Day 13 June 30 Minneapolis MN then to Thunder Bay ON

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One more time of picking fresh raspberries in the garden for breakfast.  Patti sighs! She could become VERY used to this!  Then hugs with Randy and we are off, leaving the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  A place that we love, and are glad when we get the chance to visit often.  The skyline is so lovely!

We then began the drive up to northern Minnesota.  As we drove we watched an impressive line of thunderstorms, knowing we were about to drive under it.  From the first spats of water to a deluge falling from the sky took only a couple of minutes.   We have both missed big rain storms.  We almost never see them in San Diego.

We were headed to “The North Shore.”  This is the upper shore of Lake Superior, which is the largest fresh water lake in the world, by surface area.  Although the Lake drive begins only 3 hours drive from Minneapolis, it begins another world, with dramatic rocks and sometimes cliffs, spooky fog, and water…lots of water.  Sometimes we forget that it isn’t the ocean, which we live so close to.  It is as near to the ocean as one can get.  The water temp never generally gets warmer than 40 degrees F, because the lake is so deep.  Much of the day was spent driving along this wonderful shore. The first stop after Duluth MN was a brief pause in Two Harbors to see the first of our lighthouses of the trip. It was a tranquil scene. 

Along the sides of the road here it was like a garden, carpets of wild flowers.  There were so many different colors.  We  especially liked the lupines, daisies, and clover. After another light shower, we stopped to take a closer look.

What we consider “our home lighthouse.”  Split Rock Lighthouse is built on a very dramatic cliff site.  It was built in 1910 after there had been a horrible winter storm on the Lake during which many ships were lost and many men onboard died.  We have been to this lighthouse many times, but still needed to stop, and were delighted that we could get in on one of the docent lead tours.  So fun!  Patti’s Dad had a cousin who was one of the assistant lighthouse keepers there, and so we feel an extra amount of connection.  We had the chance to go up inside quickly, take at least one iconic photos, and then we had to run because a driving rain was again upon us.  Rain!  We remember rain.  Not something we ever have in June in San Diego.  Nice!

Of course we had to make several stops to look down and out across the water.

Much of the drive was overlooking Lake Superior.

We made a stop for a couple of hours late in the afternoon to visit a wonderful place co-managed by the National Park Service and the Ojibwa Native America tribe.  It is called Grand Portage National Historical Site.   This preserves the area and the story of when the local Indian people were in a powerful trading relationship with The French and British.  At one point, this area was the busiest place west of the Appalachian Mountains.  We got to spend a chunk of time talking with a master ranger and interpreter about making canoes out of birch bark.  At the time, he was using a foot-powered wood lathe. He, as well as a number of other park staff were in costumes and did a fine job of making the story of the trading post come alive. 

We were there at the end of their day so we moved on to other buildings, including the great house and the company store.  Dick took the chance to ask the docent there many questions.We knew there were many other things to do and learn there, but we needed to press on.

Our goal for the night was to cross the boarder into Canada, which we did just north of Grand Portage.  We when finally arrived in Thunder Baby Ontario.  It was disappointing to find that although we had made arrangements to be able to use Patti’s cell phone in Canada, there were still some glitches, so we had to rely on old fashioned technology of reading maps and following signs to find our hotel.  How 20^th century!  But, we did it.  You never know when GPS or cell phones will fail you. Luckily we still know how to be old school on this.

We managed to catch a small Canada Day eve fireworks display from our hotel before heading to bed. Great to be here to help celebrate Canadian Independence Day.  So nice to be on holiday!