Grand Marais, MN

Just in case anyone may be wondering why we don't want to come home yet....

45 degrees here...

It's COLD up here in Northern Minnesota!
We have the flannel shirts, sweaters, jackets and socks out again.

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Meet our new best friend - Samantha. the Nuvi GPS. She's a great addition to my navigating tools. But what I really want you to notice is the number of lakes up here! More than 11,800 of them... Look at all the blue on the screen & that's only showing a small area.

Recognize this picture??? It is the Quintessential travel icon, on the cover of my Great American Road Trip book, the mascot of the American Road, on the National Register of Historic Places, 72 years old. I am so happy to have finally made it here! Bemidji, MN where the Mississippi River begins its long, long course dividing the US into east and west.

So many towns do something to get into the glossy travel information. Virginia, MN has an open pit iron mine overlook with this HUGE piece of mining equipment in the parking lot. Named "King of the Load". Fun for pictures...

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We liked this Black duck in, where else? ... Blackduck, MN.

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I loved the kayak/canoe display in Walker, MN. So colorful!! The entire side of their huge building was covered with watercraft.

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Today we made our way over to Northeastern MN - to Grand Marais. We are in a campground right on the beautiful Lake Superior, within walking distance of the harbor, the gift shops and restaurants of this tiny touristy town. Happy campers...now if it would just warm up a little!

Lake time...

Paul Bunyon and his ox, Babe, are everywhere up here in northern Minnesota. They say that the 10,000 lakes here were formed by their footsteps.

We biked 36 miles today, working off some of the calories of all the cook-outs and beers and margaritas over the last several days.

Gregg's brother Gary & sister-in-law Judy joined us up here for some time with their twin sons and kids, cousins and an aunt. We've been in Crosslake and near Longville at Woman Lake.

Here's a bunch of random pictures of the family & the lakefronts, our pontoon tour, a Little League game...everything it takes for a great place to visit.

Also, click here for a video of The Schindel Follies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tiYDEXojLw

4th of July weekend

We've spent the last 3 beautiful days with Jim & Donna Schelin at their lakefront home on Silver Lake, near Battle Lake, MN.

Here's Gregg, making popcorn with his generator on their pontoon boat...

4th of July parade at Otter Tail Lake, MN. that's Jim in the yellow sunglasses. I loved the lake as a backdrop to a parade!

Here's our view of the shore of Deer Lake as we head out on a pontoon to watch fireworks. Dozens of homes along the shore set off great displays.

We enjoyed the show but the aftermath was fun as well...

We stayed out too long, the battery died, we were stranded on the lake, but the modern miracle of cell phone got a call into shore and a "tow" pontoon on its way to save us. It's not often we are up until midnight anymore...but we survived.

This is a beautiful old flour mill at little Phelps, MN. It was a huge operation in its day, now non-operational, but nicely restored and open for self-directed tours to learn all about the flour milling process.

Rain for our Arizona family and friends...

Here you go - we have plenty of this rain to spare from up here! For sure (as they say here in MN...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24yBWwV1eFk
...............Click here..............

Twin Cities

Showing you where we have traveled so far...
Then next, we plan to drive further north and east in MN, then loop back south and west through Wisconsin.

We've spent the last several days in the St. Paul area, visiting friends and family, experiencing the fun of a Farmers' Market and a Little League game with Patti and John and family with their 8 year old grandson Max getting hits, runs and a spectacular catch at short stop while we sat bundled up for the COOL evening.

Then, life goes on and things happen. Gregg's cousin's 54 year old husband died suddenly this week. We were able to attend a wonderful memorial service today and see lots of family as we all celebrated this courageous man's life. He created a wonderful life while enduring the challenging disease of NF2. We salute you, Bruce Smith, and your courageous wife Nancy and children.

Gregg has a list of things he wants to see and do on this trip. Here's one: Cosetta's Italian Market & Pizzeria in downtown St. Paul, 98 years old and still in the same family with pizza makers that toss and spin the dough in the air.

We biked a few miles one morning to the home of long time friends of Gregg's. Jan served us a fantastic breakfast while John told the stories of his hunts, mostly bow hunting. Upper left on the wall is Caribou with a big velvety rack - a new one on me.

I wish all towns could do what they do here - forget the narrow concrete sidewalks and put in all wide asphalt multi-use trails. We rode miles and miles, to friend's houses, to Sam's Club, to the Verizon store... You can get just about anywhere on a bike in this area.

I just had to stop to get this picture of what I think is a Dandelion has-been. I've heard the Northern Minnesota mosquitoes that we are now headed toward are the size of helicopters. I'm wondering if this dandelion is an indicator of the size of all the MN pests...

Mo' Minnesota

We've just spent a few days at a MN state park north of the Twin Cities on the St Croix River. John & Patti came up to visit, bring Gregg a birthday cake, and take us on a short jaunt over to WI to get cheese curds. Yes, cheese curds, one of the items on our long "must do" list - WI cheese curds!

The St. Croix River that borders MN and WI up here is just beautiful, the water clear and calm. We took a paddle boat ride one afternoon out of Taylors Falls (where there IS no falls to be seen - it's underwater!) We enjoyed a couple of restaurant meals on patios along the river, and spent a leisurely afternoon floating down Wisconsin's Apple River in tubes.