Tettagouche State Park

September 26-28, 2012

Wednesday:  Decision time in the morning: try for a spot at Tet or go to the Superior National Forest.   I called the campground when they opened at 10.  They had one non-reservable open.   So we packed up and got on the road.   We got to the state park at 11, and the site was taken.  Boo.  So, we cobbled together some sites.  Our first night would be in a non-electric.   After that, we’d move to a non-reservable electric site that we can have for up to 14 days.

We got the rig parked with few problems.  But we couldn’t get the rig level from front to back.    It was kind of bad, but for one night we figured we could deal.   The site was nice with decent privacy.  Lots of squirrels for Cassie to chase.   We had a campfire and played scrabble.   It was kind of strange to go back to regular scrabble after so many weeks of playing Words with Friends.   For one, it was worth it again to look for bingos.   Fun times!

It got quite chilly at night.  Down to the mid-30s, I think.  The frickin furnace didn’t work at all.   We ended up bundling in warm clothes and running the generator and using an electric heater.   The genny ran out of gas at some point, and we woke up to somewhat cold temps.   Could have been worse.

Thursday: We hiked over to look at the waterfalls after breakfast.   First up: 2 step.   We ran this rapid a couple of years ago.   Now, with the drought, it’s hardly recognizable.   Seems like just a trickle of water going downstream.   The small hope I had that a non-forecasted rain would appear and make the river runnable is thoroughly extinguished.  Wherever we go, we bring a curse up on the land with regards to kayaking possibilities.  After 2 step, we went to high falls.  Normally this is a monster, with the falls able to be heard from far away.   Again, very low water.   No loud rapids, no gorgeous mists rising from the pool.   Sad.    But, we did get to rock hop to the lip of the waterfall and sit for quite a bit.  It’s not everyday that you can do that.

After our hike, we checked our new spot.   The people there hadn’t left yet, so we decided to go have showers before packing up our rig.   The showers here SUCK!   Mine was 4 feet above my head.  I had to try to jump up to get any hope of rinsing off.   We’ll just use the fitty from now on.    After we got packed up, the new campsite was free.    Moving this time was a little harder.   We needed to be in a precise spot (from left to right) whereby the ramp could be used and the slides could go out.   Whenever we have to work with such a narrow parameters, we usually have difficulty.   We ended up pulling forward and reversing again and again and again.   But, we finally got it parked.   This site is just as unlevel as the other one.   The landing legs are all the way retracted, which makes the rig look funny; like it’s crashed to the ground.

I took Cassie on a hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. The trees are displaying their fall finery, and with sunny skies and low 60s, I had a great hike. 

Friday:  Today’s weather was amazing!  Sunny and upper 60s.   Slight breeze.   We took advantage of the nice weather by spending most of it outside in our loungers.  I did take a break to walk Cassie to the High Falls.   She once again displayed poor trail etiquette when passing people on the narrow trail.  I might try working teaching her a new command.   “Cassie: Be Polite!”.   That would be sweet if she picked that up!

We had another campfire, to cap off another great day!  (We discussed in great detail how we should plan our next 4-6 months.   But we just couldn’t come to a consensus).

Note:  I figured out the furnace problem!!!!!!!  I had an idea in the middle of the night, and I tested my theory the next day.   The issue is the left side of the 2 sided LP hose system.   This is why it was impossible to diagnose and fix.   The furnace seemed to work or not work based on the whims of the gods.   But it turns out, it was just linked to the left LP tank.   Whenever we were drawing from the left tank, the furnace didn’t work.   What made this issue so goddamn tricky to solve is that the LP tank got used like normal.  It wasn’t like NO gas was getting through, so we could find the fault.  Nope.  It worked fine for the fridge and for the stove, and emptied at the same rate as the other one.   But whenever the furnace was turned on, it wouldn’t work.   When the gas was switched to pulling from the right LP tank…the furnace worked.    I don’t think in a hundred years we would have seen this pattern.   The only thing that made me think of it was one time when we were going to run the fridge while driving, I couldn’t get the fridge to work when the left LP tank was picked.  I switched it to the right and planned to look into it later.   But there was never an issue again.  I don’t know what made me think of it in the middle of the night, but I am so grateful it’s solved.   Now we just need to get a new hose mechanism, and we’ll be as good as new.   What a relief!   

