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!
Grand View Lodge: Monday
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Tag Archives: Minnesota
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.
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…
Life without electricity: A moment of reflection
The last week has been the most crazy stormy summer weather imaginable in Minnesota. One moment the sky is blue and then without warning enormous, black thundery clouds sweep in and take over the sky leaving us in a downpour of electric lightening and roaring thunder. It has been so wet that I haven’t even had to bother watering my garden (one bonus) but so wet that I can almost see the millions of super sized mosquitoes (which we often joke are the State Bird) breeding in its wake.
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.
New Blooms at the Trial Gardens
Over the weekend, we had our good friends in town from Chicago and wanted to give them a tour of our lovely neighborhood in Southwest Minneapolis. After stopping at my favorite coffee shop Patisserie 46 to get a cup of mi gasolina we headed towards the Rose and Trial Gardens near Lake Harriet.
The Meaning of Mom
“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” – Washington Irving
For this year’s Mother’s Day, I decided to forego the flowers and use my voice as a gift for my mom. I wanted to write her a letter to tell her what she means to me. How much she has impacted my life and how much I love her.
Where do I even begin? The task is arduous and complex. There is no simple place to start. It’s been 40.5 long years since she has been my mom. How could I possibly due her justice in one simple post? It isn’t possible. But I’ll try my best.
We are the world. We are the children.
Why I support Shot@Life…..the children.
By supporting and fundraising for Shot@Life, with the help of my friends we have raised over $1500 and counting which will be enough funds to vaccinate 72 children in developing countries for life.
I am not finished. There is still much work to be done and more money to be raised.
I won’t give up.
I have miles to walk before I sleep.
The number of children dying around the world due to lack of life-saving vaccines is equivalent to the half of the children in the United States entering Kindergarten this fall.
We are going to change this fact.
Here is a priceless video of Sophia’s practicing her song for yesterday’s preschool concert. Click on link below to view.
We are the world. We are the children.
We are the world. We are the children.
We are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s keep giving.
There’s a choice we’re making. We’re saving our own lives.
It’s true, we’ll make a brighter day just you and me.
Stay tuned….this wraps up my series for the UN Global Immunization Week and the launch of Shot@Life. I will still be working hard to advocate and raise money and awareness for this amazing program. It has been quite an experience. I’m heading back to my regular posts ASAP. Thanks for your continued support and comments! Nicole