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.

Minneapolis

Saturday the 3rd, a great day in Minneapolis.
We began with a wonderful morning at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a fantastic museum with a huge Asian collection and some fabulous gallery spaces. Below I'm contemplating Yasumasa Morimura as Frida. Love. Our next stop was the delectable veggie Chinese restaurant Evergreen for take-out. We then met up with our friend Mike, a fellow IUC veteran, and spent the afternoon walking the Uptown neighborhood and the nearby lakes. After meeting up with his wife, we enjoyed a tasty meal downtown and drinks in the evening. So nice to see old friends!

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.

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.