2017.07.30-Grand Portage, MN

July 30, 2017 Grand Portage, MN

Still coming to you  from the banks of Lake Superior (Gitchi Gami), but this is our last day in Minnesota.  Tomorrow it’s off again to Wisconsin, land of cheese curds, beer and sausage, oh my, and to meet up with friends.

Yesterday we took an adventure up the Gunflint Trail which runs north from the lake shore town of Grand Marais, MN to within a stone’s throw of the Canadian border.  We had a mission to find Rockwood Lodge and Outfitters, and to eat at the infamous Trail Center Restaurant.  Well kind readers we’re happy to report we successfully completed both assignments and enjoyed ourselves along the road to and from the objective.  The Gunflint trail runs right up through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) within this land of 10,000 lakes.  Folks take canoe expeditions from lake to lake to enjoy the backwoods.  We found that the thought of a canoe trip was much more enjoyable than the actual venture due to the unlimited number of bird size mosquitoes and other bugs that come along uninvited.

After lunch on our way back down the Gunflint Trail we came across an active lumber mill and a wildflower sanctuary.  For our Texas eyes the huge volume of felled and stacked trees and then the consequent sawn lumber produced was an interesting and unusual sight.  I think we were a little late in the season for the wildflowers of this particular sanctuary but we see many blooms along the roads and by-ways in this “neck of the woods.”

the harbor at Grand Marais, MN

Just because we were driving past we stopped in the little “burg” of Grand Marais on Lake Superior.
It is a popular starting point for many of those trekking into the “boundary waters” but is a beautiful little town in it’s own right.  Then it was back again to Grand Portage where our coach is parked; we call that home these days (where our coach is parked.)

It’s morning and today we’re planning on returning to the Grand Portage National Monument to enjoy some of the presentations and interpretive programs offered by the Park service volunteers.  More later.

Once again on the banks of Gitchi Gami

2017.07.28-Grand Portage, MN

July 28, 2017 Grand Portage, MN ...literally from the banks of Gichi-gami, the “Great Water”

We traveled yesterday from Ely, MN to Grand Portage, MN in the eastern most, upper portion of MN.  We are right on the banks of Lake Superior and only 6 miles from the Canadian border, set up at an Indian Casino run by the Chippewa or Ojibwe tribe.  The RV park is spacious with full hook ups and a decent cell signal that enables us to get internet service for the things we want and need.  We sensed a calm joyful peace over this place as this rock cairn seems to punctuate.

Travelers take note:  Yes the road from Ely (MN 1) to the lake road up the northern banks of Superior (MN 61) is rough in case you are considering it, but it was nothing compared to the Yukon roads to Alaska last year; you’ll not hear any complaining from us.

The town of Grand Portage gets its name from a 9 mile trail running westward from Lake Superior where the Voyaguers, or fur traders, from the 1700 and 1800s actually carried their goods and canoes over land to avoid large waterfalls (as you will see below) and dangerous river rapids.

After we set up we took advantage of the rest of the day and went out to find what the Grand Portage National Monument was all about.  The answer is the fur trade and the history between the French, English and other Europeans, and the many tribes of Indians here in  upper North America.  The Park Service has done a fine job of documenting this history and we enjoyed  it’s presentation very much.  To better illustrate the origin of Grand Portage they built a replica trading post called a Heritage Center on it’s original foundation to showcase many aspects of this history including a canoe shed where these critical modes of transportation were built and the Great Hall where the important trading of the day took place.  One of the items traded was Vermilion from China.  We were surprised to learn this is actually just mercury sulfide, not a particularly healthy chemical, albeit quiet colorful and useful in dyes.

Next I wanted to see High Falls.  This is the highest water falls in the state of Minnesota with a drop of 120 feet.  It is within Grand Portage State Park which is on the Pelican River, the formal boundary between the US and Canada.  We took a nice cool 15 minute hike and as you can see the falls were indeed beautiful.

We also took a few pics of Lake Superior along the way, listened to Loons calling on the water, and found a few sunset shots to top off a busy but very enjoyable day.

Tomorrow it’s off for an adventure in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota, a treasure hunt of sorts.  Stay tuned...