Since I googled the hell out of this issue and didn’t get any hits for this solution, I’m going to put a few phrases here for future googling of poor saps with the same issue.   Hopefully some other people can benefit from our hard-earned knowledge.  Here goes:  Fucking furnace won’t fucking work, but then it will work, but then it won’t.   Fucking piece of crap furnace keeps quitting for no reason.  I hate my furnace.  Why won’t it work when every goddamn setting is the same?   Please fix my RV furnace!

 

Equivalent of Thousands of Words

Self Portrait after the swim in the Cascade
 

From the top of the hiking trail by camp
 

View of our site as we're returning from our walk with the dogs

Missy in her lounger on the shore of Lake Superior

Missy retrieving the sunglasses she dropped, while Cassie looks on.



Devil's Kettle. 

Me, sitting just above the Devil's Kettle

Eastern Eaglie!

Still Grand Marais Campground

September 21-25, 2012

I wasn’t much in the blogging mood.  Here’s some of what you missed for the last few days:

-Hiking in Cascade State Park.    Jumping in the river after Cassie chased a baby beaver in a dangerous section.

-Biking

-Hiking the camp trail

-Wave watching

-Hiking the Brule River trail to the Devil’s Kettle

-Feeding seagulls; the best way to feel popular and well liked

-Biking to get fresh donuts at 7 am.  Mmmmm

-More wave watching

Tomorrow we’re on the move.   Not sure where exactly we’ll end up, since it will depend on availability of non-reservable sites.   Per usual, don’t get mad if we don’t respond to you since we might not have reception.   Ta-ta!

Grand Marais Campground

September 19-20, 2012

Wednesday started out as planned.   We got packed up and on the road by 9:30.   We arrived at the municipal campground and paid $5 to dump and take on water.   As we were waiting for our turn at the dump, Missy said she was going to sneak in a shower at the showerhouse.   The dump is on the far side of the campground, and unlike the front side, it was mostly empty.   Not so sardine like, as we thought when we toured it a few days ago.   Also, we could see peaks of the waves of Lake Superior crashing on shore.    I was starting to rethink going to the National Forest site…why not stay here?   Sure it’s more expensive, but Grand Marais is a quaint town, and there are plenty of trails and biking nearby.    Also, Cascade State Park is close by for a nice hike.   After checking the new forecast, Missy agreed we should stay here for several days.   Yay!   We will get all the worry-free electric heat that we want!   And 3G internet.  

We went back to the office and got a map with sites that are open for 4 nights.   This campground is huge!  Over 200 spots.   But like I said, the back end is mostly empty.   So we picked a nice spot that was surrounded by empty spots.   It’s across from an unused group campsite…so it’s easy to take the dogs on potty breaks.    Plus, there’s a short hiking trail right here, for Cassie’s exercising needs.   

After unhitching, I headed over to the lake.   I spent about an hour watching the waves crashing.   As usual, it was therapeutic.  Too bad the weather is turning windy and cool.   It would have been awesome to bring my lounger and spend hours reading and wave watching.

Thursday: Missy did nothing today.   She only stepped foot outside the rig when it was her turn for the dogs’ last pee break at night.    I did a TON of research on RVs.   We’ve been thinking about maybe trying to find one that has all of our wish list items.    But, I don’t think such a rig exists.   So after many hours of fruitless searching, I went out with Cassie for a hike on the nearby trail.    It was a perfect cool fall day.

What's that? You want more pictures? Okay!

Reading at the Lake...little did we know it would be our last barefoot day.

Trail to the Moose Viewing Platform

Don't you want to be a Moose Sleuth?  These etchings are neato mosquito.

Lake Superior, Grand Marais

Waves

More Waves...is it just me, or are waves always awesome?

Troubles in Paradise

September 16-18, 2012

Sunday:  Had some issues with the water today.   Our fresh tank is showing as 1/3 full, but the water ran out when I was taking my shower.   Missy had already had her shower and done the dishes.   If she had just skipped dishes, I would have had enough water.    The problem we’ve got is that the readout still showed 1/3.   Now, the tank readings have always been loose representations of reality, expect for the fresh.   That’s usually correct.   The second problem is that we usually can last 3 weeks at a time with our tanks.   Now we’re at the 2 week mark, AND we took 2 showers at the Temperance Campground (rather than in the rig).   So water should last longer than 3 weeks.   One theory was that since I cleaned out the faucets, they’ve both run faster and stronger.  So perhaps we burned through water faster that way.   Except….as Missy pointed out, that should mean our grey tanks filled up faster than usual.   And that is not the case.    Grrr.  Do we actually have water in the tank but somehow the pipes broke again and we’ve lost access to it?   Who knows.

