Today is day five of our lake/cabin vacation at the Grand View Lodge in lovely Nisswa, Minnesota. Far away from reality, life is a beach and slowly I begin to submit to the temptation of relaxation.
Grand View Lodge: Thursday
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Category Archives: North America
A small town celebration of the Fourth of July
Happy Fourth of July all fellow Americans! Today is a day of celebration, family, watermelon, picnics, brats on the grill, parades and fireworks. Nothing could be better than spending it in small town America located in the heart of Minnesota’s northern lakes. My husband and kids even saw a bald eagle fly right over their head this morning as they were walking to our car. I can’t think of a more symbolic way to start off the day.
Grand View Lodge: Tuesday
Yesterday was the first day I could finally ease into that Adirondack chair and relax. The kids were off playing games in the morning and I indulged into one of my favorite pastimes. Reading. I completed a beautiful book that I need to add to my Worth a Read page called “The Memory of Love” written by a Sierra Leone woman named Aminatta Forna. As you can probably guess by now, I don’t read anything too light and fluffy.
Yet the book truly made me think deeply about so many things in life. How fast time goes. How much we take for granted. How love is everlasting. The cruelty of war, rape and death. How hope and resilience rises above it all. The beauty and power of the human spirit.
Grand View Lodge: Monday
Ok. I tried really hard to give my blog a break but I simply can’t do it. My friend over at the Wanderlust Gene is certainly laughing as she reads this post, shaking her head saying I told you so!
Vacation. Relaxation. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.
View from the beach.
Today is the start of our official week long family vacation! This is our third year that we have come to stay at a cabin on Roy Lake in Nisswa, Minnesota. I can hardly wait to relax. Life has been too busy and it is time to sit back, relax, spend time with my family and chill. I haven’t decided yet whether or not I will be blogging. I may take an entire week off as a blog vacation. Or I may do shorter posts with a photo of the day from this beautiful part of the country. We’ll see.
In any event, my response to reading your posts or comments will be delayed. Have a great week! thirdeyemom
Leave no trace behind except your footprints and your memories
Jacksprinter’s Sunday post is valuable. Something we find and hold near and dear to our hearts. It could be money. It could be land. It could be freedom. Or it could be memories. For me, there is nothing more valuable than my childhood memories of our annual fall trip to climb Eagle Mountain. A tradition that started a lifelong love of nature, togetherness, family, and hiking.
Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota, will always hold a special place in my heart. Located in the northeastern part of Minnesota at the start of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness, it is one of the best kept secrets in the Midwest. Pristine forests, magical untouched lakes and impressive wildlife are all the wonderful things you will find along the trail.
Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons
As a child, I hiked this trail every single fall with my family, until I moved away to college. It was a family tradition that I will never forget and is held deep within my most precious, sacred memories of childhood. The fall colors once we reached the top were an artistic tapestry of brilliant hues of pumpkin orange, golden yellow and crimson red. If I close my eyes, I can almost see it now. Almost.
Hiking around Cascade River Falls
Author’s note: I’m back to my series on our long weekend at the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. To read recent posts in this series, click here.
One of the most popular State Parks along Lake Superior’s North Shore is Cascade River State Park. Located about 10 miles southwest of Grand Marais, Minnesota this park offers spectacular waterfall views and rushing rapids of root beer-colored Cascade River. There are over 18 miles of trails within the park and it also meets up with the 286-mile long Superior Hiking Trail. There is a wide variety of flora and fauna to be discovered but what I enjoyed most was the sounds and sights of the roaring river and multiple waterfalls.
Second attempt at Carlton Peak
Author’s note: This is the second post on our hike up Carlton Peak in Northeastern Minnesota. In case you haven’t heard, the most devasting, damaging floods in history have recently struck this part of Minnesota. Over 100 million dollars of damage is estimated. Roads are closed, homes and universities are flooded. Even the zoo was impacted with a dozen animals drown and the dramatic rescue of a seal and a polar bear who escaped the escalating flood waters. Let’s keep our thoughts and prayers in mind for the people impacted by this devastation. To read full updated article, click here.
A touch of nature along Lake Superior’s North Shore
Our first morning along Lake Superior’s North Shore wasn’t looking too promising. Dark clouds had rolled in over the lake and we could hear the low rumble of distant thunder all the way across to Wisconsin. I sat out on the oversized verandah, sipping my morning juce (mi gasolina, as it was nicknamed during my recent trip to Guatemala) and listening to the dramatic, haunting call of the loons.
If you have never heard a loon before, then you probably don’t know what their song is like. One you hear it, you will never forget. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful, melodic sounds I’ve ever heard. To prove it, see for yourself. Click below, close your eyes and listen. It is a cry you will never forget. A beautiful mourning wail…
A Night on the North Shore
We arrived on the North Shore of Lake Superior mid-afternoon on a Thursday. The weather was perfect and amazingly cool compared to Minneapolis, just a few hours south. We made a few stops along the way to Gooseberry Falls and also pulled over to take a shot of the most photographed site in Minnesota, the Split Rock Lighthouse.
The air was fresh and pure. The brilliant blue waters of Lake Superior glistened in the sun. I could hardly wait to get to our destination, a log cabin along the shores of the lake, and spend a weekend relaxing, hiking and doing what I love best: Enjoying nature and being together with family. There couldn’t be a more ideal place for it than here.
The Split Rock Lighthouse.
Photography: If a rose could last forever
Remember back in early and mid-Spring, I did a series of posts on the perennial gardens over near Lake Harriet? (click here to see most recent post). I found some delightful surprises that captivated my soul and I’ve gone back several times since to see what new has come up.
The biggest attraction of all of course is the Rose Garden which blooms each summer in hundreds of colors and types of roses. When it is in full bloom, it is perhaps one of the most beautiful places in the city.
I’d been watching the Rose Garden often during my daily runs around the lake and nothing had transpired since the last time I’d checked. However, Monday was entirely different. Sophia and I set off on a bike ride along the lakes and on our way home I noticed a blur of color as we passed by the Rose Garden. I wondered out loud….is it ready?
Destination North Shore: Our first stop along the way of Lake Superior
The state of Minnesota may have some severely cold winters, yet one thing that makes up for it is the fact that we do have lakes. Lots of them. Recent estimates have put Minnesota’s lakes in the 11,000-13,000 range, depending on what you count as a body of water. Lakes not only provide us with water but with everlasting, pure beauty and recreation. You can hardly drive anywhere without seeing a lake.