2017.07.26-Ely, MN

2017.07.26-Ely, MN

We arrived Sunday, 2017.07.23.  Travel days are usually rest days, once we get setup.  We did find an interesting place for lunch that was known for it’s grilled cheese sandwiches.  Jerry had the classic with fresh tomatoes and onions.  I had a turkey club and it was delicious!

Welcome sign for Ely, MN

Tuesday, 2107.07.25, we found Kawishiwi Falls.  Kawishiwi is an Ojibwe name meaning the “river full of beaver or muskrat houses.”  Once we parked the car, it wasn’t a long hike to the falls, but the walk was infested with those pesky flying bugs!  The bugs seem less if you could stay in the sunlight, but the path doesn’t always do that.  <sigh>  Onward…

Later that afternoon, we visited the International Wolf Center.  They have 5 wolves in an acre and a half enclosure.  While we were there, someone rang a bell and the 5 of them came out of their den to get some kibble.  In a way it is sad.  All the wolves there are neutered and/or spayed.  Another male and a female were in another enclosure for retirement.

Wednesday, 2017.07.26, was mainly a take care of business day.  We received closing documents for the sale of our property in Boerne.  Four pages needed to be notarized, so we went to the local Wells Fargo.  They were fast and efficient.  We came home, signed the other papers, scanned and emailed the documents.  However, the closing company wants the originals, too.  Off we went to the Post Office.  Jerry mailed them on Wednesday as on overnight, but they won’t get there until Friday.  Welcome to a small remote town in the Boundary Waters.  When done with the PO I tried to start the car.  Yep, the battery was dead.  Is this the fun part?  Jerry called a local auto shop.  The guy was there in less than 10 minutes.  Yep, small towns are great!  He got us started, we followed him back to the shop, we now have a new battery.

Wednesday at 5pm, Ely has a farmer’s market in the square.  One of the RV ladies wanted to go, so she and I start walking.  I didn’t realize it was so FAR AWAY!  We are staying on 21^st, the market was on 8^th.  She is younger and in much better shape than I am.  It seemed she started running to the square, but I slowed her down.  Too funny, but I really enjoyed it.  I bought some fresh spring mix salad, homemade breads (a cinnamon and an olive oil with rosemary), a bar of homemade soap (Musky Rose) and 2 delightful wooden utensils (a spoon made from apple wood and a spatula made from maple root).  Whew!  That was enough!  Time to head back to the coach.   On the way back, I saw these lovely lilies.  There are lots of these lovely flowers here.

Today, we drove to the Soudan mine, which is the site of the oldest and deepest iron ore mine in Minnesota.  The mine quit operating in 1962 and was then donated in 1965 to the state of Minnesota to be preserved and operated as a state park.  This is an interesting park!  We got there in plenty of time for the 11am tour.  However, they said it was 50 degrees in the mine and the tour lasted an hour.  Neither Jerry nor I had jackets in the car.  We decided to exchange our tickets for a later tour so we could drive 25 miles back to get our jackets.

I’m somewhat claustrophobic, so was concerned about riding the cage down for 2.5 minutes.  But, I did it!  There were about 12 folks in our cage.  Fortunately, the tour guide was in our cage.  There was one other lady there who was more scared but he did an excellent job of trying to distract her.  The trip down was noisy and rough and dark.  The tour guide held his flashlight up so the ride down wasn’t completely dark.  The walls of the mine were maybe 10 inches away from my nose.  Once we got down there, we loaded into carts and away we went for about a two minute ride.  Then we climbed up a narrow spiral staircase 22’ to where he started the lecture.

And, yes, he did turn out all the lights, then lit a single candle to show how much light it produced.  In the beginning, the miners only had candles, which they had to buy from the company store.  Interesting tour!

This is where the iron ore would be loaded onto the train cars

This was a part of the hoist system.  The wheel below was at the top of this tower.

This is the sign that greeted us as we exited the cage.

2017.07.21-Kabetogama, MN

2017.07.21-Kabetogama, MN

Yesterday late afternoon, we drove over to the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary just beyond Orr, MN.  This isn’t a sanctuary the way I think of a sanctuary, these animals are totally wild to come and go as they please, there are no fences to keep them contained.  From every direction black bears come here to feed.  From where I stood on the two-story high deck, I could see 10 black bears feeding at different feeding stations around the yard.  Interns with no fear walked out among the bears to refill the feeding spots while there were bears still around feeding.  The bears pretty much ignore them.  It was very interesting to watch.  We listened to one intern discuss the bear diet.  The sanctuary feeds daily, but it is not a complete nutritious diet.  These bears are expected to forage to complete their diet.

