Camping 2015 - Trip #3 - the North Shore

Last weekend we went on our third camping trip of the summer. It was our second annual camping weekend on the North Shore with friends from church. we camped at Burlington Bay Campground in Two Harbors. We love the campground because we can have camping spots overlooking Lake Superior. Last year we went in June, and here are some comparisons regarding camping in each month:

June 

• The weather was more unpredictable - cooler, and wetter
• No bugs
• Campground not as crowded

August

• Nice summer weather
• Black biting flies always around
• Campground was packed - many sites had more than one vehicle, and more than one tent. This made the roads in the campground less safe, and the bathrooms more dirty. The campground was still very quiet at night.

We enjoyed our weekend so much. Both my husband and our friends have motorcycles, so we trailered them and brought them with us. One day the four of us jumped on the two motorcycles and enjoyed a ride up Hwy 61, stopping in Beaver Bay for lunch.

Another day we packed a lunch and the 4 of us plus our dogs piled in the pickup and drove up to Grand Marais for the day. It was beautiful!

Each night we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Each morning we had our coffee while looking out at Lake Superior. We walked along the shore, and threw stones in the lake. We simply enjoyed the beauty around us, the company of our friends, and the relaxation that comes with being on vacation.

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Here is our camper on the right, and our friend's camper on the left. 

This was the view from our camper:

Our "motos" - as my grandson would say -

Craig really liked this old logging truck we saw...

We stopped to check out this marina on our way up to Grand Marais.

The rest of these pictures are from Grand Marias. It was a hazy day so the pictures are not as bright as if it had been sunny.

We had such a good time that we made reservations to go back next summer - we're going to try June again.

Camping With Mary Lou - #2

Last weekend we took Mary Lou to the North Shore for our second camping trip of the summer.

This time we headed to the North Shore. We stayed at a campground just north of Two Harbors. (This picture was taken on a rainy day, but doesn't it almost look like there's snow and ice instead of water?)

We camped with two other couples, good friends from church. We had a great weekend - hiking, biking, doing a little shopping, talking, sitting around the campfire, enjoying the beauty all around us.

One day we hiked at Split Rock River, and had lunch at Palisade Head, which was just breath-taking. Palisade Head is a 350 foot sheer rock cliff. There were rock climbers on the cliff while we were there.

Here's Craig and Terry trying to see the bottom.

We had all kinds of weather - from cloudy and windy, to sunshine, to pouring rain. Mary Lou stayed dry inside, thank goodness! One thing we especially appreciated was the lack of mosquitoes at the campground. I'm not sure if it was because our campsite was right on Lake Superior and there was a breeze off the lake, or if the campground sprayed for them... but it was so nice to be able to be outside without bug spray.

We stayed one day longer than our friends, so on the last morning we biked a part of the Gitchi Gumi Trail, and then went to Gooseberry State Park for a bit more biking and hiking.

Because of all the recent rain, the falls were roaring with tons of water.

We will definitely be going back to the North Shore.... we already have reservations with our friends, to go back to the same campsites next summer. But we'd also like to take our kids and grandkids. We just know they'd have fun chasing the waves, climbing and hiking, throwing stones in the lake, seeing the big ships go by, and all of the other wonderful things at the North Shore.

Girls' Day and Collages

For the last year Craig and I have been part of a small group at church. Each month we have met with 3 other couples to share a meal , have devotions, and enjoy lots of conversation and laughter. In December the wives decided that we needed a girls' day. At first we talked of going to a resort and staying overnight. But then we said, why would we need to go anywhere else when we all live in the beauty that's up north? SO we made arrangements to get together on a Saturday - do an artistic activity and an activity that's good exercise.

Today was the day - and what a great day it was! I hosted Girls' Day because we have a great big room and a big table to work at. Therese is the artist in the group so she planned the art activity. We each made two collages and they turned out so cool! The first one we based on a memory of something good that someone said to us. After sharing the memories we went to work creating a collage that would in some way represent one of the memories shared. After a great lunch of soup, salad and cookies (Sue and Angie brought a wonderful salad, Therese made soup, and I made the cookies) we made a second collage. Therese read a poem to us and we could either make our collage from something the poem or we could do our own thing. The collages were amazing. Each one was unique. At first I didn't know if I was going to like making a collage - it was hard to me to start. I didn't really have a vision of the finished product. But I finally realized that it was okay to just start and then to figure it out as I went along.
We talked as we worked, and that was probably the very best part of the day - just spending time with three good friends. After we cleaned up the collage supplies, we all put on our winter gear and went for a walk. We walked and talked all the way to the end of the road and back - a good two mile walk! It was the perfect end to an absolutely wonderful day.

Here are my collages - I think I might even get them framed!