks in the water.

I love the comfortable feel of the old-school spots along the lake, like Lockport (above).

A very calm Lake Superior, and the rush of Cascade Falls.

Betty's Pies! Pie shakes!

Devil's Kettle Falls.

 Fishing and making the perfect smores.

 Throwing rocks!!!

 Fox by the cabin.

 Baby moose on the Gunflint Trail.

 Bearskin Lake.

 Gooseberry Falls.

Get Outside

A few weeks ago, in the midst of a stressful summer, we took a week long camping trip in Colorado.

Being outdoors for so many days was a great recharge. A great way to relax and get away from those ever-present screens that dominate our lives. A way to breathe and remember how amazing nature is. A way to slow down.

A few things struck me about our trip. First off, before we left nearly everyone we talked to asked us if we were taking our 2 year old with us. When we said yes, many asked if we were tent camping. This is weird to me, as the definition of camping is sleeping in a tent, but we replied yes. Many seemed to think we were brave or crazy or getting into something we didn't understand. Actually, camping with a toddler is about the easiest thing to do with them. Our sprout didn't have a tantrum or meltdown the entire time. He played in the dirt, explored the campsite, watched the birds, built cities out of sticks and rocks. He ate smores and drank from a water bottle and even learned to pee in the woods (which he felt qualified him to be a "mountain boy"). He had free range of our camp and exhausted himself hiking and playing. I honestly believe that some hard-wired part of him understood the dangers of the woods, and so he stayed close.

We often forget that being outdoors is a natural state. Sitting inside with the t.v. and the demands of constant e-mail, artificial light and air, this isn't how we evolved. Kids who play outdoors have a lower incidence of nearsightedness. Outdoor play develops skills and judgmental abilities that are not possible with indoor play. Yet, fewer and fewer people are getting outdoors. This is the other thing that struck me about our trip- we saw noticeably less people in campgrounds and on hiking trails. Some of this may be due to the massive wildfires that struck Colorado in recent months, but we've noticed less people at campgrounds in the Midwest as well, and fewer folks hiking in all the regions we've traveled in the past few years. This type of outdoor play is relaxing for adults and crucial for kids. Not only do we need it for brain development and to lessen the anxieties of our modern world, but we also need to teach kids to appreciate the natural world so they will take a role in preserving it.

Camping and hiking can help put things in perspective- I know when I get home I'm grateful for a flush toilet, a plush bed, climate control, and running water, things that most citizens of the world don't have and that we can easily take for granted. Hike a few miles up a mountain on a rocky trail and you will have a new appreciation for cars and paved roads. I appreciate the luxuries of modern life, but I think our entire family looks forward to our next wilderness trip.

On the road again...

Labor Day weekend, headed north on I-35 to Minneapolis for a long weekend trip. While not the most eventful drive through Missouri and Iowa, the sunflowers were in full bloom all along the highway making for some beautiful late summer Midwestern scenery.

Back to KC

A distant view of Kansas City as we passed over the Missouri River on our way home from a great holiday weekend in Chicago.

Transportation fail

We spent the afternoon, evening, and into the night on July 1 driving from Kansas City to Chicago. What would be a 4 hour bullet train ride in Europe, Japan, or China, became a 10+ hour drive through America's crumbling infrastructure. We hit traffic, construction, and even a 12 minute wait at a tollbooth (at midnight!) on our drive. I will never understand why Americans are so car-obsessed; if we had a real train system we could have relaxed on our trip, moved around at our leisure, and had a much safer journey. Instead we were subject to the poor driving of others, stuck in a seat, and forced to pollute at a much higher rate.

Returning home

Driving through the Ozarks on our way home from a great long weekend trip.

