We spent the night in an RV near Duluth. We were up late, laughing so hard we cried. I have so much fun when Alex travels with me. At dinner the night before (at an upscale restaurant), he stole an empty toilet paper roll from the bathroom because he could tell by the code on it that it was made at the paper mill he used to work at. He came back from the bathroom and set this toilet paper roll on the table where we were about to eat, and I just about died laughing and advised himnot to do that on dates. He set it on the seat next to him and then forgot to take it when we left, so I can only imagine how confused the waitress was to find that at our table.
Anyway, Sunday started off at Cascade River State Park. Gorgeous, just like the rest!
Then Alex did a hike to the tallest point in Minnesota while I relaxed and read a book.
Then we hiked to Devil’s Kettle Falls. No one knows how deep they are!
There were sooooo many stairs on this hike.
Our next stop was Grand Portage National Monument. At the gift shop, Alex noticed the huge hardback version of Passport to Your National Parks. (A book you can use for collecting stamps.) He asked me why I didn’t have it, since it’s much more serious looking thanthe two little books I carry in my purse. I told him that,by the time I discovered the nicer one, I already had aton of stamps in the little ones. And then the lady working at the gift shop had a great suggestion! She saidI could just make color copies of my stamps and put them in the new book! How had I not thought of that?? The book also has a spot for a sticker next to every park, but she said she knows someone who prints out his favorite picture he takes at each park and uses those instead. I LOVE that idea! It would make the bookso much more personal!
Well, at this point I was gazing longingly at the book, but knew I shouldn’t spend the $25. Alex said, “Do you want it?” And I said, “Yes, but I shouldn’t...” and before I could finish my sentence, he had plunked down his credit card. Best gift ever!! Especially coming fromhim. He’s always telling me how proud he is of me and was my biggest fan during the Pic Your Park Contest.
I was over the moon about my new book, and Alex insisted that I pose with it in front of the sign.
The funny thing was that we picked this particular park for a momentous occasion. This park is all about the fur trade! Something I really didn’t want to hear about! But I did think it was interesting that this spot was the main hub for the fur trade, and the ranger said it was comparable to what the oil industry is today. Like, this remote, most unknown spot way up north used to be a major business center that most of the world knew about.
After Grand Portage, we crossed the border into Canada. We wanted to hike to the High Falls of the Pigeon River, and we heard they were prettier on the Canadian side. This fox was running around the border crossing!
These Falls were breathtaking, and we had the whole place toourselves. Alex proclaimed it to be his favorite waterfall in the U.S. We took a million pictures and got soaked in the spray. You can actually see the spray from pretty far away... I thought it was smoke and asked Alex what was on fire!
(Alex looking like a model, as usual.)
We stayed in Thunder Bay that night, which was not exactly the most scenic town. However, we ate at this restaurant that had sparkling rhubarb lemonade, and that might be the most tasty beverage I have every consumed.
Comments