5/26-6/30/2017

I am posting these without pictures.  Most of the pictures have been posted on Facebook previously. I will work on adding the pictures when we return home.

We are in Mantorville, MN for 10 days.  Lots of family time and hopefully see some old time friends too. We are 2 miles from Barb's sister's house, so that will be handy.  We drove here from Iowa City in 4 hours, got set up and waited for folks to get home from work.  Sue & Brad drove over and we had dinner at the Hubble House...walking distance away.

So for the next week, we spent time with family.  It is Memorial Day weekend, so everyone is off. We drove to Red Wing, put some flowers on Barb's parent's grave and then spent a few hours at the Harbor Bar with some friends...known some of these folks since the late 1960's...50 years. We also got everyone together in Red Wing on Monday...15 at lunch is quite a group.

We spent some time with my brother Jonathan & Lynn.  He had been working on their house and it was good to see the progress.  Fixing up a 60 year old house has its special problems but progress is happening.  The next morning we were off to pick up our grandson Tyler & his gal Emily at the airport and then we went to Target Field & watched a Twins/Astros game with Paul, Stacey & Grace...great seats, Paul. Houston won 17-6...not a boring game.  Then it was back to the airport to pick up our daughter Lisa & Kaylee, and back to Kasson-Mantorville HS for an awards presentation for the Class of 2017...Alyssa got 5 different scholarships...nice.

The next morning, we were off to Minneapolis/St Paul again.  First stop was the Capitol in St Paul, then a stop at our friends Whitey & Deb then another trip to the airport, this time to pick up our son Mark.  We stopped to get something to eat and then it was back to the camper...another long day. The next 4 days surrounded the preparations for a party, going to the graduation and having a party for Alyssa...with lots of family & friends around..lots happening.  We are glad we made the trip.

The next morning, we were off to the Duluth area.  We drove through Wisconsin on the way, 2 lanes the whole way.  We got to Superior, WI about 2 pm and got set up in the Northland RV Park before driving into town to check it out.  Ate dinner at a marina in Duluth at Barker's Island then back to the RV.  The next morning, we start out for Grand Marais on the north shore of Lake Superior.  We made lots of stops along the way, being the good tourists we are.  We got to Grand Marais about 7 pm, put our stuff in the room and opened the windows for some cool air...no a/c.  Then we went to find some dinner, found a cool roof-top bar (Gun Flint Bar) overlooking the bay...pretty spot.  We sat there and watched the moon rise over the lake...fun evening.

The next morning, we drove further north to Grand Portage, Mn., where we caught a boat ride to Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, which is also a National Park.  We spent the next 4-5 hours touring, by foot, the largest island in the largest lake in North America.  Then we took the boat back to Grand Portage.  It was a fun day, something neither of us had done before, even though both of us grew up in Minnesota.  Then we made the drive back to Duluth where we met up with Matt Sadowski, Barb's sister Linda's grandson, who couldn't be at Alyssa's graduation.  We had a nice dinner on the roof of a restaurant (Granny's) overlooking Duluth's iconic Lift Bridge...cool spot.  The next day we went driving to the area near the Apostle Islands near Ashland, WI.  We spent most of the day in & out of State Parks, and other locations near the water.  We had never toured that area either.  So we got to see a pretty big portion of the area from Ashland, Wi to Grand Portage, Minn., probably 2/5 of Lake Superior's shoreline... some of it new, some of it old, but beautiful anyway.

The next morning, we are on the move again, this time on our way to International Falls, Minnesota, home to beautiful Rainy Lake, Voyagers National Park, and Rainy River which starts at Rainy Lake and flows to Lake of the Woods, where other rivers take the water to The Hudson Bay on its way to the Arctic Ocean.  We asked where the Falls were, and two local fisherman looked at me like I was asking for a non-existent fishing license before starting to laugh...there are no Falls...I did find this: In the late 1800 the village was known as Koochiching Falls, which is an Ojibwa word meaning "mist over the water". There was once a 35 foot waterfall, which was where Rainy River met Rainy Lake and the waterfalls carried a mist-like rain in the air.  So that is still a mystery, but we tried.

