Gull Lake

When my oddest daugther graduated from high school, we had family in town.  Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho along with my husband's sister and her family from Utah both drove all the way to visit us.  We are so glad they came to share the experience but also grateful for the opportunity to do some fun things while here in Minnesota.

One of the awesome things we did was spend a few days at Gull Lake.  We are loyal travelers to the North Shore, but had never tried the Brainerd Lakes area so we decided to give something new a try.  The resort was beautiful!

 We are so glad we went.  It was soooo fun and relaxing. 

We arrived to an almost severe storm.  There was extremely heavy rain and it was very cold and oh-so-windy  But we cozied up in the cabin and had fun watching the storm and playing games.

During our stay, we played on the beach.  

Took a midnight star-gazing pontoon ride.

Rode the banana boat, kayaked, and rested.  It was just what we needed after such a crazy-busy end of the school year.

Stone Arch Bridge Bike Ride

My husband and I were helping at a service activity downtown one day, when we spotted them.  What is "Them?"  The green rental bikes you can ride around all over the place.  We decided they were calling our names and to seize the moment.

We started at Boom Island along the Mississippi across the river from downtown.  It is so funny- you can feel like you are very far removed from downtown when you are downtown.  I say this because it led us through parks and dirt trails that felt like the forest.  It eventually led to Nicollet Island, then the Stone Arch Bridge, then downtown and across the Hennepin Bridge to get back to our car at Boom Island.  We have had record breaking rain this year, so the water is very heavy along the locks and it makes a very heavy mist which is not typical for that area.  All in all, I think we went over 5 different bridges.  We had a blast and are so glad we took an impromptu date for the afternoon!

The 4th of July, 5 Lighthouses, 1 Waterfall, and an IPhone

That was the name of our game on the 4th.... a day trip to the North Shore.  I've said it before and I'll say it again-- I have to get there at least once a year, if not more, for my soul to be complete.

First stop was Duluth at Canal Park for a picnic.  I made the wonderful Asian Salad I have posted beneath.  It was easy to take up and full of nutrients for the hiking we wanted to do.

Here we spotted our first 2 lighthouses.

 

And of course, we couldn't sit just anywhere.  Our oldest led us to the "sittable" rocks, as she called them.  She had just come up a few days earlier with her friends who have a bucket list going of things they want to do before they go away to college in the fall.  I think it is pretty cool, and I see the independence surging.  We let her lead the way in Duluth to the perfect, sittable-spot.

We then headed to Gooseberry Falls.  That has some really fun hikes which we've done in the past, but we just wanted to stop for a quick visit so we could save time for everything else.  I dare say the lighting is awful in the photo of my husband and I, but oh well- the memory isn't!

Next was the destination we'd all been waiting for- Split Rock Lighthouse.  We did something a little different this year, and instead of doing the tour and being at the top of the lighthouse, we took the vantage point from below and hiked around in what I call the "lagoon".

I just made that up because that is what it looks like to me.  Actually, a spa-lagoon, because the rocks are hot from soaking in the sun and feels like a hot-rock massage when you lay down.  So I layed down.  Ooh-aah- that'll work out the kinks and knots.  Also, you dip your feet in the water and Holy Shock Effect!  It makes you wonder why there isn't ice still floating around.  That water is frigid to understate it slightly.  And I love the things we find along the shore-- and I think I found an agate.

It was fun to gradually make our way to the light house watching it become bigger and bigger.  

My favorite photos of the day are these.  Gotta love perspective.  My oldest is a midget.  Or is my youngest a giant?  Our little rock tower looks just as big as the lighthouse.

On the way home, we then stopped at Two Harbors.  I have always been in love with this charming red light house.

The clouds started moving in and the light house at the end of the break-away was growing ominous.  Pretty cool.

We drove around Duluth looking for a place to eat dinner.  Suddenly my oldest says "My friends and I broke up into 2 groups when we came up during the week.  The other group ate at this place that doesn't look very nice but it is really good-- I think it is called Duluth Diner."  We looked it up and found it is called Duluth Grill and it has this funky old vibe but is a family diner that does cool things like grow their own veggies in the parking lot, make everything from ketchup to syrup homemade right their; and everything including meat is locally purchased.  It was even on "Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins".  It was delicious and fun.  A perfect end to our day.

We hoped to make it home in time for fireworks, but missed it by about 20 minutes.  Instead we watched fireworks from all over the place from the freeway.

I am glad we just took our phones for photos.  We weren't burdened with worrying about our camera.  It was an awesome 4th of July to remind me why I love this great country.  We had a great celebration with lots of food, family, and freedom, all of which I am profoundly thankful for.