Riding The Storm Out

 

Full timers talk often about riding out storms. One of the insecurities of all of us is knowing how vulnerable we and our homes on wheels are to severe weather. Yesterday, Central Iowa endured a severe storm unlike we have seen in many years. A cool front approached from the west and slammed into 85-degree air with 90% humidity. The result was 100 mph straight line winds, and heavy rain the endured for over an hour.  In the storms wake are downed trees and powerlines everywhere. Roofs missing and not a single backyard trampoline left in its designated yard. Although they have determined that there were no tornadoes the damage is severe and widespread.

As far as I know there were no injuries to any of the RV Volunteers here. Nerves were a little rattled and I heard a report that one couples camper slid a few inches on the jacks the wind was so forceful. As soon as the storm passed the volunteers all rolled up their sleeves and got to work right away. 

Today, Champ is in the Bobcat with the big Grappling hook, tree picker upper thing. I had planned to spend my day off from Menards working with them, but our daughter needed help with the kids today, so I am spending the day with two grandsons. We did do some work here at the Village. A neighbor, the boys and I took an hour or so and did some cleanup here in the Village. I used it as a civics lesson to the boys and Leslie and I were still able to help in our own way and have some fun together this morning.

The  Containers took a beating but its all back to normal today. 

The entry road to our area yesterday

3" tube steel bent like a pipe cleaner. Straight line wind damage at the beach area

The campsite our friends were in over the weekend. 

Champ's job for the next several day

Hunter and Isaac watching Grandpa work

Hunter helping clean the pavillion area at the Village

Isaac hauling away what brother raked up

With 4 major camping areas the Rangers have prioritized and it’s all hands-on deck today at Prairie Flower removing downed limbs, blowing off streets and cutting down damaged trees that pose a risk. Another campground is so damaged that they are closing it and asking the campers to leave, for their own safety, so they can go in and safely remove the debris and cut down the damaged trees.

We have survived another major storm and today is a beautiful, sunny, calm day. We know there are times when RV’ers don’t dodge the bullet and we always feel fortunate when the skies clear and we are all safe.

Until Next Time…

Duluth Day 4

Duluth Day 4

It has been a very long time since something completely took my breath away when I first saw it. Jay Cooke State Park did just that this morning as I stepped out onto the Historic Swinging Bridge that crosses the St. Louis River. Not because it was a swinging bridge but for the incredible site of the geological landscape created by tectonic plate activity millions of years ago. The water clear and dark pigmented from the iron deposits looked more like root beer flowing over the small waterfalls than the usual sparkling diamond like river water. Huge slabs of rock jutted up from the river bottom. It reminded me of the rock formations at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado except black and in a river valley instead of on the side of a mountain.

View to the south from the bridge

The Swinging Bridge from the trail

Rock slabs rising up from the river bed

We arrived early around 8:30 in an attempt the get our sightseeing in before the crowds arrived late morning. It worked. We saw very few people on the rugged trail. The park was not a destination we had in mind when we decided to come here. It was recommended to us by a couple camping a few sites away who we have visited with almost daily. The first conversation was about the cats. Buster and Annie are great conversation starters as they lie around in our site wherever we are on their tethers. We meet a lot of people simply because they are initially curious about cats travelling.

We spent about 3 hours hiking around the area and marveling at the sheer force of nature. The area has been impacted not only by the tectonic plate shifts over the millennia but also volcanic activity and of course glacial activity. It is an incredibly unique and special area. With many miles of trails of varying degrees of difficulty most anyone can experience this place. I did a little birding along the way and did see a Warbling Vireo for the first time. But mostly we were focused on the rugged trail we were hiking and completely enchanted by the river bed we hiked along side and ventured out into a couple of times.

One of many tree roots exposed and gnarled from erosion over time

The trail was quite rugged. This was an easy area since it was flat through here

This baby squirrel didn't seem to care I was standing right there

Champ enjoying the view while I looked at birds

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that having spend most of my 55 years in Iowa this part of the world only 5 hours from my hometown has eluded me. We have really missed out not coming north with our camper over the years. But it is never too late to change right?

We are back at the campground enjoying our last day here. Tonight, we will brave going out in public in this new COVID society and go to a local historic brewery that’s been in operation since the late 1800’s for dinner. Then home tomorrow. Minnesota has been exceedingly kind to us this week. With picture perfect weather and miraculously no mosquitoes! We came armed with lots of repellent and never had it out. Pretty unbelievable for this area. We will leave here with many good memories, having met a few new people and a strong desire to return. If you want to learn more about this park go to: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00187#homepage  and read more about it.