So later that night, we were watching some shows on the laptop.   I kept hearing a mechanical noise.   I asked Missy if she heard it…she said no.   It kind of sounded like a nearby neighbor with a generator running.   3 times I asked Missy if she didn’t hear it.   Finally she said she did.    So I stuck my head outside to see where it was coming from.    And it turned out to be coming from the crawl space.   Shit!   It was the water pump running and running.   Neither one of us had thought to turn off the pump.    Crap…just like you’re never supposed to cross the streams, you should never run the pump with no water.    We got every container in our possession and went to the solar powered pump in camp.   We poured maybe 10-15 gallons into our tanks.   We held our breath and tried the pump…it worked!   We were both shocked.  I was fully expecting to have to go get it replaced.   So it was a mixed day.  

Monday:   Today was cold and started off rainy.  Seemed like a perfect day to go to the library.   We enjoyed our time on the nets until early afternoon.  After the library, we went to get our propane filled at the LP company.   I was shocked!   The price was the same as doing an exchange at the gas station. $27!!!!  Every time I did a fill before, the savings were significant.   It was honestly disheartening.   I mean, the last tank fill in CO cost me $14.   I don’t know if there’s been a spike in LP prices, or if I’m paying a North Shore premium…either way this totally sucks!

On the way back home, we took a tour of some other National Forest campgrounds.    We found one that has a premium site: huge long driveway, privacy, a park-like atmosphere, and it’s on a ridge overlooking the lake.   Gorgeous!    We decided that on Wednesday we’d dump and take on water in Grand Marais, and then move to this site.   I had been pushing for finding a spot with electric, since the temps in the 10 day are so low.   But Missy convinced me that we can just use the furnace liberally and enjoy the beauty of this spot.

Tuesday:  Furnace problems again.   I don’t know what else to say.  We woke up freezing this morning.  The furnace had been working all night, and it drained the battery.    So by the time we woke up, it had failed and the rig was quite cold.    We thought things would be fixed by just running the genny for a bit.   But, nope.   We’re still doing voodoo to try to get the thermostat and furnace to work as expected.   At night, we made the decision to run the generator all night long so that we could use our electric heater.  Not ideal at all.   Now we don’t know if we should move to the gorgeous spot…if we have to keep the generator on all the time, it makes more sense to try to find a campground with electric, or just go home and try to get the rig in for repairs.   So disappointing.

One fun thing from today:   we went 3 miles to the “Moose Viewing” sign off of the Gunflint Trail.   We brought the dogs and had a nice little hike through the fall colors in the forest.    When we got the viewing platform, there were zero moose.   Kinda what we were expecting since it was 11:00.  I think you have to get up with the sunrise if you want a better chance of seeing moose.   Oh well, it was still a nice outing.

We got the rig mostly loaded and packed up for the move tomorrow.   Still not clear what we’re going to do.   Really need a sign from my totem right about now.

Paddles and Pedals

September 13-15, 2012

Thursday- Today started out great for my nature spotting!   I grabbed the new binoculars and went down to the lake.   I was hoping to see the eagle in the dead tree.   It was a great surprise to see that there were in fact 2 eagles in the tree!    I ran back home to get Missy, and we watched our new friends, Eagley and Higher Eagley (I’ve adopted the naming conventions of my 3 year old nephew).

We both went for bike rides today.   I went first and brought Cassie with me.  She did pretty good riding beside me, but I might think twice about bringing her on rides because I have to go slow for her.   I was concerned about going fast and making her outright run for too long.   I did check out some of the great cross country ski trails around here.   I wish we could come back here in the winter and go skiing.  I imagine it’s got to be very beautiful.   But for now, the trails were a fun challenge on a bike.   Lots of hidden rocks and ruts.  

At the end of the day, we walked the dogs around the campground and ended up at the picnic table overlooking the lake.   We didn’t see any eagles, but we did get to watch a kingfisher in action.   And we watched a grebe swimming around doing its grebe-y thing.

