Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 1

At mid-morning on August 4th, Boyfriend Extraordinaire and I set out on our second "trip of a lifetime" around Lake Superior.

It was an uneventful drive, though the construction and traffic really irritated me and added to our drive time. Otherwise all was well.

We lunched at the Hardee's on the Oconto River where we realized how low and stagnant the water looked. Apparently, the drought has been bad this year. More with tradition was the reaction we got from the Hardee's staff when B.E. ordered a meatless burger. They just never know what to make of a vegetarian order, and this time was no different as two different staff members questioned the sanity of the cashier who took the order. Ah, those meat and potato loving Wisconsinites!

We made a brief stop at Rapid River Falls to check out what is always a serene and beautiful area. It wasn't ugly, but the river flowed so low that you could jump across the water in certain areas. The rapids were but mere trickles for most of the falls, but there was one area where water actually tumbled over a one-foot drop. Ooooh!



When we arrived at our "home base" at the Sunset Motel on the Bay, in Munising, the sun still hadn't set, so we headed right for our favorite place: Sand Point Beach.

An unusual sandbar had formed at the beach that jutted like a peninsula out into the bay. Kids were playing on the sandbar, looking eerily as if they were walking on water where they should have been hip-deep.



The sun was setting behind Grand Island, facing the beach across the bay, and the waves washed lightly over the sandbar, making it almost invisible. I could not resist -- I walked right into the water and out to the sandbar.




Never in my wildest dreams did I expect Boyfriend Extraordinaire to join me, since he's only touched Lake Superior once, always calling me the crazy one for wading and playing in the cold water. However, he surprised me and I turned around to find him following me. Soon he had followed the sandbar out into the water about 50 yards from the shore, and still was only about ankle deep, making him look like he too was walking on water.




This was our view of the shore and the beach when we'd finally hit knee-deep water.



The second spectacular trait about the beach was the soft sand. With nary a rock around, we could wander anywhere barefoot, with a cushy carpet of sand beneath our feet.




As we watched the kids playing on the sandbar and the sun set before us, a strange scene unfolded. A young woman with a videocamera started shooting the sunset. Her family was with her, though not within earshot, so her narration of the scene was for posterity on the tape. When the sun touched the horizon, she began counting, as if she could easily count the few seconds it took the sun to disappear. Well, it isn't that fast, and I think this might just have been the first sunset she ever saw if she tried to count it down. B.E. and I sat on a log and rolled our eyes as her countdown went on and on. By the time she reached 40 or 50, she got tired of counting and filming the nearly set sun and walked away. Tourists: pshaw!

Still, it was a nice sunset.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 2

The second day of the Circle Tour started early, after a disappointing discovery that the Munising Bakery was closed. We drove to Marquette for breakfast and then paid a visit to Presque Isle Park, which is always gorgeous. The rocky cliffs in Marquette are fairly typical of most of the shore around the lake, dramatic, dangerous and high.

I don't know why this sign made me laugh so much. All I could think was that there must be a rash of dwarf badminton teams taking over the tennis courts.




Our destination was Bruce Crossing, Michigan, and on the way there we stopped at Agate Falls just west of Trout Creek. The falls themselves are visible only from two areas: a trail high above the falls and a trestle high above the trail above the falls. I took the road more traveled while Boyfriend Extraordinaire took the road less traveled. This was my view of Agate Falls from the trail.



This was my view of the trestle where B.E. was looking down at the falls. There was no way I was going up there!




After checking in at our motel in Bruce Crossing, we headed straight for Bond Falls, which was spectacular.




There's a platform that leads around the bottom of the falls, over the water to an island, then across the rest of the water to the other side of the falls. In addition to the island in the middle that splits the water at the base in half, there are rock outcrops at the precipice that divide the falls in half. It easily became one of my favorite waterfalls.




The far side of the falls was my favorite.




Due to the drought, the water was low and the rocks were highly visible, exposing the vegetation and moss.



Again, it's the strangest things that amuse me.




From a different trail, we walked along the river at the top of the falls, where many smaller falls were just as nice to visit.




From there we ate at one of the two restaurants in town and then headed to Paulding, Michigan to see the mysterious and legendary Paulding Light.

I'm not going to perpetuate or ruin the rumors of the only tourist attraction this town has going for it, but suffice it to say that the waterfalls were far more interesting to me.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 3

The day started off well enough, but then we found ourselves in our third destination of Bessemer, Michigan, where we headed straight up Black River Road to see the waterfalls along Black River, which sounds like it would be nice, doesn't it?

First I have to remind you that I'm afraid of heights, which is only partially true because I not really afraid of the height. I'm afraid of falling. I'm afraid of tripping, tumbling, or the structure collapsing beneath my feet, and falling is something I'm only a hair away from doing whenever I am at any height.

We went to Sandstone Falls, which we've never seen.

Over 200 stairs down!

These were not normal stairs. They were two steps wide by one step high, framed with wood planks and full of dirt and weeds in the center.

Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire

As usual, I clung like mad to the railing, which actually saved me. About 3/4 of the way down, I took a misstep and landed with my foot half on the step frame and half on the center dirt, twisting my ankle and sending me violently down the stairs. I caught myself on the railing, whirled around, and narrowly managed to stop myself from tumbling down the stairs, that ended at a dirt path that towered over the rock that lead to the falls. It was my worst nightmare that almost came true! However, the only way to stop a twisted ankle from turning into something crippling is to walk it off, which I immediately did, and continued down the rest of the way to the falls. Despite the pain and incessant trembling in my legs from the fright, I climbed on the sandstone cliffs and Boyfriend Extraordinaire and I explored the magnificent falls.

Large pockets of water were trapped in holes in the rock, where B.E. discovered that crayfish were living. Unfortunately, he couldn't catch any.