Until Next Time…

                                                                                                                         

Duluth Day 3

Duluth Day 3

Today was kayaking day.  We were glad we took the advice of the woman at the marina yesterday and waited. Today was about 10 degrees warmer and the breeze was out of a better direction for the kayak trails. We arrived around 10:45 and were set up by a nice man in his early 30’s who looked more like a surfing instructor from California that a Marina guy in northern Minnesota. Nice kid, he showed us the map and when he learned that I was a birder he suggested a route that would help me indulge that part of me. He advised us on the current and how the wind direction would affect us on our route and sent us on our way after exchanging phone numbers in case we needed help.

Four hours passed like 5 minutes. We paddled south and found the island with the active Eagles nest he told us about and then crossed the channel. A big island in the middle of the river was the lunch destination. As we paddled along, we noticed a picnic table, or what was left on one, so we stopped there for lunch. A tutorial sign told us we were at Clough Island that boasted over 150 breeding bird species. It was obvious that it had at one time been maintained but had likely succumbed to budget cuts over the years. Nevertheless, we ate our lunch and I watched birds the whole time. I photographed and recorded to E-Bird a Great Crested Flycatcher, that was considered rare in the area. I was able to get a nice shot of the eagle’s nest with the mated pair and their two fledgling juveniles.

Champ cruising along the shoreline

Heading out of the marina cove into the St. Louis River channel

Juvie, Bald Eagle perched above the nest

Mature Eagle keeping an eye on me

Lunch stop at Clough Island

We learned two valuable things today. We are closer all the time to buying our own kayaks. We have used the ‘sit on top’ type twice and like them. Today day we had the ‘sit down in’ type and were not fans. They weren’t quite as stable. In my case, I don’t know how to travel light on an excursion. I go armed with my camera bag, binoculars, water bottle, cell phone….you get it. The sit on top kind have a nice indention and cover where I can stow all my stuff. Today most of what I took was in a compartment behind me where I couldn’t get to it while in motion. As my camera laid between my legs a drop of water initiated a frisky shock the left a nice burn the size of my fingernail on my inner thigh. That woke me up!

The other thing I learned was the birding is hard in a kayak! You dial in on something and get the binocs for a look. Next thing you know the kayak is turning in the current or breeze and you’re twisting to stay sighted on your bird. Then there is trying to take a picture with the kayak bobbing in the water and of course rotating in the absence of your control with the oars. I did get a couple of good bird pictures despite the challenges.

One of several species of water Lily in the river

The bridge to Wisconsin at the convergence of the river and Lake Superior in the background

Great Crested Flycatcher- fun sighting today

This was the most robust kayaking day we have had. Between the wind and the current and the active boating channels it was a challenging, yet fun and rewarding day that took us another step closer to adding two kayaks to our toy collection. The comic relief came at the very end of the day. As I beached my kayak and stood up to step out, I tripped over the seat, lost my balance and fell flat on my butt in the drink! 4 hours, wind, boats, current in and out of the kayaks several times and not a bit wet till the very end. Thank goodness I had handed my camera that was hanging around my neck to Champ, seconds before. Otherwise, I'd be shopping for a new one and these pictures would not be in this post.  I walked into the office still dripping! 

Tomorrow we will venture 20 miles south to a state park recommended to us by a couple camping near us.

Until Next Time…

Duluth Day 2

Duluth, Day 2

We had planned to go kayaking today. When we went to pick up the kayaks the woman at the marina told us the east winds would make for a miserable day. We took her advice and reserved for tomorrow when it will be a little warmer and the breeze will come from the Southwest instead of the East.

We went back to the RV, changed clothes and decided to head up the North Shore. As we started up Highway 61 we marveled at the beautiful waterfront properties, talked about how expensive they must be and how miserable it would be to be there in the winter wondering the whole time how many of the properties were summer homes of the wealthy. We had our North Shore tour guide in hand and had some places in mind to see.

Our first stop was Stony Point. A little bump of a side road and a gorgeous smooth rock shore line where we could get our feet in the water.  I picked up several smooth stones to make a keepsake with. Another little craft project on the horizon. The hardy Dulthians had no problem swimming in the sub- 70 degree water. I was content to wade in ankle deep. 

Champ contemplating crawling down into the crevasse

Cooling my feet at Stony Point

Stony Point looking North up the shoreline

Pools eroded in the rock at the shoreline

The next stop was 45 miles north at Split Rock State Park and a stunning lighthouse. That is where the day got humdrum. On arrival it was obvious that despite all the COVID protocol, the place was overrun by summer tourists. It was going to cost $8 each just to get on the crowded grounds to see the lighthouse. Um, no.  We drove to the Wayside a mile south got out and took a picture.  I can look up the history online. Next stop on the way back south was Gooseberry State Park, famous for its waterfalls. Again, overrun with visitors and crowded trails, nowhere to park, you get it. We drove on through with a wave and found a place on the shore line on a big flat rock at Agate Bay in Two Harbors to enjoy our lunch and look at the big Iron Ore loading facility that sends freighters like the famous Edmund Fitzgerald south with ore for the steel plants in the lower Great Lakes.

