Dearly Beloved...

...We have gathered here today to get through this thing called life.

Okay, the Prince quote will make sense at the end of the blog.  I'm sitting at the airport with nothing to do, so I figured I might as well blog about the rest of the trip.  So here it goes...

Our last morning in Voyageurs was spent kayaking on Lake Kabetogama.  We rented a tandem kayak from Northern Lights Resort and we had big plans of kayaking to the Rock Garden, which is a 4-mile kayak ride one-way.  As soon as we saw the water, we knew that wasn't going to happen at all.  It wasn't as windy as the day before, but it was still breezy.  When we got on the water, it was a tough workout.  We spent an hour in the little bay we were in and then called that done.  If you want to see Voyageurs from the water, wait for the National Park tour boats to start up - it's a lot easier that way!  We were one week too early for that.  We kept the day pretty easy after that because we had a long drive to Grand Marais where we were staying for the night.

Kayaking in Lake Kabetogama

Me constantly looking for Bald Eagles - Steve wasn't too mad about my lack of paddling.  ;-)

This needs to go viral.

The next day, we drove to Grand Portage National Monument.  This was a very well-done park!  They had to rebuild the Great Hall because it burned down at one point.  But with the new building, they've transformed it into a really cool museum about the fur trade and what it would have been like at Grand Portage in the 1800's.  Another fun fact about this park is that on a clear day, you can see Isle Royale across Lake Superior.  Had I known that it would have been a shorter (and likely more calm) boat ride from Grand Portage, I probably would have skipped the boat ride we took a few years ago from Michigan since everyone on that boat ride got sick!  We spoke with a couple people at Voyageurs who had been to Isle Royale and they all had similar stories about the lake not being very friendly.

In between the two land masses is an island in the distance - that would be Isle Royale NP

Great Hall at Grand Portage NM

After we finished up at Grand Portage National Monument, we went to Grand Portage State Park which had a pretty quick hike to High Falls - the tallest in Minnesota.  We were pretty impressed with the falls!  They are 100 - 130 feet tall - for some reason they weren't sure exactly how tall.  We continued with more hiking in a different state park to see Cascade Falls and Devil's Kettle.  Devil's Kettle is another waterfall that sits higher than Cascade, and 1/2 of the flow disappears - no one knows where it goes!  This is a pretty steep hike, about a mile one-way, and includes 176 steps.

High Falls

Devil's Kettle

Cascade Falls

Our last park was Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  We did the Grand Tour on the boat which takes you out to Devil's Island (if Lake Superior and the weather cooperate, which it did) and back.  The narration includes fun facts about each of the islands you see on the tour.  The highlight, in my opinion, was Devil's Island - that's where some of the sea caves were and it just provided some fun scenery to look at.

Boat selfie - it was chilly!

Bald Eagle!

Devil's Island Lighthouse and some of the sea caves (the one on the left looks like a skull to me).

More of Devil's Island

Raspberry Island lighthouse

Today was our last day of vacation and since we had to get to the airport, we only had time to grab a quick tour of Paisley Park which is where Prince's recording studio is (and at one point he lived there).  Now the title of the blog should make sense!  Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside, but this was a pretty neat tour.  I expected a lot more purple, but surprisingly there was only a tasteful amount.  We did the cheapest tour, but there is a VIP option which will show you more rooms.  We saw the atrium, Prince's office, rooms dedicated to specific albums/movies, a couple recording studios, and the soundstage.  And that's a wrap for this trip!

Paisley Park

Voyageurs National Park

We've spent yesterday and today in Voyageurs National Park (park #273 for us).  I didn't blog yesterday because I was too tired, but our plans changed a bit this moring making us finish up a little early today, so you get a blog!

Yesterday, we got to Voyageurs right around lunch time, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch near the Ash River Visitor's Center.  After lunch, we immediately hit the trails in the Ash River area.  We started with the Lake Kabetogama Overlook trail which is about four-tenths of a mile round-trip and pretty flat the whole way.  After that trail, we did the Sullivan Bay trail which is about a mile round-trip with a small hill at the end.  The trail ends with a pretty view of Sullivan Bay.  We ended our hikes with the four-tenths of a mile round-trip Beaver Pond Overlook trail, which does have an uphill at the end, but since it's a short trail it's really easy.  This overlooks what used to be a beaver pond, although there are no longer beavers there.  Supposedly, it is a great place to see "large mammals" according to the trail guide, but the trail guide lies.

