Category: By the Shores of Gitche Gumee

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to….”

J.R.R. Tolkien

After a very long dry spell, and the cancellation of several adventures, we are setting out again on the road.

The spring and summer have been spent more or less quietly at home base, Henry building and tinkering, and me reading and tending garden, both of us getting vaccinated and dreaming about the end of the pandemic quagmire.

Henry replaced the roof on the house (with only a little help from a local crew)….

Raider got to go shopping for building supplies at Lowe’s.

We also laid out an ambitious vegetable garden.

The harvest was pretty good, especially early on…… favorite crops were tomatoes (nothing better than home-grown), eggplant (a small but perfect size), gorgeous watermelon radishes (most delicious pickled) and zucchini (easily grown to outrageous size).

The round-the-world happy trip we were scheduled to take in October was cancelled, so we have decided to venture out for further exploration of our very own continent.

The target is Lake Superior….. called Gitche Gumee in some native American languages, also known as the shining Big Sea Water in Longfellow’s poem “Song of Hiawatha”. The ostensible purpose is to explore the lake’s north shore and do some rock-hounding – seeking out agates, a stone for which Henry has a great fondness.

Our last road trip was in 2019, so many preparations were required. Travel bedding had to be aired out (when was the last time you used a clothesline?)

Equipment, including the canoe, ATV, trailer and powered parachute, had to be tuned up.

Customized arrangements had to be made for Raider. Here he is enjoying his new sleeping compartment in the trailer, and aboard the wonderful side car that Henry built so he can join us on ATV rides.

Quite a fortunate canine!

We finally got everything together for a September 22 departure, a magnificent first day of fall…….. celebrated with a firecracker sendoff!

We headed north, stopping in Longview, TX, for lunch with Henry’s daughter Holly, who was lucky enough to receive a generous supply of okra and one of the outsized zucchini gourds, just in time for her autumn decor.

Henry also made a special platform for Raider so he can ride comfortably in the truck, with a fine view of the passing countryside.

Weary from the last few days’ preparations, we did not make it too far….. pressing into Arkansas and stopping for the night in Arkadelphia.

It is always astonishing what you can see and experience in some of the most apparently unlikely places as you travel across the country. Afraid that we were too late to find a suitable dining establishment, we stumbled across Harvey’s fairy-light-festooned food trailer next to the freeway exit. We enjoyed excellent fried catfish along with a spirited conversation with Harvey himself.

Arkadelphia was hosting participants in the venerable Cannonball antique motorcycle rally that night, and we had an interesting visit with one of the participants. (Strangely, the next overnight stop on their route is our own Nacogdoches!)

Will press on north, invigorated at the prospect of adventures to come. Please stay tuned!

We trudged across Arkansas….. stopping one night at the Ozark National Forest to camp and sample the nearby ATV area. A very challenging trail really gave Raider a workout!

Raider came through unscathed…. but one of the 4-wheeler tires was damaged and would have to be replaced down the road. (One fact that is reinforced time and again on these trips is that the more cool stuff you have, the more repairs and maintenance are necessary. Thank goodness that Henry is a master fixer!)

Missouri was almost a blur. Chillicothe is a nifty little town that boasts a number of murals by local artists. It is also the birthplace of…… drum roll…….. sliced bread!

They are justifiably proud – since sliced bread is the baseline standard for all things that are great!

The other connection with this town is that my mom went to Chillicothe Business School in the late 1930s, early 1940s to learn secretarial skills.

The sad story is that her most fervent wish had been to go to a 4-year college. Alas, her family’s resources and the limitations of the Great Depression meant that only the male sibling in her family got that opportunity. Fortunately, she married well and managed to do a lot of fantastic things, without the burden of too much formal education!

We raced from there to the small town of Allison, Iowa, which became our home for the next four days. Why Allison? Well, they have a lovely little grass airstrip, smack dab in the middle of corn fields that stretch away in all directions.

We pulled up the trailer near the few tiny and largely unused hangers on the field.