Lunch on the rock shoreline at Agate Bay

Champ at Pebble Beach Split Rock State Park

Split Rock Lighthouse

Iron Ore loading facility across the bay from our lunch table

The day wasn’t a bust. We saw some beautiful scenery and stunning real estate. We arrived back at our site in time to sit in the yard on our corner lot and make conversation with everyone who passed by. It occurred to me that as past camp hosts and park volunteers talking to other campers is second nature to us. We visited with people this afternoon from all over the country and heard a dozen stories about how they ended up in this particular campground.

Our fire was going by 6pm and chili is on the menu on this cool fall like evening. Tomorrow we will hopefully spend the day on the Saint Louis River kayaking, eating our lunch on the bank of one of the little islands watching the birds and the ships.

Until Next Time…

A Much Needed Vacation

Day 1-  Duluth

We arrived in Duluth for a 5-day vacation. We were supposed to spend 2 weeks in Maine this summer but the COVID issue nixed those plans. Shamefully, as Iowans we had never been to Duluth MN, only 6 hours away. Ironically, Minnesota has been conspicuously blank on our map since we went full time. It seems over all these years we have travelled every direction from Iowa but north. It was time.

Our first impression as we drove into Duluth was how beautiful it is. We are both drawn to cities by water. We have spent time on the shores of Lake Superior from the U.P. of Michigan and the north shore of Wisconsin.  We noticed right away the Duluthian’s love to be outside in the summer! I would too, if I had to live in what must be an utterly frozen hell the other 8 months of the year.

View of the Duluth on arrival

We settled into a little campground along the Saint Louis river the empties into Lake Superior about a mile north of us. Our daily entertainment is a squirrel who lives in the Walnut Tree next to where the RV is parked is none too happy that a cat has taken up residence at the base of his home. He tries to come down and finds Buster laying in his lawn chair. The squirrel chatters and shakes his tail, to no avail.

We spent today exploring. A morning bike ride along the paved state trail in the area, then a walk around the trail the circumvents the point that the park is build on.  The number 1 recommendation was a drive along Skyline Parkway. It took 5 hours as we stopped at several parks including Enger Park with it’s tower to take in the sights from on high of the Twin Harbors area of Duluth and Superior Wisconsin. At 55 years old I walked through the first Japanese Peace Garden I have ever visited. A joint project between Duluth and their sister city Ohara-Isumi, Japan. We stopped at a Nature Center that I knew was closed but a Ranger went inside and brought a birding list to me. We ate our packed lunch in a park on the waterfront and watched the guys mow the park in preparation for an evening concert. Having mowed for park services ourselves, we watched and knew how annoying it is to mow in a heavily used area. Stop, wait for the pedestrian, turn the blades back on, make sure you are facing away from the people, stop again, wait and repeat. Eventually you get it mowed. We sat at our picnic table enjoying our lunch in the middle of it all, knowing we were “those people”.

Part of the Japanese Garden

Enger Tower

Lunch in the park

View of the Areal Lift Bridge from the tower. The park we ate lunch in is in the foreground

View from the tower of the barrier island the separates Lake Superior from the Saint Louis River

The most challenging piece of the day was the trek out to the Entry Point Lighthouse at the mouth of Superior and the Saint Louis River. The walkway deteriorated years ago. In order to get out to the lighthouse and get the full effect we navigated a quarter mile of break water granite boulders. Not for the faint of heart or old of joints. Champ bounced along like he was 20 of course. He is ever the gentleman and held out his hand many times to help me, my decrepit knees and fear of falling as I moved along much slower that he could move. We made it out and back and I have to say, it is the hardest I have ever worked to get to a lighthouse but is was so worth the extra effort. Every time I visit Lake Superior, I have such a hard time reminding myself that it is a lake and not an ocean as I gaze out at the vast expanse and endless horizon of the water. It is a remarkable place full of history and energy. Little wonder people are drawn here.

View from the Shore

Navigating the Breakwater

View of Duluth from the Lighthouse

Entry Point Lighthouse. Graffiti was disappointing but not surprising

Looking out at Lake Superior

View to the shore from the platform of the lighthouse

The weather is fall like here this week. Highs in the  70’s lows in the  50’s and virtually no humidity. People at home gave us the usual grief about why we think we need a vacation. In their eyes, we are always on vacation! Only a full timer gets it.

After canvasing the area, we are back sitting around a nice fire that has been so unappetizing in Iowa’s hot summer we almost forgot what it is like to sit around a campfire. Tomorrow we’ll explore in kayaks from the water side of the area. We realize we have missed out on a gem of an area all these years. We will have 4 more days and know we will only scratch the surface.

 

Until Next Time…