Faribault

On Friday we moved to Camp Faribo in Faribault, MN anxious to visit with dear friends Ken and Kay Heiskari.  We visited, ate, played Canasta, walked in a nature preserve and had an all around good time.

Ken & Kay with Mary

Straight River

Prairie Tepee

Goldenrod

Pinch Berry

Forest Daisy

Shattuck School in Faribault

On Saturday we spent some quality time with Mary's cousin Bob Woodfill and his wife Sharon.  They live near by in Lakeville and joined us for dinner at the Winnebago.

Sharon, Bob & Mary Relaxing

St Croix State Park

On Tuesday we packed up the Winnebago and headed for St Croix State Park.  Old friends from Iowa, Neil and Leah Boyd, joined us for our time in the park.  We rode our bikes to Clayton Lake for a picnic, toured the park and visited the Northwest Fur Company post in Pine City.

Leah and Mary on Bike Trail

Neil on Bike Trail

Jack at CCC Camp Site

Picnic in Shelter at Clayton Lake

Kettle River Rapids

Thursday we drove to Pine City to visit the Northwest Fur Company a recreated wintering site on the Snake River.  This site has been recreated to resemble the site as it was in 1804.

Longhouse at the NWC Site

Bee on a Thistle

Baking Bannock Bread

Winnowing Wild Rice

Neil Modeling Hat

Neil & Leah at Wigwam

We left the park on Friday morning in the rain and moved home to Faribault, MN for a few days.

Final Days at Twin Lakes

We got back to Twin Lakes just after noon on Saturday and spent the afternoon getting settled in and relaxing.  After a fine dinner of NoName steaks and a nice bottle of Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon it was time for a hot sauna.

Sunday was very cool and windy.  Don and I went to the Iron Mining museum in Chisholm to purchase something Mary wanted.  While there we had a look around.  Iron mining sure has left its impact on this area.  We could also see the transitions that took place over the years in mining equipment.

One of the First Ore Trucks

Then they got Bigger

And Bigger - This one is from the 1970s

Tim Matvey, my sister's son, currently drives a ore hauler and he told us he could walk under his.  So, they are still getting bigger.

Duluth Mesabi & Iron Range RR Ore Car

We also saw one of the first buses used by the company that became Greyhound Bus Lines.

Early Greyhound Bus

Interior of Bus

It is only fitting that they also have a log Finnish Sauna on site.

Finnish Log Sauna

Now its time to pack the Winnebago for our journey home.

Grand Marais

We stayed the night at the municipal RV park in Grand Marais, MN.  They have over three hundred campsites with full hookups on most of them.  We were near the water on a nice roomy site.

Don and I drove to Judge CR Magney State Park and did a little brook trout fishing.  The hike in to the Brule river was difficult but we were rewarded with a half a dozen nice brook trout.

Don Fishing the Brule

Don with Brook Trout

The fog rolled in on Saturday morning providing some interesting photography.

Fishermen in Fog

Sailboat in Fog

Foggy Harbor

Rock Art in Fog

As we worked our way to the lighthouse the fog began to lift and was almost gone when we returned to the car.

Grand Marais Lighthouse

Sailboat and Lighthouse

Spider Web

We said goodbye to Grand Marais at 9:30 am and started working our way back to Twin Lakes.  Our adventure around Lake Superior came to an end when we turned west at Silver Bay and drove the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway back home.

Grand Portage

Just a short drive from Thunder Bay is the border and Grand Portage.  Grand Portage has a reconstructed Northwest Company fur trading post and is located at the lake end of the nine mile long portage that the voyageurs had to carry to reach the inland lakes.

We happened to visit on the first day of a three day major reenactment including filming of the voyageur landing.  They expected 300 participants all dressed in period costume.

Main Buildings of Grand Portage

Encampment

Voyageurs Arriving

Voyageurs Landing

Residents Greeting Voyageurs

Unloading Goods

Carrying the Partner Ashore

Ojibway Mother & Baby

Pelts

Kitchen Fire

Water Buckets

Smoking Whitefish

In the early 1800s there were over 2000 Voyageurs roaming the north woods buying furs from the Indian trappers.  We enjoyed our visit and wished we could have stayed for the weekend.

Fort William & Thunder Bay

We settled in to our KOA around noon, had some lunch and headed out for a visit to Fort William, a recreation of the old Northwest Fur Company post from 1812.  The fort is very well done with an authentic recreation along with very knowledgeable people in period costumes.  They did reenactments every hour demonstrating life at the fort in 1812.

Fort William

Guard House

Voyageurs Arriving at Fort

Firing Canon

Barnyard

Carpenter Shop

Working the Lathe

Building a Birch bark Canoe

Today we return to the USA via Grand Portage with Grand Marais as our destination.