One of the reasons we chose to spend time in Minnesota on this trip is that my grandparents both came from here: my grandfather came from Redwing, MN while my grandmother came from Negaunee, MN. I wasn't really on a genealogy hunt. Rather, I wanted to feel the surroundings--the environment--where my grandparents were raised...maybe to better understand myself. It is not surprising then, that I felt very at home during our week here in Minnesota. Roger wanted to see the forests and sights in Minnesota. We're both glad we came.
We left you last with our arrival at our Wilton, MN cabin on Grant Lake. (By the way, there are lakes everywhere here--10,000 according to the Minnesota license plate.). But we couldn't spend our whole time sipping wine overlooking the lake as in the earlier photo. The day after our wine-sipping, we explored Itasca State Park about ½ an hour away. This state park--the oldest in Minnesota--is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Over the years, there was quite a debate about the "true" source of the Mississippi. They finally settled on Lake Itasca, a small, narrow lake in the north. The Park, itself, is largely a mixed forest. We first stopped at the Visitor's Center with an excellent interactive display and video about the origins of the park. Jacob Brower was instrumental in establishing the park in the late 1890s. We don't think he is related to David Brower of Sierra Club fame.
The Park Ranger at the Center suggested that we take the 2-mile loop trail near Douglas Lodge. She said it was a wide trail allowing us to avoid ticks and mosquitos. We found the trail--a narrow track through tall grasses and underbrush. Apparently, no one had used the trail this season! We wore long pants tucked in our socks (thank you, Fletcher and Sue!) and long sleeve shirts. Kathy sprayed her arms and clothing, but Roger didn't think he needed the spray because he was covered so well. Along the way, we were suddenly ambushed by ravenous, blood-hungry mosquitos. They left Kathy pretty much alone (she is their usual favorite) and went to Plan B: Roger. They drilled through Roger's shirt, biting his elbows and back. They even bit the palms of his hands! Needless to say, we just about ran the 2 miles to get away from the critters. Fortunately, no ticks. I don't think the Ranger had actually taken this walk because it was nothing like she described.
Needing food and to cool down, we had lunch overlooking the lake at the beautiful Douglas Lodge. We shared 3 Minnesota specialties: the Juicy Lucy, wild rice soup, and blueberry pie. The juicy Lucy is a hamburger with cheese in the middle as well as on top. Next, we drove to the northern end of the lake to walk across the great Mississippi River at its source.
We also walked in a grove of old-growth red pines. Apparently, 25% of all Minnesota's old-growth pine is in this tiny Park. That day we saw 3 turkeys, 3 deer, and a grouse. Not much wildlife.
The next day, we spent at the cabin. We hiked from our cabin to a nearby county park on Grant Lake, read books, soaked in the hot tub, cooked dinner, and watched movies. We needed a day without driving.
On our last day at the Wilton cabin, we drove to Bemidji State Park and took the interpretive 2-mile boardwalk to bog lake. A bog is formed as a glacier retreats, creating a natural bowl in the landscape. There is no outlet, so the bog holds rainwater. Gradually the trapped water becomes very acidic and low in nutrients. Plants and animals have adapted to that environment. Many mosses, large pitcher plants, ferns, sundew plants, snakes, and stunted spruce and tamarack trees seem to thrive.
Gratefully there were no mosquitos or ticks on this walk! They don't like the acidic water. Leaving the Park, we drove around Lake Bemidji to a shoreline restaurant for walleye tacos and a walleye fillet. Plenty of leftovers! We should have split a meal. On our way back to the cabin, we charged the car and washed clothes at the laundromat in preparation for heading out the next day.
Time to move on to Lutsen for our much-anticipated canoe trip in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We couldn't make it all the way to Lutsen without charging the car along the way. Online we saw that there was one fast charger in Duluth (1/2 hour max to charge). But when we got there, the fast charger was broken. So we hooked up to a slow charger and as a result, spent the next 4 hours exploring the pier area of Duluth on foot. It was a newly-restored, lively area with shops and restaurants...so the time went quickly. Now we had enough charge to get to Lutsen and our canoe trip.
