#Travel // Minnesota North Coast // October 2013

The 24 hour period we spent driving north along Minnesota's North Coast, we experienced just how ferocious and beautiful the Lake Superior coast is capable of being. After the sea cliff hike outside of Bayfield, we made our way to Duluth short before the sunset. The ominous darkness spreading over the small city's skies was a fair warning we would be driving into something interesting. 

When I travel abroad, I have a hard time explaining what serious bodies of waters the Great Lakes are, when you hear 'lake' you think of a calm, little body of water good for some causal fishing and recreational water-sports. What most people don't know, and think I'm exaggerating about, is how ferocious these waters can get. Massive swells have actually killed those that undermined the powers of the lakes, especially Superior and Michigan. For the locals who do take them seriously, they prefer the title of 'inland seas' for the Great Lakes. 

While in Duluth, Torsten was able to experience the massive waves that crashed against the sea walls and the strong winds that were nearly blowing us away. Between the rain and harsh, cold wind I had no desire to leave the car, but that didn't stop Torsten from wanting a prime view. As we ventured under the bridge we even saw some crazy dudes with jet-ski's ripping through the waves like a couple maniacs!

After I had enough cold rain being blown into my face, I demanded we get dinner at one of my favorite pizza joints found in Minneapolis and originating in Duluth; Pizza Luce. We parked a few blocks from Superior Street, where all the action happens, then made our way along the saturated sidewalks for some divine, cheesy goodness. I was at the point where I was starving, wet, cold and really not wanting anything other than warm food and somewhere dry to enjoy it. No matter how tight our budget was, taking occasional breaks from sitting in a chilly van and eating sandwiches was a necessity. 

We spent the night in Duluth, where we experienced one of the coldest nights yet in the van. Nights were really starting to get cold, and even the stock-pile of comforters and fleece blankets I stole from home were barely keeping us warm with nothing else to heat ourselves at night. We persevered though, staying at hotels was not even an option.

We woke up seeing our breaths, preparing mentally for how cold the rest of our trip, due north, might be. We bundled up and stopped at the first tourist information booth outside of Duluth we could find. We really had no idea of what the North Coast had to offer, but we only planned a day to explore and knew we'd have no trouble finding something to amuse ourselves with until we hit the border. 

Two Harbors was our first source of entertainment, where an incoming vessel was attracting a large crowd of onlookers as it slowly approached the harbor, Torsten being one of them. I, however, was much more amused by the crowds themselves, with their eyes light up and snapping photos like crazy. This was like a legitimate town event we were experiencing. We spent at least 45 minutes sitting there, watching this ship come in.

I really didn't get it. How is this so exciting? The only con to having an  engineer boyfriend is his admiration for industrial boring-ness that he insists on seeing. Some of it is capable of being cool, but many times it is a whole lot of 'eh'. He claims to only look at the pictures on this blog, so I'm not too worried about insulting him. In his defense, he does join me in wandering art museum for hours, so I really have no complaints! But this? This was boring. 

The honor of being the most popular and must-see attraction on the North Coast goes to Gooseberry Falls. Torsten, myself and other the other tourists alike were impressed by the series of waterfalls and trails within this state park. The well-kept trails led to falls that looked as if they could be part of Mr. Wonka's chocolate factory. We wandered around here for  a while, checking out all the different falls and viewpoints. Even with a large, full parking-lot there was enough trail to cover where we never felt overwhelmed or annoyed with any of the other visitors. This stop was definitely my highlight of the day! Nothing beats a photographic hike, even one this busy and easy. 

After the falls, we pretty much drove straight until the U.S./Canadian border, taking the occasional break along the highway to view the gorgeous coastline. The only other real attraction that might have been worth taking time to visit, would have been the Grand Portage National Monument. Though we wouldn't know, I don't think I need to remind you the bitterness I personally had with the government shutdown affecting our trip! 

The closer we got to the border, the more desolate the coastline became. Undisturbed views of wooded coastline led the way, tempting us to stop just about ever ten miles to take it all in. As dusk approached we knew we still had a long way to drive until we could find somewhere open 24 hours to park our van outside and sleep. We took our last stop to catch the last bits of sun settle on the horizon before digging out our passports. 

Up next, we pass customs into Ontario, Canada, where we felt like the only humans alive!
Catch up with the rest of the road trip by clicking here! 

Cheers!

#TimeTravel // October 2013 // Minneapolis & Major Decisions

At this point in the trip, Torsten and I had made out way through Chicago, Milwaukee and my humble abode in North East Wisconsin. Our trip was, so far, going according to plan. Now I'm not sure if you remember, but in October we were burden with the threat of a government shutdown. Our original route, meticulously planned for months on roadtrippers.com and a Google-drive doc, would being incredibly severed considering we planned to go out west after Minneapolis, where our major destinations were national parks and monuments.

