Minnesota

I'm not sure where the summer went.  It has been quite a while since I updated the blog and I'll try to do better as our 2014 travels wind down.   I'll do a couple brief postings to cover the states we have visited since Michigan.




We drove up the Lake Superior shore, stopping at the Split Rock Lighthouse.  Completed in 1910, it is one of Minnesota's best known landmarks.  This lighthouse is the only lighthouse that continues to rotate on a mercury bearing with a 'grandfather clock' -type mechanism, the same as our lighthouse in Kauai used to have.  We spent quite a bit of time talking with the volunteer guides.

While in Minnesota, we continued our quest to visit all the National Parks.  Our first stop was at Voyageurs National Park in the far northeastern corner of the state.  This park is filled with evidence of over 10,000 years of human life, including Native Americans, fur traders, and homesteaders.  Relics from logging, mining, and commercial fishing are displayed in the visitors' center and recreated historic fort.   

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 While Don played golf one day in Grand Marais, I drove up to Boundary Waters Canoe Area.  Motorize watercraft are banned from this huge area of over 1,000 interconnecting lakes and streams.  Canoes and kayaks rule this world of clear waters and quiet solitude, broken only by the call of loons and other wildlife.   I enjoyed a picnic lunch with a beautiful view of unspoiled wilderness.  I would love to come back and kayak for a few days, stopping in the evenings at one of the rustic resorts found along the waterways.

We continued northwest, with a goal of visiting International Falls as the northern most point of this year's travels.  It was a much smaller city than I expected so we only spent one day there.  Voyager's National Park is close by but the only way to really see this park is by boat and the tour was full the day we were there.  But we collected our park stamp, of course.

Leaving International Falls, we began heading south, with a goal of finding the source of the Mighty Mississippi River.  The River begins as a small stream in Itasca State Park.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day and the park was very busy, with busloads of children from local day camps.  

I can now say that I have waded across the Mississippi River.  And I picked up a small rock that I will keep until we get back to New Orleans someday and I will then throw it back in so it can complete its journey from the source to the mouth of the mighty river.

Our next stop was Minneapolis-St. Paul.  We visited the capitol, our 48th, but unfortunately, it was mostly inaccessible as a major renovation project had just started.  We went to the Mall of the Americas, just to say we did, but were not impressed.  Other that the large amusement park in the middle, it had the same stores as malls all over the country.  It was probably more of an attraction when it first opened.

We visited the historic Mill area, with the iconic "General Mills" tower and Mill Museum.  Beautiful views of the city and the now much wider Mississippi River.  We stayed a couple extra days so we could attend the Minnesota State Fair and we had a good time.

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 Now on to Wisconsin, our last state!