July 2014 - Fourth of July

M and I decided to do go on a somewhat impromptu trip for the Fourth of July.  Thankfully, I have a sister in the hotel business that was able to set us up nicely.  We stayed in Canal Park in Duluth on Thursday, July 3rd and then in Two Harbors on Friday, July 5th.


Once we got there, we went directly to see if there were any ships coming in.  We got lucky and saw one departing right away.  There were so many people there.

We then went up to Enger Tower.  I don't know if I had ever been up there before.  If I had, it was when I was a kid and I don't remember.  It's a beautiful park with a zen garden and a path to Enger Tower where you can climb up it for a gorgeous view of Duluth and beyond.  We walked around the park a bit and explored, taking a narrow wooded path where we were eaten alive by mosquitoes.  It was so bad we had to make our trip quick and turn around of the woods.  

M ringing the gong

Can you see the bridge in between the two trees?

We woke up on Friday, July 4th somewhat early, ate breakfast and got ready for the day.  Both M and I thought it would be funny, yet still patriotic to wear the some of the cheesiest 'Merica t-shirts we could find.  M originally started this a couple of weeks earlier and bought a couple of shirts because he couldn't decide on just one.  I went and bought one the week before and so I was ready too.  We reluctantly put them on and headed out for the day. We got them at Wal-Mart, the best place to find shirts like this, hands down and probably only one of the couple times a year you'll catch me at a Wal-Mart. Yuck.  I had three compliments before I even left the hotel and M had two.  It settled our nerves a little bit about wearing them out and we would seriously have lots of compliments all day long.

I would have bought this shirt had it been in my size.  A raccoon holding a patriotic cupcake with sparklers and a flag in it with a bow in its hair?  Are you kidding me?!?!

We ventured up the North Shore, stopping at Stoney Point.

We continued all the way up to Lichen Lake.  We were just there several weeks earlier but there were campers in the area where we put my dad's ashes.  I assumed since it was Fourth of July weekend there would also be campers there but we decided to take our chances.  The spot was clear when we got there!  

We saw this little guy in the middle of the road so we had to stop and help him across safely before we moved on.  

Butterflies again!  How I love butterflies. These are Silvery Checkerspot butterflies.

In September of 2013, most of us threw pennies into the lake for my dad.  M decided to put lodge his into the bark of a tree.  The first thing I did was go look at the tree to see if it was still there.  It was not but after searching for a minute or two on the ground, I found the penny.  

We drove back and checked into our Two Harbors hotel, rested a little before heading back to Duluth to watch the fireworks from Bayfront Park.  We were worried about finding a place to park so we got there early, close to 7 pm and hung out in the park in our grassy spot listening to the bands play, people watching and walking around to the different food vendors.  We saw multiple people in the park with the same shirt that M had on.  

We had heard big things about the fireworks show in Duluth and were excited. The show was good but I think St. Paul still has them beat, despite Duluth boasting the upper Midwest's largest fireworks show. (Not sure what largest really means.) We stayed around Canal Park walking around and admiring the lit up Aerial Lift Bridge before heading back to Two Harbors.  We had tons of fun in our last-minute trip!

June 2014 - MS 150 Trip

Like we do every June, we went to Duluth and beyond, experiencing the North Shore and everything it has to offer.  Oh yeah, M may have rode his bike 150 miles during this time too.  This would be my first of five trips up north from June to October.

Canal Park:

We stopped at the area along Split Rock River.  There was a bald eagle that was flying around us and came within 20 feet of our heads. 

 

 This is the area of where all the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies were.  There was probably 100 of them and they were circling us.  

 

We drove all the way up to Lichen Lake and the beautiful area around it in the National and State Forests.  It was the first time we were up there in this area in the summer.  We couldn't go to exactly where we spread my dad's ashes because there were campers there.  There were super cute little periwinkle colored butterflies here too.  I've tried identifying them and the best I can come up with a Spring Azure, which I think is correct.   

Saturday, June 7th started out miserable for M and his bike but Sunday would be much better all around.

North Shore Trip #2 Dad's Day

I woke up on Saturday, September 28th before the sun was up.  I got dressed and headed out the door to the beach area where everyone else was staying.  I found a nice rock to sit on and I waited for the sun to rise.  My phone said it was supposed to rise at 7:00 am but I found it coming up closer to 6:57 am.  You have to be precise when it comes to sunrises since they happen so quickly.

