Up North Camping Adventure

This year, Jon and I decided to continue our camping tradition. You may remember our crazy story from last year... Well this year was not as crazy, but just as much fun... and I would venture to say, way more relaxing!

All last week, we were pulling out our camping gear, organizing, and reorganizing making sure we had all that we needed so we would be ready first thing Thursday morning when we set out for our adventure. We arrived at Tettegouche State Park by 2:30 or so and started to ready the campsite. The weather was wonderful - sunny skies and not too much wind. We opted to hang out at the site and around the campfire for the evening and just take it all in. Although Eko was a little uneasy about being tied up and not knowing what to do, Brianna knew exactly what she could do... play with the rocks and wood chips around the site. She was a great little camper. As we were setting up the tent and our bedding, she was content to just play inside and help. Here she is filling one of the two little holes of the barricade with rocks.

As opposed to our shorter trip last year where we didn't bother cooking at the site, this year we went full out camping. I love the take-along booster seats so you can contain the little one while you prepare and eat meals. It was a little chilly that first night and morning but we were prepared, plus it warmed up pretty quick.

 

Here we are on the way to the bathrooms to shower. Brianna did a wonderful job driving and turning the wheel. That is, until she realized there were window buttons within reach. Those are always more fun! By the way, I do not recommend showering a 17 month old when a 1 minute push button shower never gets warm, and her whining/crying echoed throughout the entire bathroom. I felt like an awful parent.

After we were all ready Friday morning, we set out for our first hike. We had done the first half of the hike (to High Falls) a previous trip, but this time we went a little further to Two Step Falls. It was a beautiful morning and fun to explore the new terrain.We ate lunch back at the campsite, then headed out again for another hike to the cascades. There must have been a landslide at some point, because the trail had been washed away. Pretty amazing to see the magnitude of something like that just take out trees and everything in it's path.

Before heading to our favorite pizza place in Grand Marais, we made sure to go down to the lake. We know our dog and knew he would want to jump in, so we were smart enough to grab a towel specifically for him. Glad we did because he could not wait, he was so excited. In fact, he laid right down, as if he purposely picked that exact spot so his head would lay just above the water. Jon reminded me that if he pulled too sharply to just LET GO of the leash; I came close to going in a couple of times, but I managed to stay dry.

On our way home, we made a pit stop at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. You might be able to notice the very wet walkway and road in this first picture. It ended up raining off and on again all day, which made us glad we packed up when we did. The Aquarium was more of small exhibits than an aquarium but we enjoyed getting out of the car, and I know Brianna had a blast looking at the animals and walking from here to there and everywhere!

Can't wait for what next year has to offer!