The rocks along the falls were all slanted, making walking hard for someone without a twisted ankle, and positively awful for someone with one. It was also a bit disorienting when trying to walk straight. B.E. found many nooks and crannies to inspect as I tried to take it easy.



The slanted rocks were sometimes a stage for B.E. to act out his naturally comedic personality.





There were caves and arches of red sandstone to climb on and towering over us, hard and jagged, yet somehow plants and trees took root and thrived. I guess the will to live is not exclusive to humans.




It took a while to ascend the stairs back to the car, but we made it with only some slight dehydration to add to the ankle wound. I was still trembling. The trembling never stopped at all that day.

We drove to the harbor where the Black River meets Lake Superior and had a picnic at a picnic table in the shade. It soon became apparent that we were not alone. What I thought was a baby squirrel turned out to be one of a breed of very small squirrels that are prevalent in the area, and they are not much larger than a chipmunk, but a ton cuter!

We befriended this little guy with some bread and won for his heart and trust with some Cheetos. Once he showed he liked our lunch, we gave him the ultimate treat: a Cheeto with peanut butter on it. This little guy, literally, climbed right up onto the picnic table where we were sitting and ate off the surface across from us.




He'd eat half the Cheeto, then run up a nearby tree to hide the remainder.




Once he'd hidden his excess food, he came quickly back for more. I fell a little in love with this guy.




I took this cute video footage of him sitting with us. Don't you just love him?!




B.E. hiked a long way into the woods to see Rainbow Falls, while I sat in the car with the air conditioning blasting and tried not to fall asleep. This is the photo he took of the falls I skipped.

Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire

And this is the idiot who was also checking out the falls, climbing on the wet rocks and getting way too close to death.

Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire

From there we returned town, checked into our very clean and inexpensive motel room at the Travelers' Motel in Bessemer. Dinner was wonderful at Tacconelli's, and we slept like babies!

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 4

It's quite strange how the cheapest motel we stayed in was one of the nicest. The Travelers Motel in Bessemer, Michigan is one I'll return to anytime. Leaving the next morning was not easy, but we did have to go.

From Bessemer, we drove north to a beach called Little Girl Point, which is heaven for rock hounds like us. The temperature was somewhere in the 80s and the sun was so bright that the conditions actually drew others to the beach. It's hard to believe the gorgeous beaches all along Lake Superior are almost empty on hot summer days. If I lived near here, I'd be here everyday.




Oh, and the rocks! OOOOH!




Much to my surprise, Boyfriend Extraordinaire even waded into the water, but it was only after I'd been in for quite some time, talking about all the minnows I could see swimming all around my legs that he finally decided to check out the water. Sure enough, he spent the whole time following the fishies.




When the bugs had irritated me to the point of a near breakdown, we left for Ashland, Wisconsin.
It seemed the entire town of Ashland was covered in mayflies -- it was disgusting. We had to sweep the car and doors each time we wanted to enter somewhere, and it didn't get any less gross the longer we were there.

When we first arrived into town, we passed a wagon that sold "Indian Tacos" and frybread. Instantly we were intrigued. We bought some fry bread (delicious!) and somehow the owner of the cart felt friendly enough to share with us the political controversy involving his harmless mobile food selling vehicle and the owner of the local Subway who fought to have him removed from adjacent property. We were sucked into the story and vowed not to eat at the Subway. Despite the politics, if you ever get a chance to try fry bread or Indian Tacos, do so!




Dinner was fabulous at the Deep Water Grille.

That night B.E. had control of the television and he forced me to watch one of the most nauseating and awful movies I've ever seen, The Born Losers. How I managed to stay up until 2 am waiting for that movie to get good (which never happened), I'll never know. From that point on, B.E.'s television choices were scrutinized, and I often tried to commandeer the remote before he could. Jeeze, what a horrible experience!

We slept well, if not enough that night.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 5

Leaving Ashland, Wisconsin was something we did eagerly, though we were extremely tired making the trip up the Bayfield Peninsula to the town of Bayfield, WI.

First we stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center and we somehow engaged the nice woman in the gift shop with conversation, getting her to open up, and then she admitted she is one of the two authors of a recently published book about the Pictured Rocks in Munising. How fortunate of us! An actual author/photographer was standing before us! We chatted for a while about the book and she encouraged us to do a photographic book on the Circle Tour, which hasn't been done to our knowledge. She explained that they self-published their book and were already cashing checks beyond their expenses, so making money wasn't unheard of for a book with a relatively narrow reader base. Hmmmm... something to think about.

On the way to Bayfield, somewhere along the way, I saw a roadside gift shop that was a bit unusual, with gigantic totem poles for sale. Well, I love totem poles so we had to stop. An hour later, we were on the road again, having spent the time touring the workshop and property of these creative old men carving some really great statues.

This one was an 8-foot tall, lantern-holding wizard, which was being finished in their work area.




With a variety of finishes, various stages of completion, and the veritable zoo of creatures to see, it was quite a sight.




The totem poles were my favorites, and they made this style in a variety of sizes, in addition to having a very cute one with different Santas piled on top of each other.




Bears were the most common animals found among the sculptures, and they were really adorable.




We even were able to watch one of the guys in action.




This is the work area where the main carver worked, and many pieces were around that he seemed to be keeping busy with. He explained that he was in his 70s and had only been carving for about 20 years -- it seemed to us to be the kind of art someone pursues their entire life, looking for a market, but it seems to have all happened very easily for him in the later years of his life. Good for him!




My favorite piece was a dragon rocking horse (?) he kept in the back.





