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