Friday:  Today was our paddle day.   We spent over an hour doing a shoreline trip of the nearby bay.   Sadly we did not see much in the way of nature; Eagley and Higher Eagley flew a couple of circles high above us, a flock of geese honked its way across the sky, and a giant Newfoundland seemed to want to join us in the water. 

The rest of the day we spent enjoying a campfire and reading.

Saturday:  Today’s weather was glorious!    The last couple of days have been a little chilly.  Mostly cloudy and quite breezy.   But today!   Warm sun and blue skies and light winds.    We took advantage of the great weather and transported our loungers to a secluded landing off a secret trail down the road from us.    It was awesome to be able to soak up the sun and take in the fall colors across the lake.    For the most part it was completely private.   We did get to see some groups of BWCA canoers/campers cross: some heading out and some heading in.   (This campground has a parking lot where you can leave your car and go on overnighters in the Boundary Waters).   We spent the whole day there: only heading back to camp for lunch before going back to our tranquil spot.  Today was one of those days where you really appreciate the benefits of this lifestyle.

Lest you think this day didn’t fit with the blog title, I did take Cassie on a bike ride before sundown.

Grand Marais Day Trip

September 12, 2012

On Wednesday we headed into Grand Marais as planned.   What was NOT planned was turning around after 8 miles or so when we realized that neither of us had brought a wallet.    Ugh.   At least we realized before we got all the way to GM.    The library was very accommodating in that it had wifi with great speeds.   So we did some downloading and some internetting.  

After the library, we tried to find some binoculars.   The big outfitting store did not have any.   They suggested we try Radio Shack.    Radio Shack didn’t have them either.  They suggested a lumber store.   I was skeptical, but the guy said they also have an outdoors type store too.   So we headed for the lumber store…and voila!   They had 2 dusty pairs of binoculars that must have been there for some time.   I guess most people take care of their zooming needs before embarking on a trip to Grand Marais.    Missy and I each grabbed a pair and went outside to try them out.   Both were light years ahead of our last pair in terms of quality, which was broken in one eye.  We decided to get the smaller, lightweight pair.   While driving up the driveway of the lumber company, we saw a pallet with scrap wood and a sign that said 30 cents apiece.   SCORE!   We bought 20 to use as firewood.   Sooooooo much cheaper than what everyone else is selling them for.

We gassed the car ($4.14/gallon.  Harsh), got propane and groceries and headed for home.   On the way back, we checked out another Superior Forest Campground, Lake Kimball.    It’s a pretty little campground with about 10 sites, but the sites are a little close and less private.   Perhaps 3 would fit our rig.  They are all non-reservable, so we thought we might want to move there when we have to leave Bearskin.   However, upon reflection, our current spot is better situated for recreation and having the dogs loose.  So maybe we’ll try to stay put.  Anyway, we have a week to decide.   When we got home, we had ourselves a campfire.  One piece of our scrap lumber lasted almost 2 hours.   Yay for our great frugal firewood find!

North Shore Pictures

Palisade Head

Temperance River State Park

Looking down on the giant nest

Giant Nest: the top is in the shadows.   The actual nest area (top) is about the size of a dinner plate.

Bearskin Lake

Missy willingly doing a flat paddle!!!

Eagle

Zoomed in shot of a really neat branch.    Kidding!  It's the eagle again!

Final shot of our friend, Eaglie.

East Bearskin Campground

September 10-11, 2012

Monday:  We got packed up, showered and on the road by noon.   It was a mostly easy drive north to our new spot, East Bearskin Campground in the Superior National Forest.   I had found this campground on the National Forest site, but since it listed each pad length at only 30 feet, we normally would have to cross it off the list.   However, one site did list pads longer, so I did some more googling.   I found some guy’s post about fitting with his 33 foot travel trailer.   He reported that some of the sites were plenty long.   So we decided to try it out and hope for the best.

Upon entering the campground, we were very disappointed.  Most of the sites were TINY, some not even the promised 30 feet.   And the scenery was not ideal.    But, at the back end of the campground, we did find one site that would work.    But it looked tough to get into.   After our last epic parking job, we wanted something that was easier to get into.   So we circled back and decided to take site 18.   (We bypassed it originally because someone has it reserved in 9 days, and we wanted to find a site we could have for 14).   It’s a really nice big site, and we finally had some good communication to get the rig parked.    The site was surprisingly level.   We’ve got some decent privacy, being on our own loop with only one other site.  And 30 yards from our site is a little landing on Bearskin Lake.  (I’m typing this at a picnic table overlooking the landing).