Maybe it was the heat and humidity, or maybe it was the bad night sleep the night before, but as soon as we got to Bayfield, we checked in at the Seagull Bay Motel (very nice place!) and passed out for an afternoon nap. We woke up late in the evening and were immediately hungry, but due to the late hour, there were few restaurants open. We ended up at a restaurant as they were closing and had, perhaps, the worst meal we had on the entire trip. Bluck. I may never eat fish again. Anyway, we went back to the room and fell right back asleep again. Bayfield isn't a sleepy town usually. I don't know what got into us but we figured it was okay because we were on vacation.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 6

Bayfield, Wisconsin has much to offer tourists, from scenery to gift shops, but if you go, you must have breakfast at the Egg Toss Cafe. Mmmmm!

It was a sunny day until we left the restaurant, and then the drizzling began. We drove to the marina and watched the boaters panic and bring their boats in from the water, which was scenic itself, but the storm was small and you could see the clear sky in the distance. It seemed a lot of effort to stop sailing just because of a little rain.




Soon the harbor was packed.




We left town and drove a couple miles to the Redcliff Indian Reservation, where we visited a gift shop and spoke with the proprietor about the area. The reservation near Ashland, Wisconsin called Bad River had actually halted their annual wild rice harvest because of the severity of the drought. The concern was that harvesting the grains now would permanently damage the plants and ruin not just one year of yield, but all future years. Never before had a drought been so bad that it resulted in canceling the wild rice season. Very sad.

From there, we went to Cornucopia, where the village is as quaint as it is small. Next to the used book store, I found a hummingbird hovering at some flowers.




For a former fishing village, the buildings seemed to display quite a bit of feminine influence.




It seemed to me that sailboats in Cornucopia were attracted to the small harbor and quieter setting, compared with the very touristy town of Bayfield.




After Cornucopia, we found a wayside to stop at and we hiked a short way along a path that wound down to the lake. All along the trail and all over the area there were tansies like this one.




Boyfriend Extraordinaire found some scat on the pathway and announced that it was predator poop. From the consistency, it was clear that the animal who left these droppings ate another hairy animal because it was full of fur. We deduced that due to the size of the poops and the amount of hair inside, it could have been left by a wolf. Yay!




The view just from the wayside in this area is fabulous!




While B.E. explored the rocks near the shore, I took some macro shots of this cute little flower. Is it just me, or is it perfect that these little yellow flowers so prevalent in Wisconsin seem to resemble cows?




A short side trip was necessary to visit Amnicon Falls, which we'd seen just two years ago at the highest it's been, and we were curious to compare with what we guessed was its lowest in history. Quite a contrast. The last time we were here, you couldn't even see the rocks from all the water rushing over the edge. Every rock in the scene below was under water the last time. Now, there was hardly a flow at all.




One of the few benefits of a drought is that you can see more of the ancient rocks and all the plantlife that lives in the falls, which is beautiful too.




Amnicon Falls is surrounded by a gorgeous forest of red pines -- my favorites!




The red sandstone cliffs surrounding the river are fragile and pretty in and of themselves.




The suspended bridge over the river was hardly necessary. With little water below, it's easy just to walk across the base.




So, we stomped around the river bed, viewing the falls from the water below.




Upstream, the dry river's bed was just as jagged and scenic as the falls.




We eventually made it to Superior, Wisconsin for the night, where we again crashed and crashed hard. What a day!

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 7

While staying at a very cheap hotel in Superior, I realized something that became a repeated theme of the trip: if you're staying in a dump, don't ask the staff to recommend a restaurant or they will recommend a food dump.

So true. Proven repeatedly.

**B.E. wants you to know he liked the dumpy restaurant in Superior, where he got two eggs and toast, which he said were good, and cost a mere $2. My food was not as impressive, and I'm sorry, but I just cannot get comfortable and eat in a place that has 25 tables and only one, not separated, designated for non-smokers. It was like eating in a bar, and the smell of smoke would not come off me for hours. I thought it was rank. B.E. liked the prices. I guess it's a question of priorities.

The original plan was to depart early for Duluth, MN and visit the zoo. The plans changed the evening before when Boyfriend Extraordinaire was reading the local newspaper during his coffee break and the cover story was about how the star of the Lake Superior Zoo, a polar bear named Bubba died that day. A dead polar bear?! I was distraught! There would be no visit to the zoo! Particularly when I read on about the trouble the zoo as having, how it lost its accreditation, etc. No, I think we should visit the Great Lake Aquarium again!

Which we did -- and it was fun!

As always, the fish were cool, but only the mammals, birds and reptiles can hold my attention.




One of the most beautiful creatures: a male wood duck.




Swimming with the wood ducks were another pair of ducks (or are they loons?), who were less shy. This pretty girl had the most striking eyes!




The ducks shared an enclosure with the plovers, who screamed nonstop. Seriously. I was starting to wonder if they needed to be muzzled.




Truly, the highlight of visiting this aquarium is the opportunity to pet stingrays, and when we're lucky, we also time it right so we can see the stingray feeding, which is great.

This is me petting a stingray. They are bumpier and rougher than I thought, and only smooth and soft on the edges of their "wings".




It never fails. Whenever the public views a stingray, no matter how long it's been, someone in the group has to mention Steve Irwin, which I think is a disservice to stingrays and to Mr. Irwin. I could stand around crocodiles all day and never hear anyone mention his name, but 15 seconds around a stingray tank, and some bozo is telling everyone that these guys killed Steve Irwin. Inevitably, a staff member explains that the barbs on the pettable stingrays have been removed for everyone's safety, but only the children (and me... and B.E.) will pet them. Sad.

Thus, this is B.E. petting a stingray. The only thing cooler would be the opportunity to swim with them!




There was also a tank with pettable sturgeon, which are B.E.'s favorite fish, so he was happy to pet one.




Normally, the otters are the most fun and it's impossible to contain giggles when they're out and about, but today, the napping otter was not so funny. Cute! But he made me want to nap too.




Luck isn't normally on my side, but we were so fortunate to have done the circle tour and landed in Duluth at this time, because the aquarium had a special temporary exhibit of sea horses! I LOVE SEA HORSES! LOVE!!! And I've never seen one up close, so I spent a LOT of time with these guys.

