High Falls on the Pigeon River, the reason for the portage that was crucial
to the fur trade in late18th century; 120 feet tall (tallest in Minnesota).
The Pigeon River is the international boundary - U.S. on the left and
Canada on the right.
Canada on the right.
Visitor Center at Grand Portage State Park
Grand Portage National Monument
The photo is not upside down; this is a group of birch bark canoes
hanging from the ceiling.
We continued toward Duluth along the North Shore of Lake Superior to Gooseberry Falls:
Upper Gooseberry Falls
Middle Gooseberry Falls
The person in the photo is a stranger. It was hard to get a shot
without a dozen people in it because it is a popular place.
The person in the photo is a stranger. It was hard to get a shot
without a dozen people in it because it is a popular place.
When we reached Duluth, we headed westward into the interior of the state.
We spent the Labor Day weekend at Itasca State Park at the Mississippi River Headwaters.
We spent the Labor Day weekend at Itasca State Park at the Mississippi River Headwaters.
(We waded across without our children this time.)
Established in 1891, Minnesota's oldest state park
Lake Itasca, Minnesota
Not even knee-deep, but a tad chilly.
You can walk across the Mississippi without getting your feet wet.
looking downstream
Of course, we had to pay a visit to Paul Bunyan and Babe in Bemidji:
signing the extra-large guest book at the Paul Bunyan Visitor Center
inside Paul Bunyan Visitor Center
details of the Fireplace of the States
After leaving Itasca, we stopped at a few of the 10,000 lakes . . .
. . . South Long Lake where my family would visit relatives' lakehouses. My last visit was in 1973.
Mille Lacs Lake from Father Hennepin State Park
A visit with cousins in St. Cloud, Minnesota
Doesn't my 97 year old Auntie Grace look great?
I found gravesites of Olson ancestors at Nordland Cemetery.
My great-grandparents (Oden and Enger) immigrated from Norway in early 1890s.
I found the graves of 3 of their children, too. Lots of Olsons in this
cemetery, but I didn't have my geneology book with me so I was relying
on childhood memories to recognize names.
My great-grandparents (Oden and Enger) immigrated from Norway in early 1890s.
I found the graves of 3 of their children, too. Lots of Olsons in this
cemetery, but I didn't have my geneology book with me so I was relying
on childhood memories to recognize names.
Blue Earth, Minnesota
We enjoyed looking at the Little Sprout memorabilia because we referred to our first-born at "Little Sprout" before she was born.
Then it was a weekend in Minneapolis (city of my birth):
Minnehaha Falls - my family would come here when we were in town to visit my grandparents.
My paternal grandparents' markers after a bit of excavation and clean-up
My mother's high school and . . .
. . . the house she was born in; the porch is enclosed now, but it used to be a screened
porch and my sisters and I would sleep on it (summers, of course!)
We crossed the Mississippi (20th time! I kept track) to St. Paul and went on a guided tour of the state capitol.
views from the rooftop, including the newly re-gilded quadriga
(chariot pulled by four horses)
Looking down the street, you can see the St. Paul Cathedral . . .
We arrived just as the noon bells began to peal with a full range of different tones.
Pieta reproduction
Minneapolis sightseeing:
Mary Tyler Moore
Upper St. Anthony Falls of the Mississippi - source of power for the flour mills
View from the observation deck of the "Flour Tower" at Mill City Museum built in the ruins of . . .
. . . Washburn-Crosby Flour Mill (later became General Mills)- largest flour mill in the world
when it was built in 1880
We walked across the Mississippi (again!) on the Stone Arch Bridge - formerly
a railroad bridge to bring wheat to the mills.
We returned to Houston after 99 days on the road. Because of health issues and surgeries of multiple family members, Kris flew home from Minneapolis and Brian drove the truck home.
Total miles this trip: 17,752
National Park Service sites visited: 40
We always have the next trip tentatively planned in our heads. Next April, we hope to travel a week with our son, Mark, and his family and visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park in west Texas, Carlsbad Caverns NP, and Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. Just as it was with our children, we consider camping and visiting our public lands a part of the education of our grandchildren. Our trip with them to Big Bend National Park last year makes us want to share more adventures. Brian and I continue to learn and understand so much of our nation's history when we visit historic sites, battlefields, and natural landmarks. As teachers, we want our grandchildren to appreciate geography, geology, cultural and natural history as much as we want them to do well in school. There is no better way than to get out there and explore!
Seen while geocaching:
That's a grasshopper on the pitchfork
Hinckley Fire State Monument
"Little Sprout" geocache in a tree behind his giant friend
