August 21st - 23rd, Grand Portage MN and Thunder Bay Ontario

Wednesday - Friday, August 21 - August 22, Grand Portage, Minnesota

Wednesday

Driving today towards Minnesota we were on Highway 2 most of the way through Wisconsin.   As we passed through Superior WI and Duluth MN we were on the North Shore Scenic Drive (Hwy 61). Both paths are part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour.  You can tell the summer is waning down seeing the jelly roll bales of hay dotting the fields we pass and the purple fire-weed flowers are finishing up with the final blooms opening up at the top of the stalks.  Coming into Duluth we spot the aerial lift 

bridge that is the iconic land mark of the town and you can tell it is a port city.  Boats, barges, cranes, and lots of rail lines make up the landscape which also has lots of industrial harbor front businesses and sheet metal buildings lining the shoreline.  Iron ore pellets are one of the top commodities being processed and shipped out of Duluth.  Sign of the times:  as we have traveled this summer I have been surprised at the number of  "Culvers" restaurants that we have seen.  Especially in smaller more remote towns that you would not expect like Two Harbors MN and Manistique MI.  I speculate that maybe their business model and franchise fees are more in line with small town enterprises/entrepreneurs. 

The Northern Minnesota landscape and roadside features tell some of the story of the people and industry found here.  Logging trucks full and empty are spotted quite frequently and roadside shops have displays of wood carvings for sale, many of them quite large.  Another thing I noticed are signs for  "Wild Rice" for sale.  At first I thought I misread the prices.  Wild Rice is Expensive!!  I saw signs ranging from $11.99-15.99/lb.  WOW!! One gentlemen here said it is delicious and the Duluth Grill makes the best wild rice burger around especially for vegetarians.  We may have to check it out when we head south from here in a couple of days. 

The North Shore Drive was very beautiful and there are many great vistas and large roadside pullouts to stop and OOH and AAH over the Lake Superior magnificence.  As the largest freshwater lake in the world containing about 10% of the world's freshwater, it is deserving of wonder.  Many rivers and creeks flow from the Sawtooth Mountains down to Lake Superior and there were a couple of tunnels like the Silver Creek Cliffs Tunnel that had been blasted through the basalt rocks to put in the roadway.  Many great Minnesota State Parks are along Hwy-61, which also borders the Superior National Forest, and are well worth a stop.  Three of the largest that we stopped at are incorporated with beautiful, modern restrooms and conveniences.  The also allowed FREE two hour parking to allow you to take in the interpretive displays and exhibits and walk some of the trails to enjoy the natural beauty and in several cases the waterfalls.  What a logical/ingenious way to get more people "Into the Parks" to appreciate the beauty. 

At Gooseberry State Park (the most visited state park in MN) the paved trail to the falls was a great stop to stretch our legs being about half way from the Apostle Islands to Grand Portage.  Split Rock Lighthouse State Park charges admission ($10) to tour the lighthouse, a restored Keeper's Cottage and grounds.  Guides relayed some  history of the lake, life as a Lighthouse Keeper and shipwrecks (almost 30 in 1905), hence the need for the lighthouse.  I thought it was interesting and one of the best restorations of a lighthouse keeper's residence that I have seen, with re-enactment 

volunteers throughout, including some cooking in the wood stove.  Because of the remote location and work involved in manually getting the lamp oil and supplies up the 100-ft cliff, three keepers were employed at all times.  Each family had their own 1600 ft² home and storage shed and all had indoor plumbing circa 1910!!  The sweeping views out over Lake Superior were a bonus.  Noel and Karen hiked to another waterfall in Tettegouche State Park while we proceeded on to Grand Marais.  There was a Napa Auto Parts there and we wanted to get the RV battery load tested since this morning the motor on our large slide out seemed to be laboring.  All checked out OK and I picked up a few things at the IGA across the street.  Keeping our fingers crossed that all functions properly in Grand Portage. 

Grand Portage Casino Campground overlooks the Grand Portage Marina and Big Lake (Gitchi Gumee) with full hook-ups.  Our site looked out over Lake Superior.  Only issue is the goose poop!  Had to use the doggie refuse bags to clean up some so we did not have to be watchful with every step.  We are close to the local casino (walking distance) and get free use of the pool and hot tub at the casino!  How could we pass that up?  So after checking out the rib special (very tasty), Karen, Tony and I used the hot tub and facilities while Noel checked out the slot machines.  One must not waste the $10 free play for signing up for a players card that we needed to get the restaurant discount.  We have it all figured out!

Thursday - Well today our original plans had us going to Isle Royal National Park in Michigan.  There is daily charter service to the Island which is only about 2 hours from here versus 6-8 Hours from Michigan.  I really messed up by not investigating this more fully before we departed for the summer.  It seems that this is a really popular day trip and you need reservations about 2 months in advance.  Who Knew!  We found this out last week and have been checking daily since then but to no avail.  We could go wait at the dock to see if there are any cancellations (it happens, but rarely they say); and like Tony noted if I paid $75 for a round trip for the day I would make sure to be there.  Online checking, phone calls and even a personal stop today resulted in the same answer.  "Full", make reservations 2 months in advance in the summer.  So on to the alternate plans.