The coolest thing is that they use their tails as anchors. You could look into the tanks and think they were empty, then realize that all the trees and shrubs in the tank were full of sea horses, with their tails wrapped around branches holding them in place.




My pictures are dark, but you can kinda see the round white bellies of the Potbelly Sea Horses in the plant, and the sea horses at the bottom, eating brine shrimp.







Boyfriend Extraordinaire took the following two photos. His camera cooperates more in dark settings. My camera requires a lot more light and most of my pictures were unrecognizable. Notice how when there are no trees to wrap tails around, they connect their tails to each other. They're so weird!





After an eternity at the aquarium and a brief visit to the gift shop where I bought myself a stuffed sea horse and B.E. a pair of bear boxer shorts (his first boxer shorts ever), we left.

Blues Fest was going on in Duluth that weekend, and being a big blues fan, B.E. insisted on sitting in the shade of a tree outside of the aquarium to listen to the live blues music blasting from nearby Canal Park. I sat there patiently for as long as I could, but I don't really like blues that much, nor do I like being outdoors when the weather is in the 90s. However, I could take no more when I started getting bit by a green bug I'd never seen before and I stomped off to the car. Despite my mini tantrum, B.E. was satisfied with the 20 or 30 minutes of listening he got in and we set off to find our hotel.

Folks, sometimes cheap isn't the most important thing.

It turns out (after getting lost and having to ask directions) I made a reservation at a motel in West Duluth, and not only was it one scary-looking place, but the people who ran it were scary-looking. We checked in and immediately left the room, debating what to do now that the room was paid for and there were few, if any, available rooms in the entire city, thanks to the Blues Fest. So, we tried to put it out of our head and went to Hawk Ridge.

Skyline Parkway was closed! Under construction! GAH! B.E. convinced me to drive up the street anyway, which I did, and we made it to Hawk Ridge. We waited a while, but it was so hot out and the wrong time of year for viewing big predatory birds, so we left fairly quickly.

I did take this picture of a large ore ship leaving the harbor. The view at Hawk Ridge is indescribable!




I had this idea that we could approach from the east and maybe Skyline Parkway would be accessible from there, so we could see Seven Bridges Road. CLOSED! They tore the whole street up! Well, we did what everyone else was doing, drove around the barriers, parked, and walked to Lester River.

There were two groups of teens swimming far below the last remaining bridge, and I couldn't help but watch them dive off the rocks into the river below. They had to have found the only deep area of water on the entire river, because it was so dry that it was barely flowing. And they jumped from HIGH up on the rocks!

This is a picture B.E. took facing the kids. The trickle on the left is the river and the tiny glint of water at the bottom is the pool they jumped into. That had to be a 20-foot drop with 10 feet of rocks that you had to jump away from to hit the water. Nuts!




I was high above them on a bridge and I shot this video of them all taking a final dive before calling it a day. As scary as it looked, they clearly had fun.




Knowing how ugly and gross our motel room was, we dawdled and did everything we could to waste time so we wouldn't have to return to it. We had a long and languid dinner at a sub place, which was DELISH! I'd had a terrible craving for a deli pickle everyday of the trip and was finally able to satisfy that hunger at this wonderful deli. Finally, we dragged ourselves out of the building and resigned ourselves to returning to our terrible room for the night. The only good thing was it had air conditioning.

When we got back to the room, perhaps because of all the activities of the day or the lack of daylight, the room didn't seem so awful. We did barricade the doors and windows and debate whether to sleep under the covers at all, but it wasn't as bad as we thought. However, we did not shower in that horrible bathroom and spent as little time as possible in there. We did sleep like babies, though. I guess the trick is to wear yourselves out so that you just don't care about the motel room.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 8

We escaped the grungy motel without any noticeable rashes or visitations by creatures with more than two legs. We expected them and they never came. We were relieved.

I have always liked Duluth, and after 5+ years of looking for a job in the Munising/Marquette, Michigan area, without a single nibble, I had been seriously considering Duluth as an alternative. And then... we couldn't find a breakfast restaurant. For an hour and a half (!!!) we drove around downtown Duluth (avoiding Canal Park because it was infested with people for Blues Fest) looking for a non-bar restaurant to grab some eggs for our morning meal, and there WERE NONE!! Sure, we could've had a greasy drive-thru meal at a fast food chain, but we wanted some damn eggs, toast and bacon! Jeebus, Duluth, get a breakfast restaurant, will ya?!

We did see much of Duluth. A few mysteries were discovered.

Why do all the sewers exhale steam, even when it's 90º outside?

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

How is it they can have a casino in the middle of downtown? Is Duluth on a reservation or is it the new Vegas or Atlantic City?

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

The whole building? Just for women? What the...?

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

We were starting to see a pattern on this trip. In Bruce Crossing we passed up on the opportunity to rent a room from Carl's Gun Shop and Motel, opting instead to stay at a motel/restaurant combo. Strange bedfellows, a gun shop and motel. We saw more and more businesses pop up that combined unusual things. Like this bar and apartments combo.

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

Anyway, these were all taken while looking for breakfast!

We ended up driving around so long that it became lunchtime and we had a sandwich at Jimmy John's for breakfast. It was good, but then again, it's always good at JJ's.

Then we began our search for a laundromat. Having located one near the college campus (which was the obvious place to look), I set about washing all our soiled clothes while B.E. wandered off who-knows-where, seeking out garage sales on foot. He returned just in time to help load up the car. Coincidence that he didn't arrive until all the work was done? I think not.

Once again, it was 90º in Duluth and we hadn't the energy to do much except drive to our next destination and bid Duluth adieu. I was very ready to escape the city chaos! Duluth is far too big for me to move to. I will have to keep looking.

