Saturday 9-22 What a Wonderful Day!!!

Awesome Day!!!

We woke up to a cold windy morning. It was in the 50s but the wind made it feel much colder. I was happy we had power and ran the small heaters.

Where do I start? Our first stop was only a half mile up the road at the Canadian border at Grand Portage State Park, it is also a rest area. It had two sets of falls, Upper Falls, which was only a mile round trip and the other one was five miles. We decided on Upper Falls. We climbed a few stairs and saw Minnesota's tallest fall, about 130 feet. One side of the falls is in the U.S. and the other side is in Canada. There are multiple viewing areas where you get magnificent views of the falls. It was an easy hike.

Grand Portage State Park Upper Falls

The next stop was at the Grand Portage National Monument and Heritage Center. We have been here before but it was fun to revisit it. We walked through a great museum that showed displays and talked about the history of the Ojibwe people and the North West Trading Company. Then we watched a 19 minute movie about the history of the Ojibwe people trading goods with others. After the movie we walked around the Grand Portage National Monument. It had reproductions of the original buildings used by the North West Trading Company, they traded with the Voyageurs (French for travelers) and the Ojibwe people. The park workers were dressed in the clothing worn in the era. We walked through a workshop where the Birchbark Canoes were made, some were up to 38 feet long. The Voyageurs used the canoes because they could go 60 to 80 miles a day and on foot they could only go 15 to 20 miles. They learned how to make the canoes from the Ojibwe people. We walked by the Three Sister Garden, a Ojibwe Village and the Trading Post. We walked through the Great Hall, where there were displays of furs, hats and clothing that was worn in that era. We walked through the kitchen, where a lady was baking. The stove was actually outside. The North West Trading Company used this trading post until the U.S. and Canada realigned the border and the post was now in the US. The North West Trading Company was Canadian and relocated to Montreal. We walked on the dock that was used by the Voyageurs. We had a great time walking around the monument. When we returned to the Minnie we had lunch.

Welcome sign

Grand Portage National Monument and Heritage Center

North West Company Trading Post

Some of the fir that was traded

An example of the Birchbark Canoe

As we were leaving Grand Portage we saw the casino was having a car show. Earlier we saw a few old cars coming from Canada going down the road. We thought they probably were going to a show. We stopped by and walked around looking at the cars. It was a very nice car show and most of the cars were from Canada.

One of the cars in the Grand Portage Car Show

Larry checking out a Austin Mini truck at the car show

Our drive up the coastline of Lake Superior was complete so it was time to turn around and head back down to Duluth.

A few days ago we went by Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, the visitor center wasn't open so we couldn't tour the lighthouse. We had toured it years ago so we were not too disappointed. Today is Saturday and we knew it might be busy but we decided to take a chance. We drove in the park and it was swamped, there was no parking and people were parked on the curbs. Larry did a U turn and we left.

While driving to Duluth we drove through a couple of tunnels.

Larry wanted to stop in Duluth and look at the Lift Bridge, it raises up to allow the huge ships into the port. Duluth has turned the entire area into a trendy shopping area and it was packed with people. There was no place to park the Minnie or a car. We saw the bridge from a far and we also saw the lighthouse from the street.

One of the tunnels we drove through

Bridge from Duluth to Superior Wisconsin

We left Duluth and went across the river via a huge bridge to Superior Wisconsin. We went to the local Walmart and did a little grocery shopping along with buying a rotisserie chicken for dinner. This was the first chicken we have had during this trip. It was delicious.

We thought about moving over to the Menard's (like a Home Depot) for the night but decided to stay where we were. We had a terrific day!