I was a little skeptical that we’d be happy at such a remote place.  There’s no cell service, and Grand Marais is 26 miles away.    But, Missy was sure that this was her kind of spot.   Perfect privacy, dogs offleash, plenty of recreation opportunities (biking, hiking and boating: Bearksin Lake is part of the BWCA).   After only a couple of hours, I came around to her point of view.    It’s so peaceful here.   No road noise, and no neighbors.   (The campground is only about ¼ full).  We ended our day with a campfire and a spectacular starry night sky.  

Tuesday:  We walked the dogs around the campground this morning.   Since it was clear skies with a light breeze, we decided to try kayaking on the lake after dropping the dogs back at home.    I am really happy we ended up at this site; the commute to the lake could not have been easier!    We put on and started paddling across our bay.   This lake looks like it might be large and full of crossroads (we have “get a lake map” on our to-do list).  The agreement was to just stick to one bay to make sure we didn’t get lost.    As we paddled out, we saw a bird shape high up a dead tree on an island.   At first we were trying to look at it with the sun in our eyes.   As we paddled past the island and looked back, we saw our first bald eagle of this leg.   We floated away from the island in the strong winds and just watched him for probably 20 minutes or so.   We were hoping he would dive for a fish, but I guess he was just chillaxing.    I, for one, enjoyed that particular nature encounter very much.    We spent about an hour on the lake and then headed home.    It’s not whitewater, but a remote, pristine lake paddle with a shore commute to camp can be just as enjoyable.

We spent the rest of the day reading in our loungers.    Cassie hunted and did a lot of digging.   Tomorrow we’re going to take a trip to GM to check out the library and maybe buy some binoculars.    We also need to buy some more propane and firewood (this campground is picked CLEAN…hardly even any twigs left). 

Temperance River State Park

September 8-9, 2012

Saturday:  We got quite chilly last night.  Even though I think the inside temps didn’t dip below 50, for some reason both of us were really freezing last night.   Missy eventually got up and put on a hat.   I soldiered through.    The morning was nice; partly cloudy.   We decided that Missy would do a morning hike with Cassie, and I’d bike in the afternoon.   Tomorrow we’d swap activities.    We checked out the park maps and picked the Carlton Peak hike.   Since we weren’t sure how long the round-trip would take, I drove Missy and Cassie to a trailhead parking up by Carlton Peak for her to hike back down to camp.   There was some kind of running race going on, so the parking lot was completely full.   As I drove away, there were a few pockets of light rain.  By the time I got back to camp, a rain system had moved in to stay.   I moved some stuff out of the doorway to the garage, because we can’t close that ramp.

It ended up raining for almost an hour.   Poor Missy had a rough hike.   Turns out the race was a super-marathon (100 miles).   She said she passed hundreds of racers (who all looked miserable in the rain) and there was never a let up in the stream of runners to pass.   The bummer part was that since this was a narrow section of the Superior Hiking Trail, there wasn’t room for 2 people to pass each other on the trail. One person had to step to the side.   And Missy felt obligated to be the step-asider each time.   Which wouldn’t have been a big deal if she didn’t have to manhandle Cassie to the side each time too.  (Cassie has no time for trail etiquette or niceties).  Since it was staying in the 50s with winds of 10-15, I decided to try out the furnace to warm up the rig for Missy.   I recently read in the rv manual that you’re not supposed to cover any of the vents.   So I removed the duct tape from the 2 vents in the main living area.   Let’s see if this fixes the issue.

The skies cleared up around 6, so I went for a bike ride.   My hands got a bit chilly (due to my supersonic speeds, of course).  Need to remember to bring gloves and a warm hat for just in case.  The GG trail does go north for about 5 miles.  Some of it is nice, and some of it is right on Hwy 61.   Trying not to compare with the scenery in CO.

Chilly again overnight.   Furnace worked nicely.   Cautious hurrahs.

Sunday:  It was pretty windy today, but with the wind came the return of the waves!   We spent quite a bit of time down at the lakeshore watching the waves on the rocks.  Strangely, Buddy and Cassie didn’t see the allure of sitting on rocks, far away from the squirrel homes (trees).   Tough luck, puppies.