An absolute necessity is a stop at Stoney Point, just north of Duluth. The soft, smooth rock outcrops and the cool blue water of Lake Superior make this a delightful area no matter when you go.




There were a few animals we saw on this trip en mass. Like, worthy of considering a plague due to their numbers, and these grasshoppers were definitely the most prevalent living things we saw. They were EVERYWHERE. And their little clicking was audible everywhere we went. I swear, just the ones I saw numbered in the millions. But they were cute. And at Stoney Point, it seemed impossible to move without running into one.




This area is one of the few around the lake where the rocks (maybe part of the Canadian Shield -- I'd have to check) are smooth and ancient.






The view was great, as I sat on the rocks and let the waves lap at my toes. Then I heard some children yelling and turned around to see a frightening sight. A mom in her early forties-ish was climbing around on the high rocks wearing a skirt. A short skirt. *Blink, blink* What posesses people to wear skirts to the beach? What was this woman thinking, climbing on large rocks like that? Did she want us to be blinded by her undies? Sheesh! I tried not to look, but every time I turned around, there she was with one leg up on a huge rock, staring out at her kids or the water. MY EYES, WOMAN! MY EYES!




I had to move to the other side of the shore to escape.

Beyond the smooth rocks that make up the shoreline are the beautiful stones at the bottom of the lake. I love rocks. And it was so damn hot out, when I found my new relaxing spot, I immediately went right into the water and sat on one of the larger rocks poking out of the water, with my feet dangling in.




I took that picture and then I decided that I wanted a movie of the serenity of these rocks in the waves for when I get back to my boring life and want a sweet escape. Ahhhh!




And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, something divine occurred!

A couple appeared. With two dogs. And the dogs were awesome! And he had tennis balls which the dogs retrieved. In the water! They were great dogs! One ran past me and stopped for one second to shake all the water off himself, getting me soaking wet, and then he ran on while I squealed. Dogs are good! Dogs improve everything! Let there be dogs!

It was a perfect moment!




Boyfriend Extraordinaire does something very entertaining when we get to a nice area of shoreline. He builds boats out of debris. I will run straight for the water and begin wading while picking up pretty rocks and stuffing them into my pockets, and he's up at the top of the beach gathering his hull, a sail, a rudder, etc. With his Trim Trio (an infamous -- between us -- little mini Swiss Army Knife), he shapes branches, bark and feathers into sailboats and we then launch them into the water.

This one we dubbed Number 1, because it was the first one he made. Number 1 sailed far and we lost sight of her eventually. She was the grandest of them all.



Number 2 did quite well, too. They both went south toward Duluth, far beyond our sight. Who else crafts such fine vessels out of debris?




Number 3 did not fare as well. The wind shifted and it capsized almost immediately after launching, but the capsized boat floated on for quite a ways.

B.E. changed the design on Number 4, afraid that the sails were too big and the rudders too small, and we put all our hope into Number 4, that she would make it and join 1 and 2 and make an armada.




Number 4 struggled with the wind shift, which was pushing her inland, but she managed to narrowly escape a collision with a gigantic rock and we thought she was home free.

That's when the Redneck Boys discovered her.

Rather than cheer her on and admire the primitive designs that are still successful today, they heaved rocks at her! Those beasts! Fortunately, they were bumbling fools, those Redneck Boys, and they couldn't hit her. Rock after rock they threw, cheering one another on as B.E. and I paced on the shore farther down.

We yelled, "GO! GO, NUMBER 4!" and Number 4 went! She really did. She tried so hard! The wind was pushing her toward the Redneck Boys, but she fought it and we cheered for her.

Then Redneck Dad shouted, "C'mon, Boys! Time to go!"

B.E. was so protective of his little boat that he repeated the dad's call, "Time to go! Dad's calling!"

The Redneck Boys ignored their dad and the dad kept calling to them. Finally he got fed up and walked down the rocky shore to where they were. He reiterated that it was time to go, but when he realized what they were doing, being the bumbling fool of a Redneck Dad that he was, he too picked up rocks and started throwing them at Number 4!

We were horrified! Redneck Dad had better aim! Number 4 seemed doomed! We shouted to her, encouraged her, hoped with all our hearts that a strong wind would carry her out of harm's way or at least make the Redneck Family stupider so that they started throwing rocks at each other. Redneck Dad came so close that we closed our eyes, knowing Number 4 was done, but she never went down! Eventually the Rednecks got tired of their sport and went home, much to our relief, and Number 4 sailed on.

We like to think that Number 4 joined up with Numbers 1 and 2 and they still sail around Lake Superior today.

*Sigh...*

The temperature was dropping and we still had miles to cover, so we left Stoney Point and B.E.'s boats, which were somewhere far away now, and we headed to Two Harbors for the night.

For dinner we tried to stop at Betty's Pies, but it was so crowded that we decided to play a little more at Flood Bay, collecting rocks and building more boats. After 8:00, the sun started to set and the mosquitoes were too much to handle, so I hid in the car while B.E. continued launching boats at the water. For an hour we played and then my hunger was overwhelming, so we gave Betty's Pies another chance.

Lo, and the people were gone! Hallelujah!

Wild rice burgers, fries and pies! What more could you ask for?

The Voyageur Motel was a LUXURY SUITE compared with our previous two nights, and we were thrilled to have a tiny room with no air conditioning adjacent to the noisy office. Wow! What a nice place!