Here is the view from the door of the trailer…..

Speaking of the trailer, I know that some of you may not be familiar with the sanitary arrangements…… Small as the space is, we do have a shower stall and a composting toilet.

(Obviously, the toilet is moved out when showers are taken.)

It’s also possible to help fertilize the nearby field by digging a hole in the soil for direct deposit of waste material (in a peaceful setting among graceful green corn stalks.)

We had perfect conditions one day to fly over the town and surrounding area for a couple of hours, then Henry practiced take-offs and landings. Here’s Allison from the air:

The town of Allison has about 900 residents, some of whom dropped by to visit with us. One of them, a retiree who raises and trains bird dogs, uses the field and his handy John Deere buggy to exercise his charges.

We spent a day going to nearby Waterloo to get new tires for the 4-wheeler, and also to visit the home and museum of John Deere tractors. (Two classic Deere “Poppin’ Johnnies” are in Henry’s garage at home.)

Never thought about tractors being sexy, but apparently they have their appeal, witness this ad from the 50s….

We reluctantly bid farewell to Allison to head further north through Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota, the western-most point of Lake Superior! From there, we will head east along the north shore……

From Iowa and into Minnesota, we bid farewell to the Corn Belt, appropriately enough in Rochester, where a giant water tower in the shape of an ear of this versatile vegetable dominates the skyline.

(Rochester is also home to the famous Mayo Clinic, although it is doubtful there is a connection.)

We skirted the westernmost point of Lake Superior in Duluth and headed up the North Shore. Henry was so excited about starting to find agates that we had to turn out at the first lakefront access point we came to…..

Sadly, no agates to be found.

On to Beaver Bay and a rock shop of good repute.

Henry had brought along some Franklinite, a fluorescent mineral that is mostly found in New Jersey, of all places. He and the Beaver Bay Agate shop proprietor danced a little pas de deux and negotiated a trade – Franklinite for some raw agates. (Which is not at all the same thing as finding them oneself on a beach or riverbank.)

We thought we were being clever, planning our trip to arrive well after Labor Day to avoid crowds. We were sadly mistaken. Lots of people were still out on the road, so we had to take absolutely the last camping spot available at Gooseberry Falls. It was quite pleasant and almost eerily quiet nonetheless.

At this point, it’s the weekend…. and we were lucky to secure a pet-friendly motel room (the last one!) in Grand Marais for a couple of nights so we could get the lay of the land. Grand Marais is situated at roughly the half-way point of the Minnesota North Shore, so a good home base.

Speaking of pet-friendly….. you probably noticed that Henry built a number of accommodations for Raider for this trip, including the elevated back-seat perch in the truck that allows him (Raider) to see out of all the windows. It is, unfortunately, a bit of a challenge to load…….

It might take some time, but we hope to streamline this routine…..

Just some pretty pictures to share.

Yes, the fall foliage has emerged, not in vast expanses of vivid and contrasting colors, but in isolated pockets….

And lots of trees with shimmering leaves… aspen and birch? Such a wonderful sight, yet so common here.

Never thought I would find a stink bug appealing, but this guy was a standout on the lakefront, perhaps also looking desperately for agates without the slightest luck….

A shrub laden with berries, a “common” toadstool, a bright wildflower and a brown gull winging away….

And a happy mammal on the beach!

Resources are where you find them.

Faced with the likelihood of acquiring many pounds of agates and other treasures on the lakeshore, Henry realized he didn’t have an appropriate vessel for the collecting process. So he went dumpster-diving.

Although slightly embarrassed, I am also quite relieved that this “find” obviated the need for a trip to the Evil Empire, aka Walmart!

After a number of forays to lakefront, gravel pits, creekbeds and parking lots, here are “the keepers” we have found so far…….

Please wish us luck….. for Henry that he finds some great rocks, and for me that Henry finds some great rocks…..