We spent 2 days exploring the area, which included a stop at the Sha-Sha Resort on the tip of an island in Rainy Lake and another spot far east out of Intl. Falls at a place on Kabetogama Lake...yep, we checked it all out.  We even took pictures with the giant Smokey the Bear...moving on.

The next morning, we got hooked up and made our way into Canada.  Mounties were real nice, just wanted to make sure we had no firearms, or pets.  East on Canada 11 to Thunder Bay, another first time visit.  We have a place reserved at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park (a peninsula from Ontario extending into Lake Superior) which actually put us pretty close to the north end of Isle Royale.  But we got set up and enjoyed that we were there, it has been a bumpy day and a long day too.  It was trying to rain, mosquitoes were out, so we just enjoyed our home on wheels.  

The next morning was pretty so we are sightseeing...1st stop is Thunder Bay Lookout...9K up a bumpy road, but what a spot. A cantilevered lookout high above Lake Superior with a great view of Thunder Bay across the Bay. Then we went north to Ouimet (we-met) Canyon and a 2k walk to see a very cool canyon.  Then it was a quest to get a picture of Sleeping Giant (which we managed) from a marina at water's edge. Then it was off to Kakabeka Falls which was gorgeous, and a quest to get back to Thunder Bay Lookout to get a sunset picture.  On the way, we came across a park/memorial dedicated to Terry Fox who tried to cross Canada on foot with one leg to raise money for cancer research...his quest ended in Thunder Bay in 1981 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox  We stopped at the Terry Fox memorial and just barely made it to the sunset...it has been an amazing day.

The next morning we are again moving east and following Can 11 to Can 17 and following Lake Superior's shoreline.  The roads up there take a beating in the winter, can't imagine what it must be like east of Lake Superior.  We arrived at White River Provincial Park...it is actually pretty full.  We walked down by the lake and decided the skeeters wanted to be there more than we did, so we went inside and stayed there.  The next morning, we drove to Pukaskwa National Park, which was basically a hiking area.  Then we went to Pebble Beach in Marathon...strange looking west at Lake Superior, never seen it that way.  We picked up a tomato & went back and had BLT's...moving day.

We are headed south now, Pancake Bay our destination. We will be just north of Sault Ste Marie, on a beautiful bay on southeastern Lake Superior.  It has been a cool experience to see so much of north America's largest freshwater lake...like my sister Ann has said, there is a reason they call it Superior, amen!!  But our arrival is delayed by the numerous times we stopped along the way for picture opportunities galore. But we made it, to be greeted my those hungry skeeters again, so we were not that disappointed that the clouds were going to keep me from getting a good sunset over Lake Superior once again...guess I'll have to settle for the Gulf of Mexico when we return to Florida.  We took a ride to Sault Ste Marie with a few stops along the way, a few rain clouds and the sight of a freighter passing through the locks from the Canadian side...it is interesting seeing things from the other side.  We are headed east again tomorrow, so we went back and relaxed a bit...moving on.

The drive across Central Ontario is pretty straightforward, it is just a huge place.  We left at 730 am, stopped for fuel in Sault Ste Marie and spent the next 6 hours navigating our way to North Bay.  We are camping near Lake Nippissing, which, excluding the Great Lakes, is the 3rd largest lake entirely in Ontario (Nipigon & Suel are larger).  There are 4 other big lakes but they share area with either other Provinces or the USA.  So it is near the top.  The point I am trying to make is all of the fresh water everywhere we go in Canada, they have a big chore keeping it all clean. They seem to be doing a fair job, great to see. We arrive mid afternoon and get set up, while fighting off hummingbird sized skeeters and a few raindrops.  Our friends who call North Bay home, Bruce & Danika, stopped by and we made plans to see the Armed Forces Day events, which include demonstrations by the Sky-Hawks & Snowbirds, two elite teams of Canada's Military.  So we moved downtown and sat overlooking the field while we are entertained by their precision maneuvers...great stuff. Then we went for pizza & spent the evening with Bruce & Danica. Next day was a tour of the military base in town where Bruce spent a good many years and then wings at Moose Cookhouse...a very nice way to end a weekend.  It was a very enjoyable visit, but time to move on.