The funny thing was the shower. There was one light in the bathroom, and the shower was almost around the corner from the light and sink, so when you closed the shower curtain, you were plunged into darkness. After two nights of staying in motels where I was afraid to shower, having a cave was a vast improvement and I showered for a very long time in the dark! It was wonderful! I felt clean for the first time in many days. It was a good night.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 9

Two Harbors is a great town! We had breakfast at the wonderful yet trendy Vanilla Bean Cafe, where businessmen in their late twenties, wearing cargo shorts and sandals, sat at tiny tables eating their Vanilla Bean's signature omelets and discussed the future of US economics. I learned that Portland is bunking the trend of the nation and is responsible for making Oregon the only state that is making economic improvements. Or so one fella said. Another talked about when he would be ready to buy his own company to run -- you know, when he's in his thirties. He was considering what type of business he wanted to take on. I laughed. What's really nice about being a librarian is that when you go on vacation, you don't sit with other librarians in trendy cafes in remote towns and discuss the future of libraries and their impact on the country, with the naive and self-righteous sense of your importance in the world and when you're going to take over and make things better. Okay, maybe some librarians do. I'm just glad I don't vacation with any of them. Whew!

After breakfast, we wandered around a street fair, where crafters, artists and the like had booths to showcase their work. Most of the artists were friendly. Some looked as if they hated their customers almost as much as they hated their own lives. And, of course, we somehow found the one really friendly, really chatty photographer, who we yakked away the minutes with because he shot some easily recognizable photos of Pictured Rocks. He said folks on the North Shore of Minnesota looked at pictures of Pictured Rocks and marveled that they had beige sandstone, as their sandstone is a deep red. Funny how different things are with so little distance between them. He recommended some places to go for good photos and we finally left thinking that photographers are the best people around. And they are.

A visit to the rock shop in town illustrated that we have been passing up some agates that we thought were worthless rocks and we vowed to pay closer attention to the rocks without the obvious stripes.

As we drove out of town, Boyfriend Extraordinaire noticed another business that seemed to combine two unlikely services. I wonder how they do this.

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

Off to Silver Bay we were! And through the Silver Creek Cliff tunnel!

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

(Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire)

Having had our fair share of tourists, we decided to skip Gooseberry Falls, which we'd been warned by the friendly photographer would be nothing but a trickle. Hardly worth the effort. We also chose to skip the typical tour of Split Rock Lighthouse, instead getting a park permit and visiting the campground to the south of the lighthouse. I'd read that the view is fabulous and the water is warm. Exactly what we were looking for!

My map wasn't exactly accurate and we found ourselves at a section of the shoreline way off the bay where we were aiming for. The walk was nice and these flowers (which I used to remember the name for, but now it escapes me) were everywhere.




When we arrived at the wrong spot, we discovered a pair of rock sculptures greeting us. Suddenly, I felt very near the Canadian border. Inukshuks they weren't, but they certainly could have been cousins.




Purists might disagree, but I really think the far-off view of Split Rock Lighthouse is superior to anything close up.




Down at the bay, the water was calm enough to swim in, but due to its protected state, it was slimy and gross. B.E. began his boat-making again. This is one proud boat-maker.



And these boats had just the right amount of wind, going in the right direction, because they took off around the island in no time and were never seen again. How cute are these guys!




I think he launched Numbers 5, 6, and 7 from this spot, and they all were heading straight for Canada.




Since we were in much more civilized country, people gathered around and watched him launch, encouraging him and asking about how he made his boats. Could anything have pleased him more? I think not. A British family stopped and chatted with us for a while and they seemed to really appreciate his boats, wanting to know how he got started and such. It was rather amusing getting to listen to him talk about his craft. And then we all watched the little boats race out into open water, laughing and cheering them on. It felt much like I was living in a Peanuts strip.

On the way back to the car, I encountered a pretty bumblebee with an orange stripe on his/her butt. Perhaps I've seen the orange-striped butts before, but I couldn't remember ever seeing it. Look at the saddlebags of pollen collected on his thighs. How cool!



We made it to Silver Bay, checked in at the Mariner Motel, which is a really nice place, and then headed back to their bay to check on the scenery.

B.E. has a coffee break at around 5:00 everyday, no matter where we are or what we're doing. You can count on it more than the sun rising and setting. And his coffee break usually consists of him drinking gas station coffee, eating stale cookies, and reading some novel he's dragged along with us. When we settled in at the bay, he drifted off into his book while I watched the water and beat the flies out of the car. He was not appreciating the scenery at all, so when I saw something in the water far down the pier, I did what any self-respecting girlfriend being ignored would do. I got his attention the only way I knew how.

No, I didn't flash him.

I said, "Hey, there's these things in the water up there, and you're not even looking! They could be otters!" And the little black things moving in the water at the end of the rocks probably COULD have been otters, but the odds were not good.



Didn't matter.

Magic words.

B.E. from California jumps at the chance to see these things, as there aren't too many otters swimming around by his house. Without applying much thought or logic, he leaped out of the car and started hustling down the pier. He beckoned to me, but I decided to keep watching. There was no point breaking a sweat for something that might be, if miracles do take place, a pair of otters, which he would surely scare off in his haste. I watched for a few more moments and suddenly the "otters" appeared more clearly.

Are those oxygen tanks on their backs? Do otters need oxygen tanks?




The really funny thing was that B.E. leaped onto the rocks with such zeal that he didn't navigate his footing very well. He didn't fall, but after he realized that the otters were actually divers, he found he wasn't able to easily descend these massive boulders he had climbed. Others had the same problem. I stood on the pier watching person after person climb the rocks eagerly and then have no clue how to get down. One woman scooted on her butt, which looked awkward and painful, so much so that I could hardly watch. When the rest of the crowd had disappeared, B.E. found a way down that didn't require him to scoot or fear death. It did take a while to find the right way down, though. All for some fake otters. Heehee!

We went to a delightful restaurant called the Northern Lights Roadhouse & Pub and had a good meal with a fantastic view of their garden and the water. While we were dining there, we saw the friendly photographer from Two Harbors stop in and speak with the proprietors. They were selling his pictures in their gift shop! How cool!

With a full day behind us, we slept well that night with thoughts of the next day's adventures making us giddy. Oooh, the fun to come in Ely, Minnesota ...!