Grand Marais, Minnesota, is a small tourist town with a population of about 1,400…… with motels, cabins and lodges for the outdoors enthusiasts who are drawn to the hiking, fishing and lake activities in the area.

The local Dairy Queen has an outdoor fire pit – much easier to enjoy one’s Blizzard when one’s toes are warm.

No trip for us is complete without a visit to the local thrift store – concerned about the increasingly cold weather to come, Henry and I each got a cast-off jacket, average cost about $16 each; Raider got a brand-new coat that set us back $47!

Of course, we are still in America, full of the die-hard faithful. This fellow roamed around town periodically, with no one paying the slightest attention.

Instead, folks (mostly old folks) were rocking out to a band (also well-seasoned) that was playing along the harbor.

(This is the end of the season. Younger people, with the exception of the random grandchild, were no doubt in school or at work.)

Another local character built, over a few years, a fabulous work of art promoting world peace, called Harmony on 61 (61 being the highway that runs along the north shore). An agglomeration of driftwood, stone and “found” items, it runs several hundred feet along the highway in front of his home (seen here from the air)……

An astounding and creative installation, with woodland creatures, human relics and stone cairns carefully arranged together.

Most people love it or detest it. We are among the admirers.

One more post is to come from our time in Grand Marais…. aerial shots from flights in the powered parachute.

Time is such a wondrous gift.

How many people carefully plan a vacation, picking out just the right hotel, scheduling around the best weather, reserving the most desirable activities, etc. – only to be foiled by circumstances beyond their control – a transit strike, Covid shutdown, an unseasonable storm, a family emergency. And what they had hoped and planned for is largely lost.

How lucky we are to have the time to wait out obstacles that may be placed in our way. Weather was not so good in Grand Marais upon our arrival, and we just managed to secure a rare pet-friendly motel room. We spent the next couple of rainy days scoping out the area, and found an ideal situation – a small dog-friendly lodge, adjacent to a lake, some ATV trails and – best of all – an abandoned airstrip! We booked it for five nights and then providence stepped in with a glorious sunny day with little wind. Let’s fly!

Here is a clip shortly after take-off, me bumbling with the camera while Henry gets the wind under control…..

Here’s the old airstrip we used, which ran alongside the Skyport Lodge on the bank of Devil Track Lake, about six miles outside town.

Here’s the lodge from the lakeside….

Just a perfect day for a flight. Once again, pardon the camera work – but we were excited to see a bald eagle flying alongside us for a while (watch carefully)…

Grand Marais from the air, with its pretty little harbor.

Flying along the lake shore….

A couple of beauty shots.

Our return approach to Devil Track Lake…

A couple more lake shots, as we wing overhead and think about landing.

Although we saw few people on the ground, the reverse was not true. Apparently a number of residents noticed our flyover, sparking a flurry of interest on Facebook and a visit from Dan, who used to be a professional pilot, formerly owned the lodge and coincidentally lived next door to it. We ate at the lodge with him one night, and he invited us to his home for dinner the next….

Dan’s a great guy, and we hope that our paths will cross again.

(We did fly again while in Grand Marais, but fog obscured Superior…. a nice flight but not so many good photo ops….)

In case you noticed the surge in entries posted over the last few days, I am getting caught up as once again we are lying low while we wait for a rain system to pass through……

Canada opened to vaccinated travelers from the US on August 1. Entry is conditioned upon uploading passport and vaccination data in the Arrive Canada app no more than 72 hours before arriving at the border, along with results from a negative molecular test, also administered within 72 hours of arrival.

Only one clinic in Grand Marais offered Covid testing on a limited basis….. with no guarantee about the timing of results. We decided to take a chance, and arrived to sign up at 6:30 am on the date we wanted to be tested – a Tuesday, in hopes that we would get results soon enough to gain entry on Friday morning.

Luckily, there were few applicants on that day (they only test up to 10 per day), so we signed up and later drove through the hospital emergency bay for our test…..

