Northern Exposure

 My person has lived in a lot of different places: Texas, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Minnesota, and now, Illinois.  (I may be missing a state or two; he really adventured for awhile.) He has always talked almost reverently about Minnesota and I thought that was nice but didn't really get it.  I pictured Minnesota to be like Illinois; flat, prairie grassland but with a lot more lakes involved.  I was so very wrong and am so happy to tell you that since returning from Minnesota, I am also speaking reverently!

We drove through Wisconsin (green, green, farmland, repeat) and headed to the northeastern part of Minnesota.  Crossing into Minnesota itself was dramatic as you take a bridge over Lake Superior and think "my God, that is a lot of water.", because, my God, that is a lot of water! From there you enter the city of Duluth which is small and manageable and has tall hills and lake views from everywhere.  Traveling with my person's small person, we had to throw some nine year old entertainment in and we stopped at the Duluth Aquarium.  It was small, but fascinating as a mostly fresh-water aquarium.  We beat the rush, the small person was mostly happy, and we left along the North Shore to drive towards Grand Marais.

Our next stop was to be Betty's Pies right past Two Harbors, MN.  The small person's mom had filled all of our heads with the knowledge of decadent pie from this small diner that was directly on our path.  I am not a huge pie person, but I couldn't wait for this pie.  At one point, the small person was having some sort of episode in the back seat which led my person to threaten not stopping for pie.  I took a deep breath and whispered "Please, don't take pie from me."  Because he loves me and because he didn't want to push his luck, we stopped for pie. The place was PACKED with all sorts of people who had to have pie.  We waited 20 minutes for pie.  Was it worth it?  OMG!  Yes!  It was the best piece of pie I have ever had and if I lived close by, I would eat pie there every single week until I died fat and happy.

French Silk Pie.  I ate all of it.

In addition to 10,000 lakes, Minnesota has about 10,000 waterfalls too and we stopped at Gooseberry Falls after the pie consumption.  It was nice, but very accessible so it was jampacked with people. I find areas that everyone can go to filled with people who don't know what to do with nature.  The sign there said "Swimming discouraged" and I was discouraged to see the water packed with people who cannot read signs.  They were slow on the small trail, didn't know to move over when they were slow, and were also found to try and climb the rock walls to jump into the water they shouldn't be swimming in.  I hated all of them and was positive it was the same people who were trying to climb Devil's Tower and scratching off pieces of rock from Mt. Rushmore when I was there.  I realize I am a terrible nature snob, but you don't have to destroy nature to enjoy it.

Moving on with my person and his small person who had had enough of nature as a self-avowed "inside kid", we made it to Grand Marais and walked along the boardwalk and saw Artist's Point. It was gorgeous!  Craggy, rocky, coastal, filled with seagulls and humans. With the forest behind us and the wide expanse of lake in front of us, I felt small and insignificant and awed.  I love that feeling.

Craggy, rocky, coastal.

The next day was the very best day of our trip.  We went fishing and canoeing with friends in the Boundary Waters.  We pretty much drove almost to Canada and made a left and took a gravel road for a long time and then stopped.  We saw two people at the boat launch and didn't see another human the rest of the day.  Just our two canoes and so much water and forest and more water.  I have canoed before, but I have never canoed over two lakes and back.  Bald eagles swooped overhead, fished jumped in the water, and while I know bears lurked in the forest, we didn't see any.  My person exclaimed "I AM SO HAPPY!" and my heart swooped and smiled.  We paddled and floated and fished.  I cast my line out 50 times and caught one tiny fish and a bunch of weeds.  I also got it stuck on a branch.  My person caught a fish, his small person caught a fish, and I caught weeds.  Until, on my 51st cast, I got a fish!  A giant fish!  I reeled it in and did a fair bit of exclaiming as I did so.  I was very excited!  I hadn't caught a fish since I was 8 years old and only remember it by the picture of me in a Miss Piggy T-shirt and sun visor holding a fish.  I CAUGHT A GIANT FISH!  I PADDLED ACROSS TWO LAKES TO CATCH A GIANT FISH!!  (note: please don't ask me how big it was, I didn't measure it, I just know it was giant) I was exhilarated and exhausted and so very alive.  It is usually hiking mountains that gives me this rush but now I know it is just being in nature, pushing myself to do hard things in nature, that gives me this rush.  I will admit to it turning more so to exhaustion by the time we paddled back, cleaned fish, and loaded canoes.  The small person was running amok and driving me insane and when it was suggested that I go check out the river, I believe my reply was "I've seen a lot of water today."

Pulled ashore for some lunch and a bushwhack of a hike.

We hiked, we saw some more waterfalls not congested with people, and we visited with friends.  The inside kid ran around like an outside kid chasing other outdoor kids.   We drank beer and ate the fish we caught.  It was the very best fish I have ever eaten in my life.  Ever.  

We didn't get to do everything we had planned on doing, no death-trap Alpine slide for example, but we did leave our hotel every day by 8am and not get back until 8pm or later.  We fell into bed tired, woke up kind of sore, and went back out to do it again.  It was, as far as vacations go, an amazing one.  I did wish my kids were there many times, but that is a wish I have almost every day anyway.  

I cannot wait to go back to Minnesota one day.  I want to paddle more, fish more, and I want to camp.  I want to do more hikes.  I want to feel exhilarated and exhausted and content. I want to see my person's eyes light up and his whole face smile as exclaims "I AM SO HAPPY".  And, I really need another piece of that pie.