There are no effects on these pictures.  SOOC- Straight out of camera (and when I say camera, I mean my phone)

Breakfast was served at our cabin.  Jamie and I made breakfast; scrambled eggs and cheese and bacon and eggs nests, all in a muffin pan.  We also had sausage and a heaping pile of toast.  

We were out the door shortly sometime in the 10 am hour and headed to Lutsen, about 30 miles north. From there, we turned onto the Caribou Trail and headed inland to our destination.  The colors of the leaves were nothing spectacular coming up north and there was still plenty of green but once we went inland a bit, the colors were spectacular.  There was only a few miles were the colors were good before they started to dull a bit the further we went in. 

Ok, these pictures are doctored a little bit but that's how the colors looked to us.

After taking almost and hour to drive 23 miles on the back roads, we arrived at our destination, Lichen Lake. 

So why Lichen Lake?  It was a request of my dad's before he passed away that if we were ever in the area, he wouldn't mind being there. And so a day before what would have been his 59th birthday, we spread some of his ashes there.

Lichen Lake is in a remote area just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the Superior National Forest and within Pat Bayle State Forest.  I know I'm getting a little crazy with the maps, but this is more for family in case you want to know exactly where my dad is.

Exact spot we spread his ashes

In reference to the BWCA, Lichen Lake is closest to the 39th entry point

Let's talk about the weather that day.  The whole weekend was supposed to rain.  It rained a little on Friday and we knew rain was coming sometime after 2 pm on Saturday.  We were there shortly after noon and it was cloudy and very windy and probably around 50+ degrees.

This was our first peek at Lichen Lake.  This isn't where we put his ashes but the first time we were able to see the lake from the road.

We wouldn't drive that much further up the road before we found the spot.

Do you see the heart shape nature makes?

We spread my dad's ashes on the ground by the lake and in the lake.  We had a packet of ashes to share for all of us.  My mom, sister, nephew and myself all spread his ashes around.  My nephew threw Grandpa's ashes towards the lake and into the wind, which in turn, came back directly on his black pants. Watching him furiously try to wipe the ashes from his pants, you can't help to make light of the situation and laugh.

Lichen on the rock

It was a very emotional time for me, as you can imagine.  I wished everything would have been storybook; a sunny day, no wind, a bear and a moose watching across the lake but instead clouds, chilly and the onset of rain.  Despite this, it was perfect.

A sad Dana and a loving Michael

We each had a penny that we threw in the lake in honor of my dad.  The penny thing is an inside joke and my dad would have appreciated our gesture.

M decided to put the penny in the tree around the lichen

My mom wanted a nice flat rock with lichen on it.  M found her the perfect one and with the addition of some branches with lichen on it, it makes for a nice tribute to my dad on my mom's coffee table at home.

As soon as we were done, we got into the car and it started to rain.  Things really did work out perfectly. We drove back a different way through the back roads to the Gunflint Trail and came out in Grand Marais. It was raining pretty good and we didn't really get a chance to explore.  We went to Ben Franklin, the Trading Post and drove back the 43 miles back to the cabin.  

It was supposed to be raining the entire night but instead, it started to clear and even started to get a little sunny again.  We had another fire on the shore and let a sky lantern go in honor of my dad and his birthday.

The night sky was clear and we saw multiple planets, many satellites and the Milky Way in the sky.  M and I were the last by the fire again.

We woke up to a bright, sunny day.  It's always hard to leave one of the most beautiful places in the world but we packed up and were on the road at 9 am. 

Later in the day, M and I took a motorcycle ride to the cemetery to say Happy Birthday to my dad.  Upon arrival, we saw two deer right by his grave.  We tried to get a little closer which scared them and realized there were seven deer right at my dad's grave.  I think they were having a party for him.

I told my sister of the deer.  She was only 10 minutes away so when she got there, she saw some of them back in the area too.  These pictures are from her. 

It was a happy family weekend with sadness mixed in.  I WISH my dad was here to have been with all of us on Lake Superior.  At least he was in spirit.  I love you, Dad.