Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Up North

It would have been a sin for us to travel for a year without exploring at least some of our home states Minnesota and Wisconsin. With that in mind we charted a trip north, dusted off the tent and hit the road.



Our first stop was a place near and dear to Danielle's heart. Theatre L'homme Dieu resides in the lake community of Alexandria, MN. A vision that her grandpa had & then implemented in the fifties would be a place where Danielle made great memories the summer after graduating from college.



After finally dragging Danielle out of the theatre we headed north and found a great campground just south of Lake Itasca State Park. The pouring rain must have kept everyone else from coming out because we had the small state forest campground to ourselves. We were able to put our kayaks in right at the site and spent the next two days paddling around the small undeveloped lake. While on the water we got to see an array of wildlife including a pair of loons and nesting bald eagles. We spent our one year anniversary at the campground sipping champagne while the loons serenaded us with their beautiful calls.


The next two days were almost identical except for the champagne. This time it was called Owens Lake north of Grand Rapids in the George Washington State Forest. Two more glorious days spent paddling the many inlets while we listened to our new favorite bird. We left Minnesota and drove along the northern coast of Wisconsin to the city of Bayfield where we had a date with one of our favorite bands.


Trampled by Turtles and Pert Near Sandstone were playing just outside of town at a large circus-like bigtop tent called Chautauqua. The venue had a great old fashion and laid back vibe and the surrounding views of the green rolling hills falling toward the Lake Superior were amazing. We made fast friends with a group of fans passing around whiskey soaked cherries and visited until the wee hours at our campfire after the show with a rambling man that had a glimmer in his eye who reminded us both of author Jack Kerouac.



We had yet another lakeside campsite too only this time the body of water was a bit larger. We even had a large black furry visitor at our site that must have smelt our delicious cooking. We spent two days getting back home going through Hayward and then Black River Falls to visit friends. The drive down giving us more places we promised ourselves to return. There may be too many mosquitos and ticks and the weather at times too muggy but to stay out of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin for these reasons is to miss unparalleled scenic beauty, bountiful wildlife and really friendly people.

1 comment:

  1. You are so right! The pictures bucolic, serene and dreamy. places we still need to visit...

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