Northern MN Vacation Day 6 & 7

A very cold day in Duluth kept us from touring around very long downtown by Canal Park. We did go to the Lake Superior Maritime Vistor's Center. This museum has exhibits that demonstrate the history and operations of upper Great Lakes commercial shipping and the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth. A very cold day in Duluth kept us from touring around very long downtown by Canal Park. We did go to the Lake Superior Maritime Vistor's Center. This museum has exhibits that demonstrate the history and operations of upper Great Lakes commercial shipping and the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth.

Talya and Grandma in front of the Aerial Lift Bridge

Because of the cold weather we decided to go to the Great Lakes Aquarium there in Duluth. Talya had a blast seeing all the Maritime animals.

Playing in a canoe at the Great Lakes Aquarium.

Catching fish in their arms.

We then drove down to Minneapolis and spent the night. We stopped by the St. Paul Temple first. The following morning we woke up at headed to Como Zoo. It was a crazy day at the zoo with lots of kids there on field trips.

Como Zoo

What a great trip to Northern Minnesota! We are so glad that Grandpa and Grandma Bracken could come join us. It made our trip to much more fun.

Northern MN Vacation Day 5

Today's plans consisted of more sight-seeing and hiking. Our final destination for the evening was driving south along the North Shore to Duluth, MN (about 110 miles). Of course, we had more cloudy skies and rain throughout the day but we kept going.

It appears from all our pictures that we never changed our clothes the entire trip because we are always wearing the same jackets! The weather was too cold to take our coats off.

Just outside Thompsonite Beach Inn & Suites. Lake Superior behind us. Notice Talya in this picture?

And Talya in this picture...

and this picture...?

A great picture with Grandpa and Grandma!

A view of our little cabin.

We actually saw a real wolf on our drive near Lutsen, MN. It was a momma with a baby cub.

Grandma teaching Talya how to tie her shoes.

We stopped at Tettegouche State Park for another hike to the high falls. This is where we took an extra long hike through the mud and rain because we didn't know there was a shorter route. It was really pretty though and crossing a small wobbly bridge over the raging river was quite a thrill.

One of the most well known and famous spots on the North Shore is Split Rock Lighthouse. It was SO cold during this part of the day but we jumped out and took some pictures. The fog was quite thick so we couldn't see the lighthouse as good as we wanted but still quite beautiful.

HUGE waves rolling in.

I guess this is why the place we stopped was pebble stone beach.

After the lighthouse stop, Talya fell asleep so Grandpa, Colten and myself stopped at the next state park with awesome waterfalls while Grandma volunteered to stay in the car with the sleeping girl.

Gooseberry Falls State Park.

We finally made it to Duluth that evening. We stayed at the Edgewater Resort which was a great price for a small indoor water park and nice big rooms. We played in the water that evening and then watch the sad news of the big tornado that hit Moore, OK on the news that night.

I felt like I was on a cruise with this awesome towel elephant welcoming us.

Don't mind the gut... Remember I'm pregnant. (Wished I always had that excuse.)

Northern MN Vacation Day 3 & 4

Day 3 of our vacation started off with a trip to the International Wolf Center.

 

Talya and Daddy making their best attempt at a wolf howl.

Where's Talya?

From there we headed further east to the North Shore of Minnesota's Lake Superior. The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, MN to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The shore is characterized by alternating rocky cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with rolling hills and ridges covered in boreal forest inland from the lake, through which scenic rivers and waterfalls descend as they flow to Lake Superior. We hit the shore about mid-way up and headed north. The rain didn't stop us from taking our first hike at Cascade River State Park to see our first of many waterfalls.



We then headed up to our lodging for the next couple of nights. We stayed at Thompsonite Beach Inn & Suites just south of Grand Marais. We walked out to the shore to take a look at Lake Superior. Unfortunately our whole trip consisted of rainy and foggy days so we never really got a great look at the lake but could still tell it was beautiful.

 

DAY 4

One of the general entries into the Boundary Waters is a road just northwest of where we spent the night, called Gunflint Trail. We thought this was going to be our best chance to see a wild moose or wolf. We came away striking out and not seeing either.

A short hike to a moose viewing area  (No moose there)

Raining again!

Look at her face! :)



 

Closest thing to a wolf was several tracks.

And Moose tracks too.

"U have a better chance of seeing Santa Clause than a Moose :)"

 

We headed further north on the shore to Grand Portage State Park which is right on the US/Canada border and took a nice/rainy hike to see the Grand Portage High Falls. These are the highest falls in the state of Minnesota.

We all brought our passports so we headed into Canada... just to say we've been there! We drove about 5 miles in and then turned around and headed back. The US border patrol asked us how long we'd been in Canada and we said, "About ten minutes." :)