#GreatLakeRoadTrip

Oh hey there!

Just thought I'd grace you all with a road trip update.

If you follow my Facebook page you know already that since Chicago we have explored a bit of the Lake Michigan shoreline of Wisconsin, also known as my hood. While meeting my family and visiting my favorite local places, it was around the time we heard word of the possibility of a national shutdown. We pretty much ignored the threat until it became official that it was happening. 

Having made plans for months to drive out west with all the main stops being National Parks and Monuments, we knew if nothing became resolved we would have to change our plans. Fortunately we had a few days planned in Minneapolis before having to make any major decisions, hoping the shutdown would end just in time to be able to continue on as scheduled and see the Badlands, Yellowstone, Rushmore, Arches and whatnots.

No luck.

As of right now we are in Canada. 

We decided to head up north from Minneapolis and make a Great Lakes tour instead. So far there have been some gorgeous surprises along the way with stopping in Bayfield for Applefest and crazy weather going on as we arrived in Duluth. 

It will definitely be a more spontaneous trip than originally planned with going out west, but I have good feelings about what is too come!

Cheers!

#LastHurrah

 [ To add to the nostalgia factor of this post,  play "Good Riddance" or "Friends Forever". Don't be shy, I know you all have them in your iTunes. ]

My days of checking in gleeful tourists for their "full-day sea caves adventure" and nights of drinking local microbrews to Lake Superior's stunning sunsets has officially come to an end. 

The last week was spent having our last hurrahs, packing-up and saying our goodbyes. It was a bittersweet moment as we definitely made the most of our experience, but by the end a lot of us, mostly the guides, were getting worn out with working so much and dealing with our less than ideal living quarters. Don't let my balcony photo fool you, while outside was gorgeous, there is a reason why you've never seen photos from the inside. I think there'd be a unanimous vote that it was probably breaking soooo many codes.

Nonetheless, getting to experience Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands made it all worth it. 

Here's to the trips made, skills learned, goodies consumed, the people watching, wildlife spotting, meteor showers, birthday celebrating, dinners shared, street fights witnessed, spontaneous dips in the lake, games in the park, gin and tonics, weather watching, lightning storms, jamming on the deck, girl talks, live music, surviving captian dave's, star gazing and best of all

....

 getting to know all these cool cats. 

It was a summer of some great and interesting experiences that I will always remember. 

Cheers!

#PaddlingOut

The summer season at the new job is now officially rounding into full swing! These past couple weeks at Living Adventure have been some of the most exciting yet with a plethora of training, trip shadowing and groovy staff hang-outs.

Admittingly, the Bayfield/Apostle Island area is easily one of the most amazing hidden gems (I think Wisconsin, as a whole, is but this especially). I honestly had no idea the Apostle Islands and caves existed until a couple months ago... pretty sad considering I grew up only 5 hours away!

That being said, I've been keeping pretty busy exploring the area, mingling with the locals and learning more about kayaking than I ever could have imagined. I'm working with some seriously cool folks that have some crazy skills and experiences that I am incredibly envious of!

But hey, at least I get to spend the summer soaking-up all their knowledge and testing it out on one the greatest lakes there is! Keep reading/skimming/glancing to check out some of the trips I've been on thus far...

Mainland Sea Caves

They're baaasically the pride and joy of the area and for good reason. 

Paddling out and about these caves is pretty effin' cool. If you're lucky enough to go on a perfectly calm

 day you'll be able to duck in, out, around and through some some pretty stunning sea caves you never 

thought a giant, tandem, sea kayak would fit through. Along with the caves, I can almost guarantee you 

that you'll most likely have some bald eagle spottings. I have a hard time believing they were once 

endangered with how many I have already seen around the area. 

Bark Bay

There's no better way to paddle and experience this level of local wildlife & plant diversity.
This trip is only reserved for taking out folks when the conditions at the sea caves are too rough'n'tough for the newbs that generally make up those trips. It's a pity though since it is still gorgeous, especially if you take a liking to water fowl watching. While I was there, my group was able to paddle past two loons floating on the lake while bald eagles were soaring in the distance and a couple of cranes were chilling on the shore. It was one of those moments you could have stopped and stared for an eternity. 

 Staff Overnight

Getting out to explore the islands is definitely in the stars for me this summer. 

I was lucky enough to be able to tag along the first night of the staff overnight where we camped out on Oak Island and experienced the most incredible sunset. The next day a chunk of us left the others, who continued island hopping, and we checked out a bit of Basswood Island as well. The islands use to be a happening place once upon a time, but now most are in the transition of being kept away from human inhabitation (other than camping). Enough time has passed where getting to see nature take over the left-over relics is both nostalgic and stunning. 

That concludes my trips so far!

As per usual, my instagram is constanly being updated with photos from my trips, days on the Living Adventure base and life in Bayfield. So you should definitely check that our for more frequent activity on my summer happenings! 

Cheers!