Kids, Lakes, Loons and Pines

Snapshots from Cuyuna

It is the season of summer adventure here in Northern Minnesota. Last week I went on a quick escape to Cuyuna to go mountain biking.

Although there are no actual mountains in Minnesota, there are a lot of new single-track mountain bike trails that have been developed as restoration projects at abandoned mine pits.

We had a lot of fun and only had one small setback (a pinch flat that we resolved quickly with some help from a local bike shop)

Our accommodations at True North Base Camp were great! We will definitely be going back.

Around Here...

Around Here....

We spent a weekend car camping at a family reunion gathering in the Duluth area.    It was fun to get together with cousins and family members we do not get to see that often.   We also had our first dip of the year in the big lake (Lake Superior), which was a very refreshing way to beat the heat.

.....and after a couple days away we came home to this:
.....plenty of garden goodness to keep me busy tomorrow morning!

 .......

This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

Snapshots from our camping trip in Voyageur's National Park

I am just settling back at home after a weeklong camping trip with the kids in Voyager's National Park.  In the middle of the winter, I made a reservation for 7 nights on Burnt Island on Sandpoint Lake hoping to time the experience with good weather and ripe blueberries.  We lucked out with both and our experience camping on an island for a week was amazing.  Enjoy these snapshots from our trip and be delighted by the beauty and bounty of this beautiful area of Northern Minnesota:

 

What an adventure!

Snapshots From the Wild West

Our family has just returned from a family adventure out west.  As soon as school was out we loaded up our camper trailer and went on the road, following the path of a route that we has planned over our long winter.

Our travels took us to the following places:

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Dakota

Medora, South Dakota 

Medicine Rocks State Park, Montana

Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming

Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota

Custer State Park, South Dakota

Wind Caves National Park, South Dakota

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

This was an amazing family adventure!

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*We saved a lot of money this year with the National Park Service Every Kid in a Park Fourth Grade Pass.  Our fourth grader was at the perfect age for this trip and was really able to take a lot in from the learning associated with our adventures at the Visitor Centers and programming.   Throughout our trip our kids participated and extended their experiences with the Junior Ranger activities at the National Parks we visited as well.  I highly recommend taking advantage of these opportunities if you are planning travels to U.S. National Parks.

**If you have any questions about our trip, post them in the comments, I will do my best to respond.

North Shore Weekend

We started our summer by exploring the south shore of Lake Superior and we culminated our summer break with a weekend in Grand Marais, MN enjoying the North Shore.  .  We were able to relax, explore and get away together for one last hurrah before we start transitioning to going back to school We hope to get out on a few more adventures this fall, but with school and sports our travels are likely to slow down a bit.   It has been a wonderful summer, spending lots of time making memories with the kids and enjoying time out doors exploring new and familiar places.

Last Day - Michigan Vacation

The night of our family vacation was spent at a harbor town a little closer to home - Duluth, MN.  We pushed through Wisconsin on a day that the heat reached close to 90 degrees.  We were going to stay in Ashland, Wisconsin, but the idea of spending an afternoon in the camper with hot and crabby kids did not sound like our cup of tea - so drove on and found a place to stay on Park Point in Duluth.  We were tourists in Canal Park with a different perspective watching ships going under the ariel lift bridge that could have been in other harbor towns on our trip.  

All in all we had a wonderful vacation!  

Michigan Vacation - Sleeping Bear Dunes::Traverse City::Petoskey State Park

 

 

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Devil's Hole

Traverse City

Exploring Charlevoix

Petoskey State Park

Postcards from Michigan

Mackinaw Bridge

Lake Huron

Our campsite at Platte River Campground - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Dune Climb - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Platte River leading into Lake Michigan

Postcards from Michigan & Canada

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the South shore of Lake Superior.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - Hurricane River Campground

Canadian Bush Plane Museum - Canada

Soo Locks, Sault Ste. Marie

 

Postcards from Michigan

Greetings from Michigan!  

Sending you some snapshots of this beautiful area that we are exploring on our family vacation.

Photos above were taken on a boat tour of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and from the shoreline of our campsite.