Hooray! Our tests came back negative on Wednesday, so we headed to the border at Pigeon River, Ontario on Friday. An eerie experience – no one else at the border…. our paperwork was all in order, and we breezed through with only a few extra questions about our plans, how much booze we had and whether we had firearms or pepper spray. (Please note: pepper spray is not allowed, but pepper spray with a drawing of a bear on the can is….. since it then magically becomes bear spray, very important for campers in the wild.)

Entrants to Canada may also be selected randomly for follow-up testing, but we were not.

The visitors center across the border was also creepy-empty, with crime-scene tape stretched across the brochure racks and chairs, and a lonely masked agent behind the desk who sold us a map.

Ontario restaurants opened up to in-house dining on September 22, with restrictions.

All you have to do to eat out here is…… show proof of vaccination and photo identification. And then you complete a form with your phone number and email address for potential contact tracing…..

and voila! You are seated 2 meters from other diners and allowed to proceed with a meal!

Nobody seems to be complaining. Masking requirements are displayed at the door to virtually every indoor public place, including stores, motels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. and everybody complies. Easy-peasy….

It’s so refreshing, and we feel so much safer knowing that others are taking the same public health precautions we have.

Another of so many reasons to love Canada and the Canadians…..

On the subject of food….. I am delighted to have found a source for healthful dehydrated food. Truth be told, however, it does not look nearly as appetizing as it tastes….

(We’re not always at our best either, coiffure-wise.)

Be warned that my new resources (Outdoor Herbivore and Food for the Sole) provide mostly plant-based foods that have a shelf life of only a year or two, so probably not so good for any of you carnivorous preppers out there who are anticipating an extended siege.

We do have a refrigerator and hot plate, so also carry fresh fruit, snacks, yogurt, cheese, and of course beer and wine to sustain us on the road.

Many eating establishments in the rural areas have already closed for the winter season…. those that are open have extremely limited selections…. The usual hamburgers with the occasional fried walleye from the lake.

I personally was very excited to find an indoor restaurant near Wawa, Ontario that had a lovely menu, and cloth napkins…..not just cloth, but damask! (With a tablecloth and metal eating utensils, too!)

In Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, an Indian restaurant had a very special dish on the menu…….. okra! Nicely prepared in a masala sauce with fresh garlic naan…..

Would any trip to Canada be complete without sampling the national dish? Poutine, a nasty mess of french fries, brown gravy and cheese curds. What the heck – may as well go ”whole hog”, as they say – with the addition of smoked meat, bacon and a fried mac-and-cheese ball!

Even the most daring gourmand has to admit defeat from time to time, to the benefit of our canine friend.

(As you might notice – getting caught up after a few days without internet…… more later!)

From our entry to Canada, we followed along the Superior north shore, through Thunder Bay, a ghost town called Jackfish, Nipigon, Wawa, Lake Superior Provincial Park and finally to Sault Ste Marie. When the weather was rainy and cold, we stayed in small motels along the way, like this one in Nipigon:

No frills, no food, but clean with fairly good phone and internet service.

Camping at places like this one near the railroad tracks…

Picking rocks at every opportunity and in every gravel pit or pullout on the lake….

No decent agate specimens, but many, many stones have been gathered…… hundreds of pounds, in fact. The salvaged collecting bucket, alas, didn’t quite make it…..

We finally got to Sault Ste. Marie at the eastern-most end of the lake….

….. looked over into Michigan….

…. and decided we just weren’t ready to return to the USA just yet. So we turned east, leaving the lake behind for now.

A turn to some pretty weather brought us to this campground near the Spanish River….

Our first night there was so cold, Raider was called into service as a heating source…..

But things soon warmed up for some 4-wheeling….

A last night and early morning in camp before moving on…..

We are now in Sudbury, Ontario, waiting out still more rain and contemplating the next move. Do we press on to New Hampshire for possible powered parachute activity? Turn back and cover the Lake Superior south shore? Or strike out toward the American southwest and find some more hospitable weather?

Stay tuned…..