We stayed at the Caribou Highlands Resort in Lutsen--really, really nice--with a winery down the road. The resort had an outdoor heated pool, an indoor heated pool, and a hot spa. They had a ping pong table, music outdoors on the patio and the staff was amazing. We stayed at the resort (much fancier than our usual fare) because it was the take-off point for our canoe trip (which left at 7 am). We were so pleased that we did.
Kathy was worried about the canoe trip. Were we too old to paddle for 7 hours? Would we hold up the others on our trip? She frets a lot. But we steeled ourselves to do our best, no matter what. Surprise! We were the only folks who signed up for the trip. We had a private guided 7-hour canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (no roads, no trails, just canoes, a few cleared areas for camping, and short portage trails between lakes).
We drove for an hour to the wilderness area to put in the canoe. The 2 of us and our guide loaded into one canoe--Roger was the power at the front; Kathy sat in the middle occasionally placing the paddle on her lap instead of in the water (Roger would never know!), and Jake, our guide, steered from the back. We paddled over 10 miles. An incredible day! We saw a bald eagle, a loon, a red fox, and stunningly pristine water and forest. During the entire day on the water, we encountered maybe 6 other canoes. What a trip! We returned to the resort tired (a little nervous that we might be really sore the next day), but happy. Surprisingly, we did not get sore. So glad we did it. We stayed another night at the resort. Such a treat.
E-car Charging Blues (for those of you interested in it): The next leg of our trip--from Lutsen, MN into Wisconsin--was the most harrowing to date. Upper Minnesota and Upper Wisconsin are fast charger deserts. Don't get me wrong. They have fast chargers, but they just don't work...and you don't know that until you arrive. Before we started out for Ironwood, WI on July 14, we sat for a couple of hours at a slow charger in Lutsen to be sure we had enough charge to make it to Duluth (the fast charger didn't work). We read our books while the car charged. We drove next to Duluth where we found another slow charger downtown. (Remember, Duluth's single fast charger was broken!) While the car charging, we walked to Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake for a scrumptious Cuban pork sandwich, and then we returned to the car to read a bit more.
We put enough electricity into the car to get to Washburn, WI where we were depending on the fast charger described online. The two-lane roads we traveled were tree-lined and lake-sided...just gorgeous...but I digress. We got to Washburn on fumes (or whatever the e-car equivalent is) and found that the public fast charger was out of commission and there were no slow chargers. Now we were in a pickle. We had just enough energy to make it to Ironwood, WI (the next fast charger, so we thought) if nothing went awry. It would be tight. The other option was to backtrack 20 miles to Bayfield where there was supposed to be a slow charger and charge enough to be certain we could make it to Ironwood. But if that charger was inoperative, we definitely could not make Ironwood. We would be stuck, forced to get towed to a charger. Neither alternative was particularly attractive. We crossed our fingers and went back to Bayfield. After an agonizing few minutes trying to find the charger and fearing there was none, we found it hidden at a health retreat resort parking lot out of town. Better yet, it worked! We thought we could use up a little time by having dinner at the resort, but it was limited to guests. We were too far out of Bayfield to walk to town and back before dark. So we read for 4 more hours until 9 pm (no light to read) when we had enough energy to assure our trip to Ironwood. Once charged, we were on our way again. It was late, so we stopped in Ashland, WI. It had been a very long day! All these problems were not the fault of the e-car. They were due to the lack of charging infrastructure. It must have been like this for gas-powered cars when they first appeared in the early 1900s. But drivers then could carry a can of gas to get them out of tight spots.
We pulled into Ironwood, WI (a town of 5,600 people) the next morning. Contrary to what we had learned online, there was only one slow charger in the middle of town, meaning 6 hours of charging before we could move on. We were momentarily downhearted. Then we learned from a passerby that there was a festival with all sorts of events going on. We started with the vintage car show (voted for our favorites), then toured a restored 1920s theater and took in a funny Buster Keaton silent film, ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant, looked at all the booths, and took a long walk on cross-country ski trails in the park abutting the town. We had so much fun that the time flew by. And had we not been "forced" to be in Ironwood for so long, we would have driven on and missed all that. That is the upside of slow charging!
