Since last time we went to Grand Marais to camp at Cascade State Park (which might just be the most beautiful place in MN) we remembered how cold it was so I packed plenty of warm clothes. It was in the mid-50's most days, but Sat and Sun were in the high 60's. At night it was down to 40 degrees! We all slept in fleece and had lots of blankets - and I was STILL cold every night. Poor Elle had ice cube hands every morning. But luckily babies dont seem to mind.
We hiked and saw tons of waterfalls every day - we went to Gooseberry Falls, Cascade of course, which has lots and lots of trails and falls, we drove up to Grand Portage to see the tallest waterfall in MN, and the best of all, Caribou falls. We also walked the Artists Walk in Grand Marais, stopped quickly at Temperance State Park and drove to the Palisade something or other which overlooks Lake Superior. We walked the rocks along the Lake and Ryann started a pretty cool rock collection of rocks she found on the shore. Brett and Ryann even stood under a waterfall - until Ryann started screaming because it was so cold.
The most exciting part of our trip was on the way home when our van decided to overheat and blow a head gasket just outside of Duluth. We drove home with oil in the radiator, and coolant and water in the motor. Awesome. By the time we got to Bemidji, we were to the point of having to turn off the van every mile or so, coast as long as we could, sit and wait for it to cool off enough to drive again, and do the same thing for the last 20 miles home. The girls were great (which was strange, since they had already been in the car for more than 5 hours) and as soon as we pulled in the driveway, the entire car shuddered and shut off. Goodbye $800 van! Thanks for a great year!
We had a lot of fun and hopefully we can go again next year. We were going up there every summer (and on our honeymoon in the winter), but missed last summer for some reason. It was really nice to go back. The waterfalls were small this year because of the lack of rain, but it was still gorgeous. If you have never been there you have to go! It is totally worth the drive and has to be the prettiest place in MN....
Brett, Ryann and Chance hiking down by Gooseberry Falls.
Elle and I were trapped on the trail and could only look at the falls. Our backpack carrier was still packed away and we took her down there in the stroller.
Still hiking at Gooseberry Falls.
One of the MANY waterfalls at Cascade State Park where we camped. These waterfalls were about a 1/2 mile walk from our campsite. Its an amazing park!!!
Brett was climbing around on all the rocks and Ryann felt brave enough to try it herself. She whined quite a bit, but she made it out there!!
Brett's new hammock.
Ryann in Grand Marais in front of the Artist's walk. We walked along the rocky shore and Ryann found a bunch of rocks to save in a jar. She was pretty excited about pretty much every rock she saw!
Grand Portage - the tallest waterfall in Minnesota (the other side of the river is Canada, so its barely in MN) The picture of the waterfall on the information board showed that it is usually covering this entire wall, but since there hasn't been much rain this summer it was pretty small.
Our favorite falls - Caribou Falls. The bottom of the falls has a perfectly calm bay that is very shallow, and perfect for wading/swimming in. Brett had to climb the rock wall, of course, and he took Ryann to stand under the falls. We LOVE it here!!!
Me and Elle at Caribou. She did NOT like the cold water so I had to sit with her on the shore the whole time. She insisted on putting rocks in her mouth if I put her down so I had to try to entertain her the entire time.
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