From what we could see, there were a lot of interns, guessing maybe 18 or so.  They opened the gates, helped with parking, drove the bus from the parking lot to the feeding area, manned the gift shop, answered questions, gave talks, oh, and got to walk among the bears while feeding them!  HOW EXCITING!  However, the interns stay on the property in some of the cabins, but there is no electricity or running water.  Ah, to be young again.  I’m way too used to our glamping…  no running water and no electricity is NOT my cup of tea.

We were told before feeding time, the mamma bears ‘tell’ their young cubs to climb a tree and STAY there until she returns.  Sometimes, after she eats, she will retrieve her cubs and bring them back so they can eat too.  Unfortunately, we did not see any cubs, but what we saw was delightful!

To learn more about their mission, go to www.americanbear.org

This one was maybe 20' from the deck!

Today, we drove into International Falls, MN, to find the “largest” Smokey Bear statue in the country.  He is 26’ tall and “was erected in 1952 as a project of Koochiching County’s Keep Minnesota Green Committee.”  Can you tell it has been a slow day here?  😉

While we were there, we had lunch at the Chocolate Moose.  And, as Jerry says, I have the tee shirt to prove it.  Yes, we did have a chocolate concoction for dessert.  YUM!

This is sunset from the fishing dock at our Lake Kabetogama campground.

2017.07.20-Kabetogama, MN

2017.07.20-Kabetogama, MN

We drove to the Rainy Lake visitors center for Voyageurs National Park.  There are three separate visitor centers for this huge water-based park.  There are 500+ islands and 655 miles of shoreline for a total of 218,054 acres of land and water.  We took a two-and-a-half-hour boat trip around portions of the national park waters to get an idea of this place.  These little islands are all over, on some of them they actually mined gold.

This canoe is made the traditional Indian way using birch bark and other native plants.  It is a beauty.  It’s also the reason the National Park is here, to honor the outdoorsmen called “voyaguers” who hunted, fished and moved furs and other trade goods around the area.  It was actually beaver pelts in the late 1700’s that started the development of this area and put it on the map.

The “grass” in the foreground is actually wild rice which the natives would harvest and save up for winter food.

This is a Minnesota milk weed plant.  The ones I’m used to in Texas are short.  The ones up here get to 4’ tall, or more.  Unfortunately we didn’t see any cocoons or butterflies.

We are staying at an RV park right on Lake Kabetogama.  The lake is part of the National Park, but the RV park is not.  If you’re having trouble reading the lake name we are too, it’s a real tongue twister.  We’ve been here 3 days and are just now close to pronouncing it correctly, that is without the locals looking at us funny.  If you break it into the correct syllables it helps:  Ka/be/tog/ama.

2017.07.17-Brainerd, MN

2017.07.17-Brainerd, MN

Brainerd is pretty much in the center of the Minnesota.  We stayed in one of their city parks, Lum Park, which had all the hookups we needed, except sewer.  So, we did a little ‘dry’ camping.

On Sunday, we visited the Northland Arboretum, which had some lovely flowers and, of course, many ever present BUGS.  These weren’t ordinary bugs, these bugs dive bomb your head. I had forgotten my hat.  Bummer.  ☹ We were able to take pictures of some of their flowers however.

That evening the Brainerd Loons Ski Club put on a nice water skiing exhibition just a few hundred yards from the coach.  They had various folks doing some bare footin’, then there were pyramids, sometimes with as many as 10 skiers across and they even did some ramp tricks.  The best was saved for last.  A paraglider (I think that is what it is called) was pulled around the lake by a boat until he was at the end of a very long rope.  Then they cut him loose and he just gently glided back down to the water to spot just where he was supposed to land, close to the pier.

Monday, we drove 100 miles north to see the source of the Mississippi River which is in Itasca State Park, near Bemidji.  Not sure what I was expecting, but this was just sort of, well, OK, it is what it is….  It is a gently running spring.  Some folks were walking in it and some kids wading in it.  Kind of a letdown, but interesting none the less.