Our picnic spot in the Ash River area

Lake Kabetogama Overlook

Sullivan's Bay

Swans just sitting around - Beaver Pond Overlook

After our hiking, we got our stamps from the other two Visitor's Centers in the park and then checked into our room at Thunderbird Lodge.  Steve found a brewpub, Loony's, in Ranier, MN that he wanted to go to for dinner.  As we pulled up to the place, I even asked Steve where he was taking me for dinner.  We pulled up to what looked like a run-down house in the middle of nowhere (but apparently a distillery and hotel are being built across the street).  We walk into the brewpub and it is filled with regulars.  I know that because our bartender knew everyone's name.  I would have felt completely out of place (and did at first) until our bartender welcomed us and was super friendly.  Same with one of the brewers who happened to be there!  We had a great conversation with the bartender and the beers were really good!  Don't get your hopes up about a big menu, because it only consists of cheese and crackers or frozen pizza.  Let me tell you something though, frozen pizza hits the spot after a day of hiking!

Beer at Loony's

While Voyageurs does have some decent hiking trails, the real heart of the park is in the water.  Because of that, we had reservations through Northern Lights Resort to rent a kayak today.  However, when we woke up this morning, it was not only chilly (52 degrees), but also windy which was not the best weather for a day of kayaking.  We were talking to one of the owners and she was willing to let us still use the kayak today, but she also said she wasn't comfortable putting us in the water either (the lake was pretty choppy!).  She asked if we'd be willing to kayak tomorrow instead because the weather would be better.  Thankfully that works with our schedule, so we took her up on the offer.  This was why we were able to finish up a little early today.  We were planning to hike in the Rainy Lake area this afternoon anyway, which we still did, but we were able to get it done sooner than anticipated.

When the kayaking plans were moved, we went back to the Beaver Pond overlook to try to find "large mammals."  We still didn't see those mammals, but we saw the same swans as yesterday with their babies and a hummingbird that would disappear from my camera view a half second before I took the picture, and a bald eagle that wouldn't get close enough for my zoom lens to pick up on it.  I would zoom the picture in on the computer, but we didn't bring my laptop on this trip, so I don't have my editing software.  If I remember, I'll add an eagle picture later.

Swans 

Click to open the picture and you may see the bald eagle in the tree

As we were driving out of the Ash River side of the park to get to lunch, we saw a black bear scurry into the woods from the side of the road.  It happened way too fast for us to get the camera ready, but it was a pretty big bear.  At least 6,000 pounds (reminder:  all bears are huge and scary to me, so please note the exaggeration on the size).

After lunch in International Falls, we went to the #1 rated thing to do:  Smokey Bear Park.  They have a 26-foot tall Smokey Bear statue here and that's about all there is to see.  After Smokey, we went to the Tilson Bogtrail, which is a flat trail, about a half-mile round trip on a boardwalk.  We were told there were owls on the trail, but the ranger lied to us.  ;-)

Smokey 

Bogtrail

We ended the afternoon hiking the Oberholtzer Trail which can be longer or shorter depending on what you want to do.  We just hiked to the two overlooks and went back, so it was about a mile round-trip for us.  Our last trail was the Rainy Lake Recreational trail which is paved and relatively flat.  This can be 1.75 miles round-trip, but we only did about half that.  We walked until you can see water and then turned around because there isn't much more to see beyond that point.  Now we are resting up before dinner.  Tomorrow we will hit the water in the park and then head over to Grand Marais as we work our way to Grand Portage National Monument.

One of the overlooks

On the Oberholtzer Trail

We Had an "Oar"-deal!

Another great day for us!  We had reservations with Riverwood Canoe & Kayak for 9:00 this morning.  On our way to Osceola to meet up with Riverwood, we stopped in town to see Cascade Falls that is just off the main road. You can see the falls from the road, but if you want a closer view, you have to take 156 steps down.  You can also continue two-tenths of a mile to get a glimpse of the St. Croix River.  After our short walk this morning, we met up with Andrew from Riverwood (who is very nice!) to be driven to the launch site to start kayaking in the St. Croix Falls National Scenic Riverway.  This was such a relaxing morning!  There weren't many people on the river this morning and the water was like glass along the way.  It was so peaceful and felt like we had the park all to ourselves.  We spent the morning floating along talking about some of our favorite National Park moments.  Along the way, we saw an eagle, an osprey, a heron, and several shy turtles (they'd jump in the water long before we got close to them).  Sadly no pictures of the wildlife since the turtles wouldn't cooperate and we used our Go Pro for pictures today (which doesn't have zoom).

Cascade Falls

St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

Selfie time!

After our kayak trip, we had a 4 hour drive to Itasca State Park.  This is where the Mississippi River headwaters are.  Once you get to the Visitor's Center, it's a very short walk (only 800 feet) to Lake Itasca and the headwaters.  This was a very pretty area and we spent about a half hour walking around and taking pictures.  It's so funny to see how small the headwaters are - it's only 18 feet across!  When you think of the "Mighty Mississippi," a 'stream' isn't what you think!

Lake Itasca is behind the rocks and the Mississippi starts in front of the rocks. 

Standing in the middle of the Mississippi River!