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 10

ELY!

We left Silver Bay completely pumped about going to Ely. The route was supposed to be laden with moose, and one book even said that if you drove along it at dawn or sundown, you were guaranteed to see a moose. This was our day for exciting wildlife, we decided.

Well, the road was under construction. We were rerouted down dirt logging roads through the forest, for about 25-30 miles. Though the speed limit was 35 mph, I couldn't do more than 20 with confidence due to the narrow road and utter invisibility through the trees. Any twist or turn in the road could put me face-to-face with an animal, another car, or worse, a logging truck, and I wouldn't see it coming unless it was directly in front of me. These were some of the darkest, densest forests I've ever seen. And the road was a wreck too. The one-hour drive took 2½ hours! It was very irritating and I had to pee! Plus, we saw nothing more than the ever present chipmunks.

When we finally got to Ely, we were exhausted. We checked into our motel, which was actually a half of a cabin, and tried to decide what to do. We didn't have much of the day left.

Given that the North American Bear Center closed earliest, we chose to go there. The NABC has only been open since May of this year, and while I didn't know what to expect because the website isn't exactly jam-packed with information on their exhibits, I hoped for some bear sightings. Hoped. I had no idea what we'd see.

We walked into the front door and were awed by the size of the building and the vastness of the exhibits. It didn't look this big on the outside. Before my eyes could take it all in, I saw movement in front of a large window wall and immediately recognized a gigantic bear butt right in front of the window.

I couldn't speak in sentences. All I could squeal was, "Bear butt!" Eventually B.E. figured out what I was talking about. I could not pay the admission to enter fast enough. The woman tried to tell me about the two adult bears and the bear cub wandering around the outside exhibit, but I didn't hear much of what she said. There was a big bear nearby and I wanted a closer look.

By the time I got over there, the big bear had wandered off, but the cub was still frolicking around with the woman in charge of their exhibit.

Meet Lucky. Lucky is a 6-month-old black bear cub found in the wild, orphaned and far too comfortable with people to ever be safe, so unexpectedly the NABC took in this cub. He's too cute for words, and I snapped this shot of him rolling around in the sunflowers.




Lucky is still afraid of the other bears, Ted and Honey, but he loves human companionship.

Then Ted lumbered back into view. What a huge bear! 700 pounds! And cuddly!

When Ted was around, Lucky found other places to play, allowing Ted to have some quality time with his human playmate.



Look at those bear toes!



Later on, we were able to chat with the woman who played with the bears, and she explained that Ted likes to give bear hugs. Harmless and affectionate to him, but potentially deadly to the person he likes. They've trained him to sit and touch hands with the handlers. Evidently the only person who can handle a hug from Ted is Lynn Rodgers, the man who created this wonderful place.

Ted is a total ham. He loves attention and will spend hours in front of the windows interacting with and posing for the visitors. He's the star of the show!

There is a balcony you can walk out on that goes over the bears' exhibit, and we spent quite some time out there watching Ted and listening to him grunt and groan.




What a face!




Lucky scooted up a tree and fell asleep about 15 feet up, so Ted was easily the bear of the hour. And he knew it.




After relaxing in the wood chips for a while, he got up to take a drink from the pond. Bear butts are even cuter when they're dirty!




I was in love. I wanted to take Ted home with me. I wanted one of his bear hugs and I wanted rub my face in those cute little round furry ears. How could you not love this guy?




And then he started rolling around props in his exhibit. By "props" I mean tree trunks. Tree trunks that I couldn't move to save my life, he effortlessly started tossing them around the place. Okay, so maybe he wouldn't make such a good roommate, but he's still the cutest bear around!



And, I will always love him.

The exhibits at the NABC were really interesting and informative, not presented in the bland and educational way many wildlife exhibits are. There were bear comics, newspaper articles and actual bear videos playing on a loop constantly, at about a dozen different places. We learned about body language, what they eat, how to identify their scat and tracks, the sounds they make and the meanings, and we learned about many bear myths that have perpetuated, despite attempts to educate the masses. There was even an entire section about the real life "Grizzly Man" and his wife/girlfriend who were killed by bears while they shot a documentary about them. The exhibit explained what many weren't aware of, and that was all the mistakes this unprepared couple made around wild bears and what eventually led to their deaths. It really made me want to take everything I learned and share it with everyone. However, the truth is that you need to experience it yourself. I was thoroughly impressed, and though the exhibits are incomplete and still in need of sponsorship, what I did learn in the time I was there far outweighed everything I knew about bears up to that point. They've done a very good job at the NABC and I hope they're around for a long, long time.


The NABC closes at 6 pm and we had to force ourselves to leave at 6:10. Ted was still sitting in front of the window rolling around and it was difficult to leave him, thinking I'll probably never get this close to another bear in my life.

We did somehow tear ourselves out and half-heartedly found a decent Italian restaurant in town, Sir G's and then returned to our half-cabin.

The half-cabin was one cabin that was turned into two by walling up the center, so having only one neighbor was cool. We were also next door to a Dairy Queen, and after the sun set and things got quiet, we walked next door for some ice cream.

Ely is a great town and seems to be thriving thanks to the Boundary Water and Canoe Area, which was hopping. It seems canoeing and kayaking have made some kind of humongous resurgence in popularity and half the cars we encountered on the trip had some kind of canoe or kayak on the roof. Really amazing. Or maybe I'm just out of the loop and it's always been popular. Whatever.

Though it's quite a trek from just about anywhere, I do recommend Ely as a really cool place to go.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 11

Waking on Tuesday morning in Ely meant we needed to check out of our half-cabin, find a place to eat breakfast, and perhaps the most anticipated stop on the entire Circle Tour trip, we were gonna see some wolves!