Monday morning, 3+ hours south, we drive thru Toronto and around the west end of Lake Ontario and back into the US near Niagara Falls and end up at Four-Mile Creek State Park on the south shore of Lake Ontario, about 37 miles across the lake from Toronto.  We were able to see Toronto several times, especially at sunset.  We spent 3 nights at 4 mile creek SP with visits to Niagara Falls in the day and from the Canada side at night. We also drove south to see Stephen Kowalski and his family and had lunch, then back to the Falls at night...what a sight.  I also tried to understand the tail lights blowing fuses issue and made an attempt to make repairs.  We then made a trek across NY to Lansing NY and a night with our friends Bud & Helen.  Good to see them again. Bud helped me get the light issue fixed for good too. The next day, we followed Bud & Helen & their daughter to Augusta, NJ, where we will spend 3 nights with a lot of friends & 2 days of great Rock & Roll at the Rock, Ribs & Ridges Music Festival.  We had a great time, lots of friends including Seppo & Mari from Finland & Kingsley from England were there, along with a slew of friends from cruises. and 3 other couples from our Alaska Adventure in 2014.  And great entertainment by Farmer Phil Band, The Steppin Stones, Kentucky Headhunters, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker Band, Stolen Rhodes, Molly Hatchett, The Outlaws & Blackberry Smoke.  What a great weekend...like to do that more often.

Monday, we are on the road again, headed back north.  First stop in Plattsburgh, NY on the shores of Lake Champlain in northern NY.  Our friends Mike & Cindy Lou live there so we got to have dinner with them.  We did some exploring too, and we had a fun time, good friends in a new environment for us. We drove south of town to the Ausable Chasm, we asked to go look at it.  A young lady showed us the way and away we went.  When we decided to go back to the car, they had locked a gate and gone home...lol.  We found another way out, but it is just an added adventure to our summer.  Then on the way back to town, we stopped at a place called Dana's Rusty Anchor...waiters refused to wait on us for some reason...back to town.  It was a very puzzling hour...lol. But Mike & Cindy seemed to enjoy our company, that's all that really mattered.  The next morning, we are off to Montreal and the first of 19 days back in Canada.  We fueled up at the last exit in the US and it wasn't long and we were back in Canada.  

The camp ground I had made a reservation at did not have us on the books but found a place for us...then we had to go find a bank and get Canadian money, as they took neither credit cards or US money...seems like we have had a rough stretch of non-cooperation we need to get over, but we will. We stayed in and waited out some rain and made arrangements to go to town the next day.  After a half-hour car ride, we took a mostly empty boat ride across the St Lawrence River and walked into Montreal the next morning. Lunch with a horrible waiter and later tickets for a Hop-on Hop-off bus along a lot of the same streets I walked when we were here sometime around 2003 for a rewards trip for Barb.  We walked back down to the river and took a boat ride on the St Lawrence River.  Then we walked back to the boat which gave us a ride back to the car.  The next morning, we went to take the same boat back across the river only to discover that it was not running.  So we went & found a parking place and took the subway into town, found the bus and got on for a loop around the city, in the rain. 

One of the highlights of the bus ride was a stop at St Joseph's Oratory, a minor Basilica on Westmount Summit.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph%27s_Oratory  It was quite a challenge to climb to the sanctuary, but the escalators were a welcome assistant.  We marveled at the friendly city and the beauty of the place versus when we were there about 15 years earlier.  They are preparing for the Canada Day celebration of 150 years...it is an interesting time to be in Montreal. We took the train back to our car and found our way back to the area near our camper.  We stopped and had a great dinner in Candiac and then back to the camper.  We both are tired of the rain.  It is the end of the month, July will find us moving east and new places to visit.  Stay tuned for more.

Steve & Barb Larson