We have an incredible view tonight from our hotel room on Lake Bemidji, where we are enjoying the sound of the lake, watching baby ducks, watching the sunset, and drinking some Hunt Club.  I almost let the view keep me from blogging, so consider yourselves lucky.  :-)

Sunset on Lake Bemidji 

Duckies!

Mighty Mississippi

Today's adventures included some fun with the Mississippi River, more breweries, more card games, and more time with Tyler & Britta!  We started the day by heading to the Science Center to get information and the stamp for Mississippi National River & Recreation Area.  The ranger there recommended we go to Schaar's Bluff to view the Mississippi from an overlook.  We enjoyed a short walk around the park to the overlook and back.

Mississippi River from Schaar's Bluff

After the overlook, we met Tyler & Britta at Minnehaha Falls.  This isn't part of the park system, but it was still cool to see!  There has been recent flooding, so the waterfall and the creek were gushing!

Minnehaha Falls

The group at Minnehaha Falls

Lunch was at Surly Brewing Company

After lunch, we headed over to St. Anthony Falls to get another Mississippi NRRA stamp.  Tyler & Britta got to see first-hand a small park experience with us!  It wasn't too eventful though since the Visitor's Center was small and didn't have magnets or postcards (sorry T.R.!).

St. Anthony's Falls - the flow rate today was 23,000 cubic feet per second (to put in perspective, imagine 23,000 basketballs per second).

After the quick park trip, we headed over to Modist Brewing Company for another round of beers. Tyler was telling us that Modist is his favorite brewery in the state and it was delicious!  We ended up having a few rounds while we played one game of 99 and we taught Tyler and Britta how to play Quarters (another card game).

Beers at Modist

I already said as much in the blog about yesterday, but we had such a fun time catching up with Tyler and meeting his family!  Thanks again Tyler & Britta for a great weekend!  Steve and I are now in our hotel room in St. Croix Falls, WI.  We are headed for a kayak trip down the St. Croix River tomorrow, which is part of St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Llamas, and Whiskey, and Beers, Oh My!

We had THE MOST fun day yesterday!  Vacation started with a surprise from Steve.  On Friday, he stumbled upon Carlson's Llovable Llamas and he knew I would love it, but he didn't tell me what we were doing.  I was so excited once I knew!!  This was so much fun!  We basically had a llama experience.  First we learned the differences between a llama and an alpaca, then we played with baby llamas and their mamas.  Then we got to take a llama for a walk, brush a llama, feed them treats, and learn about the shearing process.  The highlight of the experience was when our guide, Kaylie, caught one of the babies for me to hold!  She was a surprisingly light baby llama given her size, and she was super soft!  I was begging Steve to let it be my therapy llama so I could take it home on the plane with us.  We took Gracie and Holly Cow for a walk around the grounds which was fun except Gracie didn't like the other llama behind us that was following too close.  Gracie spit at that one!  Gracie cut me off towards the end of our walk to grab some grass too.  Apparently she was starving, haha!

Baby llama!!!

Gracie (left) & me

Baby llama's mama - Coco

So freaking cute!!!

Steve holding baby llama (they don't name the baby llamas until the end of their summer season - the 4H kids name them).

Different Mama and baby - this one was the youngest baby (only a few weeks old)

Llama kisses (technically an alpaca though)

Llama kisses for Steve

We went over to Schram Winery & Brewery where our intention was to have lunch but the food truck wasn't set up with enough time for us to do that.  So we enjoyed a wine and beer tasting instead.  Both were really good.  The Maple Brown was one of the best beers I've ever had - it tasted like ice cream!

Schram's beer sampler

Yesterday was National Rose Day, so of course we tried a glass of their semi-sparkling rose!

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we met up with Tyler and his wife, Britta, at their house to ride over to J. Carver Distillery.  Tyler used to work for a company called Vertafore.  The company I work for uses Vertafore products and Tyler was my go-to person when I needed something.  Sadly, he left Vertafore a few months ago, but we have maintained a friendship.  He knew I liked whiskey and one time when he came to Maryland he brought us some of J. Carver's Hunt Club, which is a fantastic beverage.  We went on the tour of the distillery and of course enjoyed a few samples!  We also stopped by Waconia Brewing to grab a quick sampler.

J. Carver Distillery Tour 

Barrel room - I need a Yankee Candle for the smell of this room.  It was heavenly!!

Our samples after the tour

Waconia Brewing sampler

We ended the day with some delicious pulled pork at Tyler and Britta's house followed by an extremely fun game of Oh Hell (card game), it was extremely fun because I won!  Then we taught everyone how to play 99 - another card game.  Sadly, neither Steve or I were victorious in that game.

Intense game of 99!

Tyler & Britta - thank you so much for everything yesterday; we had an absolute blast!  We can't wait for your visit in October!  ;-)  Seriously, make it happen!