Mid-morning I went to take a picture of the neato giant bird’s nest.   On the way back, I ventured over the foot bridge which connects the upper campground to the lower campground.  The bridge is over the Temperance River.   I looked down and saw a huge school of fish.   They were swimming upstream in the river.  They were in a pool, but right above a small pourover so they were fighting the current.   The fish were big, about the size of salmon.   Since both Missy and I like to watch fish swimming, I ran back to camp to tell her to come and see.   I am so happy I spotted them, because now I am WAY ahead in the nature spotting contest!   (I’m counting each of the 100 fish).   I’ve already seen a nosediving osprey catch a fish in Lake Superior.   And of course, there’s my nest.    Missy just has her bald eagle.  Missy sat and watched with me for about 20 minutes and then headed home.  I stayed another 10 minutes or so, until the fish left.   It was a split second change.  One second they were there, the next they were gone.  No stragglers, or heading off a couple at a time.   Very cool beans.

Tomorrow we’re raising anchor and moving on.   We’re going to try our luck at a National Forest Campground on Bearskin Lake, which is about 20 minutes inland from Grand Marais on the Gunflint Trail.   Not sure if we’ll get any reception at camp.  So we might be out of contact for large chunks of time...

Loving the North Shore!

 September 6-7, 2012

Thursday:  We set up our loungers overlooking Lake Superior and had a lovely setting for enjoying our morning coffee.   We spent a good bit of the day reading and relaxing, with brief periods of packing everything up and putting it away when rain threatened.   But it was only ever a couple of drops each time.   One thing we’re struggling with at this campground is the noise.    With the road and the waves and the wind, we really need to raise our voices to hear each other.  But so far, neither one of us can remember to talk louder.  Pfft.    Every other phrase uttered here is: “What?”   Missy thinks she might want to leave because of the noise.   But, since most of the parks are fully reserved (meaning we’d be counting on luck in getting a non-reservable), I think this is the best option.   I mean, this view should be worth the noise, right?

I took Cassie on a shoreline hike (Missy stayed back with the Budster).   I love the North Shore!   Sadly, I couldn’t sit and stare at the waves as long as I liked, because Cassie picked up some biting flies.   There were none on me, and none even visible other than on her.   But she had a contingent that was at least 30 strong, and she kept slamming her head into the rocks to try and dislodge them.   So we went back to camp.    Next time I’ll have to remember to spray her.

After dinner I got Cassie again and went up the waterfalls hike.  It’s a short ½ mile hike up river, but within that ½ mile there are tons of features.  Lots of waterfalls and pourovers and rapids.   At 6:30 pm on a Thursday, I had the place entirely to myself.    So I got to let Cassie be off-leash to hunt squirrels whilst I sat and watched the waterfalls.    I hiked down off-trail for a closer look at one drop, and found a neat giant bird’s nest on a small cliff.   If we can find the camera, I’ll go back and get a picture.   It’s a great example of American Craftsmanship.   Assuming the builder was American, of course.  J

Friday:  We headed to Tettagouche SP to check out the situation on non reservables.   There aren’t many choices.   Damn the public for utilizing this amazing resource!   After leaving the park, we went to Palisade Head for a bit of a hike.  I must say, I was a little disappointed.   The lake was totally calm.   Water was only gently lapping at the shore, instead of producing spectacular splashes with waves crashing.   I’ve been here several times in the past, and there have always been waves.   I didn’t realize the lake could be calm.    Oh well.    We didn’t stay longer then 20-30 minutes because rain moved in.

After Palisade Head, we went into Silver Bay and over to the small library.   There was no wifi, but they did have internet connected computers for use.  So we did some research into possible places for our next move.   After the library, we got some groceries and headed the 20 miles back to camp.  The weather stayed gloomy most of the day, with intermittent showers.   I’m glad we did our outing today when it was crappy out.   Hopefully the weekend will be nothing but blue skies and gentle breezes!

The weather cleared up at dinner time.   It was a nice, non-windy evening.   I spent some time down on the lakeshore and Missy did some reading.  At dusk, we built a campfire.   Sadly, the MN State parks do not let you bring in ANY firewood of your own (except for untreated lumber.  Anyone have any lying around that they want to give us?).   We bought one bundle for $4.50 and it only had 6 logs.  So we had a mini-fire, by our usual standards.   3 logs don’t last very long.  I know Missy was slightly disappointed not to have her usual outrageous bonfire.  

