Friday 7/23 - Our first vacation in many years was to Lake Superior's north shore. As luck would have it, that was the hottest week of the summer in Minnesota. When we left home it was about 95 degrees and the same for humidity. I don't think we have ever drank that much pop, or sweated as much as we did that day.  When we got to the Super 8 in Milaca for the night we actually put cool water in the "hot" tub to cool down, that may be a first.  Fortunately we made reservations well in advance, as a number of people in line ahead of us were turned away.

Saturday 7/24 - The next morning we went into Milaca to pick up a few things we forgot and an old gentleman stopped and told us his adventures on an Indian cycle he and his brother had when they were young, apparently we've all gotten softer/spoiled, they used to wrap rope around their tires like chains and ride in the winter.

We were looking forward to getting to Duluth and cooler weather, Duluth was cooler by about 2 degrees.  Of course it will be cooler along the shore. Wrong, aside from a few cool pockets of air, the temp was still at 90 or more even as far north as Grand Marais, MN.

On the way to Grand Marais the only mishap of the trip happened when I was attempting to take a picture and backed into a Harley's hot tailpipe.  Got at least a 2nd degree burn from that, maybe worse.  Anyway, our first aid kit got used along with a bunch of disinfectant and aloe vera.  So ended any thoughts of swimming.

We stayed in a cabin at the Tomteboda Resort at Grand Marais, MN. The cabins were described as rustic and rustic they were. Nothing fancy, but it did keep the rain and mosquito's out.  The Tomteboda was under new ownership and was in the process of being remodeled/rebuilt/refurbished etc.  Should be real nice when they are done.

Sunday 7/25 - We woke up earlier than normal for a Sunday morning. We decided to have breakfast at a little Mom & Pop café called "South of the Border," or the SOB cafe, before going to Grand Portage and Fort William. The breakfast was good and the service even better.

Grand Portage:
We got underway and enjoyed the scenery of trees and lake all the way up. We arrived at Grand Portage, which is just a little hole-in-the-wall town. It is a large indian reservation with an itty bitty business(?) district which is a combination general store, post office, gas station.

We were greeted by an information guide in period costume of the time when Grand Portage was a fur trading hub. The first two weeks of July back around the 1760’s the fur traders would come down from Canada and the merchandisers would come up the Great Lakes and exchange furs and merchandise. It was fascinating to hear why, how and what for from those at the fort telling the story. I was amazed by the class distinction even in the wilderness. One of the things the partners had to vote on was limiting their personal servants to 1 in the wilderness as some would bring 2 or 3 with them. God forbid they would have to paddle or do anything for themselves. The "gentlemen" tried their best to isolate themselves from hardship yet they made it harder on everyone else by doing so. Another thing that struck me was how much the French borrowed from the Indians that made them successful before the English took over. In 1802 the U.S. decided to start taxing the fur trade so the English moved it to Canada to Fort William, where Thunder Bay is now. At that time the fur trade was so big it would be like and IBM today.  Grand Portage photos.

Fort William:
At Fort William the employees dress in period costume and they really play the part, we got bawled out for not bringing furs to trade, "How can you trade with no furs?" They also cooked meals of the period and let us try them if we wanted. Vegetables as we know them didn't exist then they had corn with 2 inch ears, carrots were red, potatoes blue...   Fort William photos.

We had heard how there can be trouble crossing the border and were prepared with proof of ownership of the Gold WIng, insurance, copies of just about everything and anything, but when we went the guards were so lax that it was really a non-event.  We were almost disappointed there weren more questions.

That night back in Grand Marais we ate at Sven & Ole's Pizza, not your typical Italian sounding pizza place, but the pizza was good.  Sven & Ole even have their own brand of beer, brewed by Leinenkugels, the best little brewery in Wisconsin.

Monday 7/26 - In the morning we walked around Grand Marais and visited a number of art galleries and antique shops.  Lunch was at Leng's Fountain, a very authentic looking 50's malt shop with very good burgers and malts.

Lutsen:
In the afternoon we went to Lutsen Mountain, a ski area, took the lift up the mountain and hiked the trails.  The scenery is great, to the west is forest as far as you can see and to the east is Lake Superior.  The hiking trail goes through some pretty thick forest and is rugged in spots, it also twists and is so wild looking my imagination took over and I kept envisioning see a bear around every corner. 

On the way back to Grand Marais we pulled into a wayside rest and ate our supper watching the waves crash into the shore, sometimes getting a little wet from the spray.

Duluth:
Tuesday 7/27 - We ate breakfast at Victoria's Bakehouse & Deli which is an old lakeside house converted to a bakery.  They have a seating area on the front porch with a telescope so customers can watch the ships sail by.  The plan for the day was to ride to Duluth and ride the train, (which is supposed to go by some really good scenery), but we found out it only runs on Saturdays.  Plan B became a ride out onto Canal Park, that was jammed and no traffic was moving, not much fun sitting in the sun in traffic, no breeze, with the heat pouring off the engine.  Onto Plan C, which became visiting the mall in the old Fitger's Brewery.  It was nice to get into the air conditioning.   The Chi-Chi's restaurant there has a great view of Lake Superior and we saw many ships hauling their cargos to and from Duluth.  We got caught in a downpour on the way back to the cabin, which wasn't a total bust, we found out the new Belstaff jackets we bought before the trip were actually rainproof.  We also saw a very vibrantly colored double rainbow over the lake, but it was raining too hard to get a picture.  To this day PJ still complains that I didn't stop for her to get a picture, I wonder if the camera would've survived the deluge.

Gunflint Trail:
Wednesday 7/28 - We rode down the Gunflint Trail which is a slow meandering road, so we got the best gas mileage of the trip, 50 mpg.  We ate at Trail Center which is a restaurant/gas station/general store, a place where you can get just about anything you need.  A storm went through the area a few weeks before our trip and there was a terrific amount of damage to the forest, thousands of trees snapped off like match sticks. 

Lake Itasca:
Thursday 7/29 - was a day of travel, the longest, hottest ride so far.  We went from Grand Marais to Park Rapids to visit Itasca State Park and the Mississippi River's headwaters.

Friday 7/30 - At Itasca State Park we saw Preacher's Grove which is the tallest and oldest pine trees in the state, saw the Mississippi's headwaters and went for a cruise around Lake Itasca on a tour boat.  On the tour boat we saw some kind of hawk diving for fish and some loons, (Minnesota's state bird), with their young out foraging also.   The park is Minnesota's first and finest state park, it also features a lodge, restaurant, gift shop built many years ago from logs taken in the park.  If you'd like to stay in the lodge make your reservations early, they were booked solid while we were there.

Map of the trip.

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