Memphis

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We began Memorial Day at the former site of Stax Records, now the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. This was a great museum and a pilgrimage site for Joe. The museum included lots of neat exhibits on the evolution of soul music and Stax, as well as some crazy objects; one of the best was Issac Hays' Cadillac from the post-Shaft era, all the parts that would have been chrome were 24-carat gold, it had a fridge in the back and a t.v. in the front, and the floor was covered in white shag. To top it off, the car rotated beneath a disco ball. For musicians like Joe the re-created recording space was more of a draw, but for visual people like me, the costumes and objects were amazing.
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We continued our day by heading downtown for lunch at the Flying Fish, a great place to indulge in Southern-style (read: fried) food. They even had fried chocolate pie, which I have to admit, was pretty tasty.
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Lunch time. The Flying Fish also had a wall of Billy Bass plaques. Interesting.
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After lunch we walked over to Beale Street, where we saw some live blues on the street and enjoyed some people watching.
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The last stop of the day was Graceland.
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While we found the ticket prices quite expensive, the mansion was well preserved, and the audio tour had interesting insights into life at Graceland.
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Kitsch? Yes! The media room in the basement and the exhibition of costumes was fascinating, as was the narrative presented in the audio tour.
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Elvis's grave, at Graceland.
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One last meal of Southern food, at Soul Fish in Midtown, before heading back to the hotel for some swimming.
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Oxford, Mississippi

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We spent Saturday the 29th on a day trip from Memphis down to Oxford, Mississippi, home to Ol' Miss (University of Mississippi). The small town square had a variety of restaurants and shops, very few of which were open on Sunday. We also learned that restaurants can't serve alcohol on Sunday in the state. The fantastic independent Square Books was open, and we spent a while wandering the shop, which ranks as one of the best bookshops in the nation.
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The courthouse at the center of the Square.
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The Mississippi state flag. We saw at least three Confederate memorials and a few Confederate flags during our day. We also sampled grits, which I liked but Joe didn't care for, and drank sweet tea, which was appallingly sweet.
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We continued the literary theme of the day at Rowan Oak, an 1840s house that was home to William Faulkner in the mid-twentieth century.
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In the afternoon we took a drive to Alabama, the 49th state that I have visited!
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Road Trip!!

Headed down south for Memorial Day weekend, we spent Saturday May 28 driving across Missouri and Arkansas, arriving in Memphis in the early evening. We stopped in Columbia, Missouri for a picnic lunch of Main Squeeze at Mizzou (University of Missouri).

Driving back

Tuesday the 22nd took us back to Kansas City. While most of the drive was flat and dull, we did see a huge rainbow in central Kansas and the first part of the drive, through the Colorado mountains, was quite scenic.
I'd also like to send out a huge thanks to Fran and Steve for their hospitality!

Driving

Saturday, March 19. Driving from Kansas City to Colorado is not very exciting, just hundreds of miles of prairie, cattle ranches, and Interstate 70 with very few towns to break up the monotony. It's especially boring at this time of year, when the sky is gray and the grasses are drab brown. It's been a few years since we've done the drive though, so we were pleased to see the addition of some wind farms, as seen in this photo. Hopefully America can push for more sustainable energy like this, and maybe someday we can replace, or at least supplement, the road with a train like those that exist in the rest of the industrialized world (and much of the non-industrialized).

Summer Up North

In early July we took a break from packing and headed up to the North Shore of Minnesota for a week of relaxation and outdoors time. Here we are on our last long haul road trip in the VW Golf!


















We stopped in Duluth for dinner at Pizza Luce, which has veggie sausage! Yay!





















On our first full day we hiked the Temperence River with Joe's family.






























































































After our hike we enjoyed a late lunch at the Lutsen Sea Villas and walked around along the shore.


















Back at Shoredge we looked for agates along Lake Superior.




































































We hiked up Jon Vick creek for a little while in the late afternoon.







































Back at Popple House, our cabin.






















The following day we drove up the Gunflint Trail, viewing damage from the previous year's fire. We also spied a bear cub alongside the road! The first photo is the view of Grand Marais from Pincushion Mountain lookout, the second is the view from the backseat of the van.


































Later in the day we walked around Grand Marais, snacking and browsing the shops.


















In the evening we relaxed back at Shoredge before dinner.




















































On the Fourth of July we left Popple House to camp out at Devil Track Lake in the Superior National Forest.


















We spent the better part of the afternoon hiking to the top of Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota.


































We stopped for a snack break along an inland lake.



































At the top of Eagle Mountain, looking out over the Boundary Waters and Superior National Forest.





















































A sea of trees....

















Part of the trail on the way back down.












































Flowers back at the trailhead.

















That evening, sunset back at our campsite.

























































On the fifth we rented a canoe for a day trip into the Boundary Waters.
























































































That evening we met up with family at Shoredge to celebrate the July birthdays, including Joe's.

Cake!
























































Our last morning at camp....






































As per tradition, we stopped for lunch at Betty's Pies in Two Harbors before the long trek back to Lawrence.