Grand Portage National Monument is really close and it is free so off we went early in the morning.  Over two hours later we were impressed with the collaborative effort of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians and the National Park Service.  This is one of the best displays, movies and set up of interpretative buildings we have ever seen.  The park volunteers (including some 5th wheel RV full timers) doing the re- enactments, along with the 

collections and displays were quite impressive.  We learned about the history of the Ojibwe Indians, the Northwest Trading Company, French Voyageurs, and why the area is called Grand Portage.  The early traders paddled over 1400 miles from Montreal to this area then because of the falls on the Pigeon River had to traverse or "portage" 8.5 miles inland with their goods (spices, beads, feathers, tools, alcohol etc.) and back again with furs to go back to Montreal, and onto Europe.  You can still walk "The Grand Portage" today and it is still rough, rustic and hilly, so no we did not go there.  I really enjoyed talking with the volunteers about their preparation and volunteer efforts with the National Parks Service.  Volunteers for re-enactments do a lot of prep and study.

Then off to Grand Portage State Park.  From this park you can walk a 1-mile loop to the High Falls (highest waterfall in Minnesota, 100+ft.) of the Pigeon River (dividing line between US and Canada) and see why the portage was necessary.  At the visitor center/rest area they had a very neat video showing the falls through a whole season.  Some of the recordings were only a few days apart but depending on temperatures, snowfall and snow-melt, the appearance of the falls was often dramatic.  After a relaxing afternoon at camp we headed back to the casino for the prime rib special.  At only 11.99 is was a good deal and a fun break from cooking in the camper.  We requested our same server, and had plenty to eat with enough leftovers for dinner the next night.  Back at camp we enjoyed another game night with Noel and Karen.  Most nights we play either cribbage, mah-jongg, aggravation, or a the latest card came they bought - Karma.  Generally we play girls against the guys and most of the time are pretty even but the last few nights the girls have had the edge. 

Friday August 23

Just for fun we headed to Canada today, destination Thunder Bay.  Hwy-61 continues as part of the Lake Superior Circle tour route though it does skirt inland a bit.  There was half dozen cars waiting to cross at the Pigeon River Border crossing but it did not take too long.  Thunder Bay is a much larger City (100,000+) than I expected but quite clean.  Having had our fill of waterfalls lately we headed right to the city where we planned to get lunch.  I had heard about a great butcher that smokes their own meats and has great daily lunch specials, The Commissary and Deli.  It is a third generation family owned business, still smack dab on a corner in a decidedly middle class, blue collar, working neighborhood.  The houses were small but the streets and yards were neat and clean.  The business was also very small but the scents from the smoker and the stacks of sausages and kielbasa in the display cases were amazing.  We forgot to get a picture of those.  I sampled the garlic kielbasa and bought a ring.  They were out of smoked pork chops and as we were on the tail end of lunch time they only had two servings of the daily soup, kapusta (sauerkraut soup), remaining.  I bought some soup, along with the kielbasa and some stuffed cabbage.  The workers made sure everything was properly labeled and identified so I could take it across the border.  This was not their first encounter with tourists I gathered.  I think the cramped size, limited selection (i.e. sausage only), and lack of seating (a couple of outdoor picnic tables only), was not as enticing as we had hoped so we sought out another venue.

Hoito, a restaurant in the Finnish section of town, also came highly recommended although by now everyone was beginning to doubt my sources.  This small quaint restaurant feels like going to dinner in the basement of some local church.  But they served all day breakfast (always a hit with Tony), had Finnish pancakes (not quite as thin as crepes), and was clean and not too busy.  Come to find out Thunder Bay has the largest population of Finnish people outside of Finland with Hancock 

and Houghton in the Upper Peninsula close behind.  The food was delicious and portions quite hearty.  I opted for the summer Finnish pancakes with fruit and whipped cream since I had already eaten my Kapusta, while everyone else got breakfast of some sort for lunch.  They had several other local favorites like kalakeifto (fish stew) on the menu and a s'mores pancake for dessert but we were too full for that.  Hoito had their 100th anniversary last year and one of the oldest co-op restaurants in Canada.  They even sell the Canada Finnish Weekly newspaper in the restaurant.  When we came out of the restaurant Tony was having a conversation with the parking enforcement officer.  Somehow we all missed the meters which were set by the buildings and not the curb, when we parked.  Luckily we had out of country plates and got off with just a warning since they don't usually ticket tourists.  Whew, lucky one there. 

Thunder Bay port area was our next destination.  We made sure to read the signs for the public parking lots before we parked this time!!  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon with gentle breezes, to walk along the waterfront at Prince Arthur's Landing.  We had picked up the Public Art Walking Tour Guide at the visitor center as we crossed the border.  There were sculpted panels representing the Ahnisnabae Culture (the name the Ojibwe call themselves), stylized water droplets, steel sculptures reflecting 

the waterfront/voyageurs history, and a concrete/water feature representing the areas resources of trees and water, among others.  The one we really wanted to see was the 10 stone "balloon animals" but for some reason it was removed.  There were several barges and motor boats and sail boats cruising the bay area.  As a bonus we got to see a crane working to bring in a 28-ft pleasure craft that had run aground on the rock break wall last night around 11 pm.  One of the locals attested that "Captain Morgan" must have been driving.  Originally we had planned to do a walking architecture tour in part of the city also (there are four) but faced with an hour drive back and knowing we have to pack up to leave tomorrow we opted to skip that. 

A short nap, a bit of cleaning, leftovers for dinner, another soak in the casino hot tub while watching what we think was an eagle with babies in a nest, some reading, and that rounded out our evening.  Probably will need the heater again tonight as temps dipped to the upper 40's last night.