North Shore of Lake Superior

That is one reason we came, heard this place was pretty, and indeed it is. North Shore of Superior in Minnesota and Ontario is just as pretty as promised. The lake is huge - the largest fresh water lake in the world - containing 10% of the entire world's fresh water resources. Our first two nights we stayed in the US and hiked in Minnesota state parks, then on to Thunder Bay and Red Rock Ontario.

Split Rock Lighthouse, according to state historical sites people, is one of the most photographed sites in Minnesota. Don't know about that but Matt and Laura have a similar photo. So that's makes two.

The Gooseberry Falls State Park hike probably will be one of our all time favorites. The series of water falls on this river running into the lake were both dramatic and beautiful. A couple of them, in narrow gorges, had a tremendous roar.

Also hiked the Cascade River State Park trail which has a series of water falls leading to the lake (under the bridge).

We went down to the rivers edges several places and to enjoy some cool shade, as for a change we were having a hot day. Talking low 80's so you know we were uncomfortable.    

In Thunder Bay at Fort William, a reconstructed historical trading post for the Northwest Company and later the Hudson Bay Company, there were historical actors and reconstructed buildings of the old trading post.

One of the most interesting buildings housed the birch bark canoe building operation. They were actually building real birch bark canoes. In the early days of the fur trade, large canoes would go between Montreal and Thunder Bay in six weeks with 8,000 pounds of trade goods. Paddled and portaged by 10 to 12 men, strong men.

The highway did not always follow the lake shore, it occasionally turned inland into thick forests,

or wheat fields. According to local newspapers, Canada is having a good year of grain production.  The North Dakota farmers will have some competition in the world market for wheat.

Had lunch here, walleye sandwich. Locally caught from Lake Superior. I am getting to really like walleye or pickerel as it is also referred to. It is the prevalent offering on the menu when "seafood" is available.

And this is where we are staying in Red Rock, east of Thunder Bay. We had a glass of wine and read yesterday evening in those white chairs, feet on the orange bucket. Tough duty.

Winnipeg (near the Longitudinal Center of Canada)

After leaving North Dakota, we drove north a couple of hours to Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba. We enjoyed our stay in a classic old time big hotel, the Fort Garry Hotel (four weddings were held while we were there).  We walked up to the legislative building, a huge nearly 100 year old building.

Inside the capital lobby huge bison guarded the main staircase up to the legislative chamber.  The capital building is also the main government building for the province.

Where the 57 legislators sit, each representing 22,000 people.

Manitoba does not have a lot of people.

Along the Red River that runs through town there is a park. Bears, painted in a variety of schemes, are a theme in a part of the park. Indian totem poles also mix in.

And a replica of old Fort Garry, a French trading post and settlement from fur trading days.

 We most enjoyed the Human Rights museum in town, an amazing museum that traced the meaning and evolution of the understanding of human rights through time and various violations of rights that have involved citizen groups in Manitoba. It is an amazing museum, extremely well done.

As we left town driving east on Canada Highway 1, the TransCanadian Highway, we passed a sign announcing the "Longitudinal Center of Canada".  This is what it  looked like a couple of miles down the road. We were doing about 70 mph and did not go back to get a photo of the sign or the exact spot. The sign was about 20-30 miles east of Winnipeg if you just have to know.

Driving across the west to North Dakota

Leaving Fort Collins, Colorado we drove north into Wyoming. Stopped near Guernsey where the Oregon Trail cut deep ruts into the sandstone and left less distinguishable trail through the prairie.

Fort Laramie, an old US calvary post, has been maintained and reconstructed in the prairie. It would have been a desolate post.

Crossed into South Dakota on a back road. Saw this sign. Decided to buy gas in Newell. Luckily they had some - most towns we saw were just a crossroads, about every 35 miles would be a slightly larger town with some services.

Stopped at an Indian Reservation for lunch in South Dakota and the drive, the geography and agriculture were more interesting than the above photo seems to indicate. The towns, however, did not get much closer together despite our not going all the way to Watertown.

 Driving into North Dakota and Napoleon from the south, we drove by Erick Oman's homestead site.  This was the view across the street.  A wheat field, a large one— as they tend to be.

And the former site of the Oman homestead, now a hay field for the cattle in the next quarter section.  That is the street - dirt road to the right in the photo.

Downtown Napoleon has not changed much since the '20s and '30s. This brick building has a new facade but is basically the same one you see in that old photo we have of Erick and others working on the original wooden structure.

One of the delights of our visit to Napoleon was visiting Carolyn Sperle, a 100+ year old who remembered 'Mr Oman' as a Raleigh Products salesman. We met her on a visit to Napoleon in 2006 through a connection from a friend of Matt's father Luther.

Mrs. Sperle is one of the more interesting people you can meet. The daughter of Russian German immigrants from Odessa she told us stories of old Napoleon and of being a volunteer in the local senior citizens home. Yes, she is a volunteer at the old folks home. And she will make you laugh too.