This sculpture represents an Anishinabe (Ojibwe) Indian belief that women are the Caretakers of the water.  The plaque says:

“We are to respect this responsibility of the sacred work of women by keeping this precious resource pristine and renewable for all future generations to enjoy.  In this sculpture a woman is leaning over releasing a clutch of small turtles from a basket renewing the seasons and continuing the waters of life.  Her flowing hair is like that of flowing water.  The turtles, strong water symbols, also symbolize the universal cycle of life in Anishinabe belief.  The turtle’s round shell represents the earth, moon, sun and seasonal cycles.  The legs of the turtle point in the four directions, his head points up to honor Grandfather Sun and his tail points down towards Mother Earth.  Turtles show us all directions of life – they live in the water, walk on land and breath air.  Turtles are a strong symbol of the importance of this site, located here at the beginning of the Headwaters.”

This tree is known as The Big White Pine.  It is 112’ tall, has a 173” circumference, a crown spread of 48.75’, and is 300+ years old.  The life span of these trees is generally 200 years, but they can live as long as 450 years.  At the bottom of The Big White Pine is this quote:  “The future of this pine, as with all trees, is certain; the timetable is not.  This large white pine will someday return to the forest floor to enrich the soil and make room for others.”

On the way back to the coach, we stopped in a Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. 😊  The people at the next table said Dairy Queen offers a senior discount, but, you have to ask for it.  OK, we will certainly remember this!  Then they asked if we had our lifetime National Park Senior pass.  Jerry has his and it gets a car load entry into the National Parks.  I did not have one, but the Chippewa National Park headquarters was just a few blocks away.  I now have my own National Park Senior pass.  It costs only $10 and will get you into any National Park for free, for your lifetime; but the cost will be going up the end of August to $80!  For those of you 62 and over, I highly recommend that you get your pass NOW!  Even if you don’t use it now remember it’s good for life, and it’s a nice donation to the National Park system.  😊

We got back to the coach just as a storm was approaching.  Fortunately, the high winds and rain passed us by, again.  Yahoo!  Grateful for that.

2017.07.13-Madelia, MN

2017.07.13-Madelia, MN

We are staying in a small city park but it is impressive with its green grass and huge trees.  There is a soccer field, a baseball field, several sand volley sand courts and behind our coach is a 9 hole golf course.  This active park is beside a running stream that has a tiny waterfall.  Very nice.  In addition this overnight stop allowed us to post the Minnesota sticker to our United States tour map of places we’ve stayed; only a few states left.  Oh yes, we’re thoroughly enjoying the low humidity and low 70s today.  😎

Yesterday, we went to Blue Earth, MN, looking for the Jolly Green Giant.  Sure enough, we found it.    This 56 foot fiberglass giant has been booming “Ho Ho Ho” since July 6, 1979.

Even though these towns are not large, often considerably less than 10,000 folks, they have some interesting histories.  The Green Giant company, established in the 1920s, is no longer in existence having been bought and sold numerous times, but Blue Earth still has a canning facility for Green Giant brand products operating today.

From the Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce brochure:

- Blue Earth is located at the midsection of America’s longest highway – Interstate 90.

- Blue Earth gets its name from the blue clay the Sioux called mah-ko-ta found in the banks of the Blue Earth River.

Later we drove to New Ulm, MN, a community rich in German heritage, to see and hear their Glockenspiel which plays for ten minutes every noon, 3pm and 5pm on a set of 37 tuned cast bells.  According to Wikipedia, a glockenspiel is a percussion instrument comprised of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano.  We didn’t see the keyboard, just the outside which is similar to a cuckoo clock with four large clock dials and dancing figures that appear as the hour is struck and the music plays. We enjoyed the 3pm performance so much we went back and heard it again at 5pm.

After the Glockenspiel show we went up the hill overlooking New Ulm to the Hermann Monument.  The legend of Hermann, a freedom fighter and enemy of Roman tyranny, has lived in German folklore since 9 A.D. when his army crushed the advance of the Roman army in Teutoburg Forest.  This 102 foot high Monument was dedicated on September, 1897 and is the second largest copper statue in the US.