In near perfect timing, we heard all national parks and monuments would officially be closed for an indefinite amount of time. We were in Minneapolis when we heard the news and would decided by the end of the night where our new, and more spontaneous, route would take us. But first, we had one of my all-time favorite cities to run around! We drove in along the river, you know, the big huge one that goes all the way down to the gulf? It's kind of a big deal. Anyway, we marveled the bridges and old mills before rolling the van up into my old hood. 

That's right, Minneapolis was home to my first taste of adult freedom as I spent the first three semesters of my college education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), where only the finest hipsters of the city are born.  We took a quick tour of my old educational institute then crossed the lawn over to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA), a free art museum you could get lost in for hours and not mind one bit.

A few blocks west of MCAD and the MIA is "eat street". South of downtown, along Nicolet Street is basically nothing but an assortment of the most amazing, local restaurants and markets. We stopped at one of my favorite cheap eats, Jasmine Deli, where I had my dearly missed mock duck sandwich and was enjoying it too much to even care what Torsten got. After Lunch we jumped back in the van and drove over to the Walker Sculpture Garden. Within the garden is one of Minneapolis' biggest icons, the spoonbridge and cherry along with a heap of other sculptures that are fun to pose and play around with.

From the sculpture garden we walked across the bridge, through a park and into the downtown. What makes Minneapolis' downtown so unique is how almost every major building is connect through a labyrinth of sky walks. Work in the downtown and you may never have to step outside to bear the elements. ever. I remember the first time I went exploring through them I wasn't really keeping track of my direction and legitimately became lost somewhere in the buildings. I did randomly come across the illustrator behind The Yellow Submarine, Heinz Edelmann, selling prints of his work for charity not even a year before he ended up passing away. I never had much reason to venture into the downtown during my few semesters at MCAD, but when I did there was always an entertaining story afterwards.

This was my first time back in Minneapolis where I could legally drink. So when Torsten asked for suggestions of somewhere nearby we could grab a drink, I really had no idea besides 18+ clubs, which I was very okay with not revisiting.  We found ourselves inside the most pub-like establishment we could find; The Local. We sat and envisioned ourselves with our old Sydney gang hanging out here in true How I Met Your Mother fashion. As we threw back some drinks we discussed our road trip route dilemma and decided that, come the morrow, we would go up and around all the great lakes with little-to-no idea of what exactly our new route would entail. Within the first few hours of our new route we stumbled upon a gorgeous pit-stop. But more on that later.

Cheers!

#TimeTravel // October 2013 // Minnesota Border

After we frolicked around Door County, Torsten and I spent our very first night in the van where encountered the first of a few problems that would challenge the skimpy budget we set. We literally only spent money on gas, food and the occasional attraction entrance fee. Meaning our three biggest concerns involved finding free places to park the van for the night, finding the occasional shower and learning a family of mice would be joining us for our trip.

The next three weeks we spent every night sleeping in the back of the van, most nights we were able to find a nearby 24-hour Walmart or grocery store to bunker down, reassured we at least had an available bathroom. We'd come to find that we weren't the only ones doing so either! In Niagara, New York we saw the most with at least five to ten other, more accommodating, campers parked and spending the night. While I never care to shop at Walmart I have no problem using their parking-lots and depositing my human wastes in their toilets.

Our first night night in the van was after the day in Door County where we woke up early to make the five hour drive over to Minnesota. Between the prior days activities and hours of sitting in a van, there was a stench in the air reminding us that one disadvantage of our plan was the total lack of showers. Fortunately for us there was never a shortage of state parks along the way with cheap day-passes and camper amenities, including clean showers. When those weren't available we made due with baby wipes and once even stopped at a YMCA and signed up for a free week-trial, just to scrub ourselves clean.

As we crossed the border into Minnesota, we initially only meant to stop briefly at our first state park. We went to the first one we spotted, Interstate State Park, on Highway 8, near the St. Croix Falls. After we showered, we noticed some signs for trails and decided after hours of sitting, Minneapolis could wait a few more hours as we hiked along the bluffs. We stretched our legs until it started getting dark, where we hopped back in the van and crossed the border to the most amazing sky-filled, dimpled clouds. It was surreal when we stopped our car and were probably trespassing as we took probably a hundred photos.

The third problem, that never really became resolved until I returned the van to my grandpa, was waking-up after the first night's sleep to find the morning cheese I set aside for myself had been claimed by something even tinier than myself. Throughout our trip we'd hear rustling in the night and find a few other items we'd accidentally left out had been nibbled on or disappeared, including cough drops. The whole bag's contents of drops had actually vanished! We never saw the culprits, though my grandpa invited me a few weeks after the trip to see them after he caught three of our unexpected travel companions.

Next up, we make our way into one the most dearest cities in my heart, Minneapolis.
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Cheers!