We’re Back: North Shore!

September 4-5, 2012

So excited to be back on the road again!  We had a tremendously enjoyable time back at home, but it’s nice to be back out again.   Over our break, we changed our minds about heading to ID,MT after Labor Day.   Instead, we decided to head for the North Shore and hope to catch some fall creeking with our friends.  After 4-6 weeks, we’ll head back to the twin cities for some last family time and then head west to California.

We got on the road around 1:30, after picking up our newly repaired drysuits from Thrifty Outfitters.   Aside from 3 or 4 single lane/flagmen construction sites, it was a smooth ride.   It looked like we might make it to our destination: Temperance River State Park, on just one tank.   But, since we didn’t have a reservation and might not find a spot, we decided to stop for gas in Silver Bay.   I had to wait 7 or 8 minutes for the one bay I could fit into.  When I finally got to carefully pull around and up to the pumps, it was frickin diesel!  Grrr. (The front pumps by the truck were diesel, the back by the fitty were gas).  Due to the layout of the parking lot, I could not circle around to any other spots.   So we just drove on.    About 10 miles from the park, we got the low gas light.   But we made it!

The worker at the state park gave us lots of various options for what was open.   There were some spots only available for a couple of days.  Some were longer.  Some spots had electricity.   She was nice and did some color coded circles on the campground map so we’d know what days the sites were open when we drove to look.   Unfortunately, just then a storm moved in.   It got pretty dark and was raining.  We drove around and were dismayed to see that all the sites were too short for us.    There were 2 sites we didn’t drive by, so we went back to the office to just check if they were long enough.  One was, so we took it.   Booked 5 nights.   

Trying to park the rig in the pouring rain was quite difficult.  The side mirrors were useless (reminder to self: get some rainx).    And we couldn’t keep the truck windows rolled down to yell instructions to each other.    The camp road looped, and then the site was at an angle to that curve.   Impossible to do without a way to communicate proximity to trees upon backing up.   Sigh.  And to make matters worse, we had an epic fail of our windshield caulking project.   Water was gushing down inside on the driver’s  side.    Fricknfrack.   I only tried 1 time to get backed up, but I just don’t have the mind’s eye vision of the layout that you need to get it parked.   So Missy took over.    It took longer than usual because of the rain.  I’d have to run up to the driver’s door and give directions and then run back to the rig.  And Missy couldn’t go more than a few feet at a time because she couldn’t see me to signal if she might hit something.   But in the end we finally got it done.   Just as we finished the final set-up, the rain stopped.   Nice timing.

The next morning, we walked the dogs around the campground.  We noticed a super nice spot that was right on Lake Superior with partially obstructed views.    It was a non reservable, and whoever had been in it the night before already vacated it.   We didn’t like our previous night's spot very much at all because it was right by Hwy 61 and the traffic noise was very loud.   You can still hear the highway from the new spot, but you can also hear the waves crashing on shore.    So we booked it over to the office (running to get in before a newly arriving camper), and Missy got us switched over!    Yay!

So this new spot was also on a curved road with an angled parking pad.   However, the parking pad has a jog in it.   This spot supremely tested our parking abilities.   We got it partially where we wanted, but then it was too close to a tree to be able to use the ramp.   We tried various methods for jockeying, but had little luck.   We were worried about running out of gas, so we stopped and unhitched (for the 2^nd time) and went for gas.   Got back and were able to compromise on a parking spot.   The ramp is still too close to a tree:  Missy had to push branches out of the way while I snaked the ramp down.   We’re going to try to just leave the ramp down all the time.   I’m still worried about woodland creatures coming to visit in the night, but Missy said she didn’t care.   One chipmunk has already brazenly come into the garage to look around.   Cassie was not amused.

After lunch, we took the extremely long hike (est. 1.5 minutes) down to the lake.   It’s really mesmerizing to watch the crashing waves on Lake Superior.  Sadly, the Budster was having great difficulty with the rocks, so we had to bring him home.    After dinner, Missy and I rode our bikes on the short 2 mile section of the Gitchi Gammi (spelling?) trail.   I wish it was a little longer.    If we decide to try for a spot in Tettagouche State Park, I know the paved bike trail goes for many miles.   So perhaps we should move?   But for now, we are grateful to have been lucky enough to get this awesome campsite.   What a fantastic view!