The International Wolf Center is a place I've wanted to visit for years! I've been everywhere on their website, I've read all the wolf logs, watched the videos, and spent ample time ogling their live webcams for many, many months. We were going to see the wolf celebrities I'd gotten to know online! I could not have been more excited.

When we arrived and paid our admission, the cashier said that if we get to the viewing area and the wolves aren't around, someone will go out and call them so that they come down by the windows. I was pumped! No matter what, we'd see wolves today!

We took our time reading the exhibits, learning about wolf behavior, and then made our way to the windows.

Nothing. People were sitting on benches yawning.

Someone was kind enough to point out that one of the wolves's snouts was visible above the den, but you had to look closely. Oh yes. That is a wolf snout! In fact, I can see the whole head!

In fact, I think that's Maya!

As soon as we noticed her, she got up, stretched, yawned, walked around the den, went inside, and a large puff of dirt shot out the opening as she swished about with her feet, and then she was all but invisible.




Hours went by. B.E. sprawled out on a bench with his hat over his face and took a nap. I paced. I searched shadows. I tried to call to them with my mind! No wolves showed up.

They taught two classes in the time we sat there waiting for a wolf to show, and I spent about 45 minutes in the gift shop too, and missed nothing. During the second class, the instructor said that if the wolves did not make an appearance during the class, she'd call them down. The class was an hour long. It was such a long hour!

Finally, about 20 minutes after the class ended, one of the staff members went outside and called to the wolves, each one of them by name.

Sleepily, they started trotting out of the woods. First Shadow, the alpha male, drowsily walked down, stretching and yawning all the way, then the other three, Grizzer, Malik and Maya appeared. They went straight for the gates and seemed to each receive a snack for their kind showing. These were the sleepiest wolves I'd ever seen. (Not that I've seen many. These were my first.)

I cannot tell the arctic wolves apart very well. One has a spot on his tail, and that might be Malik. I think Shadow has some spots on his snout, but I'm not sure. They say Shadow is much larger, but it is too hard to tell unless they're next to one another. Maya and Grizzer are easier to distinguish. Maya has more brown on her snout. No matter what, they're gorgeous.




And, they struck me as leaner and smaller than I imagined wolves would be. Even the males. According to the information provided, they eat once a week on Sundays, so two days later they should be full and happy still. I was thinking they looked like they needed a second helping. Or maybe, because I think this is Malik, the lowest ranking male, maybe he doesn't get as much to eat. Those legs look so scrawny!




Shadow was the first down, but I was caught off guard and didn't get a good shot of him approaching. He was also the first to leave the gated area and lay down at the foot of a young tree while the others socialized at the gate. He clearly was in charge because when they'd all gotten their snacks and began relaxing near him, he tilted his head up and sniffed the air, as if he was getting a scented signal from afar. The other wolves did the same, sniffing the air. He stood up suddenly and and led them back to the woods, and they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.


This is Shadow, casually waiting for the other wolves to join him.




Maya looked a little scruffy, like she had bed-head, only all over.




Grizzer looked tough, even when he's yawning.




Malik hung around the gate the longest, probably looking for more hand-outs, and when he finally joined Shadow lounging in the sun, the group was ready to move on.




Maya was the last to leave the area, and she not only strolled right in front of the windows, but she first went into the den, then went out the back, rubbed all along the far gate, plopped down on the dirt near the top of the den, and then finally joined the others hidden in the woods. She seems to be the most independent of the pack. You go girl!




This is Malik, craning his neck to smell the air, which carried some invisible scent indicating that they needed to go back into the woods. Totally wild.




While I really loved the opportunity and I know that wolves don't like the heat, I was thoroughly disappointed that we had a 15-second visit by the wolves, after hours and hours of patiently waiting. Then again, I guess we were lucky to get that. It's just that the highlight of the trip was only a few seconds long and over far too quick. I guess I'd have to find another highlight of the trip.

Not to insult the great wolf encounter, but I was hoping for more. It really was cool and next year they're going to be getting pups, so that should be a really great addition to the exhibit. It was just bad timing on our part. A woman who had been there since it opened said she got to see all of them romping around, howling and having a grand time at about 9 that morning, and they'd only disappeared around when I arrived. Figures! Maybe next time.

From there we drove back down the horrible logger roads to Silver Bay, and though it was late afternoon and the sun was setting, there were no moose to be seen. There was much pouting on my part, but whenever I felt disappointed, I thought of Ted at the North American Bear Center and the trip was so worth it!

We stayed at the Mariner Motel again that night and were upgraded to a suite for no extra charge! We had dinner delivered, and although the food was mediocre at best, it was good to be back by the lake again, where we belonged.

Lake Superior Circle Tour -- Day 12

After a restful night at the Mariner, we grabbed a quick breakfast at a local restaurant and I debated fiercely whether or not to tell Boyfriend Extraordinaire about a nearby attraction. Palisade Head is a 200-foot-high cliff that you drive up and can walk around on. The view is reputed to be spectacular, but I could not see myself enjoying that height one bit. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to drive the precarious road leading up to the lookout. It was a difficult decision and I finally told him I was taking him somewhere and I wasn't getting out of the car, but I was doing it for him. He had no idea what he was going to see.

He's not usually afraid of heights, but this one made him queasy. It's a palisade, hence the name, so the straight drop 200 feet to the lake below is scary. The view is nice, though, if you forget your inches from a skyscraper plummet.

Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire

Not very friendly looking rocks to land on if you fall.

Photo taken by Boyfriend Extraordinaire

B.E. was out there forever, talking with other tourists, watching the idiots climbing carelessly on the rocks. I lost sight of him for a while and it made me physically ill, sitting in the car, not knowing if he was okay. The only comfort I had was that there were many people around and if he had fallen, someone would be screaming. I watched and hoped for no screaming. Thankfully, there was none. He eventually came back to the car aghast and in awe, s