We also went by the town cemetery and visited the grave of Lawrence Pershing Oman who died July 31, 1920, a month short of two years old.

Leaving Napoleon behind, we kept our tradition of driving on back roads (like we had a choice) and got stuck behind a cattle drive. They finally left the road and I got this photo. One pick up truck, one young woman on horseback, two four wheelers and two dogs, about 60-70 cattle.

The roads are straight.

The sunflower crops are bright and fill a field.

In Grand Forks, we had a great visit with Matt's parents, Luther and Jan. Originally we had planned on going fishing at Devils Lake, but high winds changed those plans. So we went into northern Minnesota to Lake Itasca to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Crossing those rocks, the water exiting the lake, the Mississippi starts its way to the Gulf.  It takes 90 days for this water to get to New Orleans.

The four of us. Patt and Jan with wet feet too.

and now off to Winnipeg the to the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Deer Mountain Hike, a 10,000 foot mtn, no small thing either

Early in our time in Fort Collins we hiked Deer Mountain. These photos have languished on my desktop ready to be posted for several weeks so finally after we left town and the kids are safely back in Asia, here it is. This was one of the first of many big hikes with elevation.

The two littles are ready to start up hill. A party of about 12 or 14 of us went on this hike. Two families in addition to us.  

Early on I was getting favor of a hiking partner- I liked it.

and as we got higher and a bit spread out, on the switch backs, the views got broader and better too.

and hiking partners changed around which was nice

or none at all, also nice, especially when I was huffing and puffing.

At one point it rained, hard! very hard! We just put on our rain coats and stood under the trees to get what shelter we could. Finally it did clear and the humidity being nonexistent we dried out rapidly as did the trail.

Though a bit cloudy, no more rain the rest of the day, a bit cool at the top though where we picnicked.

and we got a photo with all the Asian grandchildren.

a strong hiking crew and a great hiking place 

check out the back drop of this photograph

We like the views from mountain tops.

Some trails get a bit steep with lots of switchbacks. This one was.

Hard to beat Rocky Mountain National Park for a vista or a backdrop for a photograph.

It is also hard to beat Fort Collins as a place to spend the summer. Patt and I truly enjoyed our time here with the grandchildren and Matt and Laura. It was just absolutely great. Hiking, playing cards, biking, meal times, reading, story telling, cooking, playing outside, just talking and visiting, having early morning wake up visitors, sleepover guests, going places and all the fun of being together. A great summer for memories that we will surely treasure.

now we are off to another journey--

ole time summer tradition Putt Putt Golf

Have not played putt putt more than 2-3 times since our kids were this size.  Those times were at az then Long Beach and at a course that is now no longer in existence.

I was in a foursome with Matt and these two. Provided for no end of entertainment. Their 'putt putt style' resembled field hockey at times and searching for lost golf balls included not always on the 'fairway'.

All of our party took to the game with intensity and it was a joy to be a part of. Grandmama talked a big game prior to playing and the kids liked the trash talking too.

Please  note the flight of the orange ball. Good loft off the tee, good distance, several shots like this resulted in good bounces off the stone boundary of the fairways, sometimes even remaining in the fairway.

Remaining even in the fairway was not always a bonus. The course we played was a good challenge.

A hole in one was celebrated and I think each of us got one, even yours truly. All of my foursome got one too! Yes, not that all of the foursome realized just how that factored into the fun of the game as chasing the ball around (great fun for some) was reduced.

We did have at least one of the party who looked the part of a golfer - Luke "taps in an easy one"

The course was family friendly and allowed a five-some.

Next to the putt putt just happened to be a bumper boat pond— with water guns built into the boats  -good idea!!

 

The pond also had a water sprinkler which John Paul thought was real good idea! Me, not so sure.  (John Paul drove the boat towards the sprinkler every time we were close and he had the controls if he was not actively engaged in a water gun fight with one of his siblings).

I liked getting involved too.

And near the the bumper boats pond was a go cart race track with carts that had some cars with two seats. Guess what? -  Matt and I got to go multiple times!!!  

First John Paul and Isaac were our companions and then Lydia and Julianna rode with me and Matt respectively. It was great fun. The kids "drove" like mad, turning that steering wheel. John Paul slipped down in his seat as there was no crotch belt and by the end of the race he was nearly lying down.

Both Lydia and Julianna enjoyed riding with us and passing people. As luck would have it, both Matt and I got fast carts. From watching the earlier drivers you could sorta just pick out that some carts seemed faster than others and I believe we got some fast ones because we enjoyed passing folks.

It is hard to believe that the end to a fabulous summer in Fort Collins has come so soon. But it has.  

One of our wonderful summers with the grandchildren and Matt and Laura came to a close. It ended on a day full of fun together, as many of our days were. A summer to remember!