OOOOOHHHHHH CCAANNNAADDDDAAAA!!!

When we crossed over the border into Canada, the border patrol agent asked if we had any weapons or guns, and we said, no we do not have any. Then he asked us if we had pepper spray, and we had to dig around and find our trusty little can of spray that we have had since our first van camping trip last year, because only law enforcement can possess pepper spray in Canada.  Anthony had to go into the building and fill out paperwork and hand it over. At least we weren't being searched or anything, but he said he felt like a criminal.

We soon made it to a park in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to eat and noticed something else that reminded us that there is a lot of snow and cold up here. Most cars had a plug on the front of their cars to plug it in, so it will start in the morning.

When we arrived at our Walmart parking lot to settle in for the night in Thunder Bay, Ontario, I looked over and saw a very familiar RV. It was the very one that we had noticed boondocking near us in Beaver Bay, MN, 2 nights before.  We saw the women the next morning in Beaver Bay at a pavilion where we were having breakfast.  The next day we drove to Grand Marais, MN, and camped in a municipal parking lot.  We had driven 58 miles that day, and that same RV showed up right next to us in Grand Marais within spitting distance of us. Well, I could not believe that when we pulled up in that Walmart parking lot in Thunder Bay, after driving 79 miles that day, just 3 parking spaces away, was that same RV. Thunder Bay has a population of about 100,000 people in it. It is not a small town, and there sat that RV. Crazy. 

Well, when we went into Walmart to get some supplies and were walking out, there were the two women walking right in front of us and I had to talk to them.  I started off the conversation by saying that we weren't stalking them, and explained how we had seen them in Beaver Bay at the pavilion kand then in Grand Marais, and now in Thunder Bay. One of them had just recently retired and they were trying out the used RV that they had just purchased. They were from Chicago. Since we had been neighbors for three nights, we decided to show off our set ups and get to know each other a little.

We shared tips to help each other along the road while boondocking and stealth camping. I asked them where they were headed the next day and they were going amethyst mining and we were headed around Lake Superior, so that would be our last night together, but it was great seeing some other kindred spirits along the road. 

We got up the next morning and headed to the waterfront and looked for the biking trail.

I got excited when I saw this food truck even though they weren't open yet.

The poffertjes ended up being one of our girls favorite treats while they were traveling in Europe and I had never heard of them before, so I had to send them a picture of the truck.

We didn't spend very much time in Thunder Bay that morning and were glad to get back on the road headed around Lake Superior.

Another interesting thing we noticed while riding along the Lake Superior loop was that all the road signs were not only written in English, but were also in French.

And that there was a possibility of seeing a moose along this road, but I was a little concerned by their moose signs. Not only could you see a moose, but the moose looks like he is charging, according to their signs.

Some interesting things about Canada is that they sell their gas in liters. So we didn't get too excited when we saw these gas prices. You have to just about multiply this price times 4. And then convert the price from Canadian dollars to American currency.

Our very favorite night of van camping came unexpectedly when we couldn't find a place to sleep in Wawa, Ontario, and looked up the freecampsites.net website. We found a place listed nearby and headed there at about ten that night. We drove about 3 miles down a dirt road and pulled up at a beautiful waterfall. We were the only ones out there, so I was a bit concerned. I worried about two seconds, and then fell asleep because we were so tired, I guess.  It was foggy the next morning, but I hope you can see this jewel of a place off the beaten path.

It even displayed pieces of art for us to enjoy.

It sure beat sleeping in a Walmart parking lot.

Another jewel we found along the route around Lake Superior was the town where Winnie the Pooh began, White River.

And what is a trip around Lake Superior without literally experiencing it??

Here's me.

Here's Anthony.

Oh yes, he did, lol. These pictures were all taken within about a 25 second time span, if that long. We read that the average temperature of the lake is 40 degrees F.

Next we pulled over and saw this.

And we knew we were glad we didn't have a pup with us, because we weren't sure what that was that we were going to see. Come to find out, it was petroglyphs left by the Obigwe Indians when they were in the area many, many years ago.

When we were in this parking lot, it's pretty interesting to see what people have on top of their cars. Anthony has been pretty fascinated with all the We-no-nah canoes, which are made in Minnesota. Seems if you have a canoe on top of your car around here, that it is going to be a We-no-nah.

Also found this.

Lol. If there's a will, there is a way. And I didn't get a good angle on this, but there are two kayaks on this car.

Most of the scenic pictures we took at Lake Superior were taken within Superior Provencial Park, and here are a few. It was very beautiful.

This last picture was taken by a young German fella who was cycling from Thunder Bay to Toronto. He had set up his tent on the beach in Katherine Cove and was packing up from the night. When he took the picture, he said, "one, two, three, say cheese, as Americans would say." I thought that was pretty funny.

This next picture is of Anthony and a fella who is cycling across Canada, starting at British Columbia. Said it was something he always wanted to do, so now is as good of a time as any.

As we were heading back over the border of the U.S., the main thing the border patrol agent wanted to know was did we have any food products, and was especially interested in poultry products. And we had just bought a dozen free range chicken eggs, and they were confiscated. I hope that someone enjoyed those eggs.

This is the border crossing over into Michigan. 

Bye to Canada for now. It was good to see ya.

State Parks, Gitchi-Gami Trail and Waterfalls, Hwy. 61

Before I get this particular blog started about this section of our trip, I wanted to make note of something that has taken up a lot of Anthony's time, which is singing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Gordon Lightfoot). Just about every time we see a sign that has Gitchi-Gami, or even a view of Lake Superior, he starts singing. He especially went nuts when he saw an exhibit when we were in Duluth. He said that the song makes a lot more sense than it did before.

And I also forgot to put in the picture of the statue of Leif Erikson, the person, according to the info on the plaque, who discovered America. So I definitely didn't want to leave him out.

And Anthony's fascination of moose continues.

(I ran out of pics of Anthony and Moose, so I added a pic of the girls, just for cuteness sake!)

Okay, now on with this part of the trip.

We have found out this trip that Minnesota is not only one of the friendliest states we know, but it also has its share of beauty, and we got to experience it up Hwy. 61 heading toward the Canadian border. There are a total of seven state parks between Duluth and the border, each showing off waterfalls and trails. We tried to see most of them and here they are:

These waterfalls were described to us by our nephew, Jason, as looking like Dr. Pepper, and that is a really good description. They look brown because of all the iron in the water.

And just in case you didn't know, Anthony likes to ride bikes.

If you think that Minnesota is mostly flat, you need to ride the Gitchi-Gami trail.

Just a glimpse of what we got to experience up Hwy. 61.

I saw the ducks and thought, that duck has seaweed trailing behind it. Well, first of all, this wasn't a sea, lol, and secondly that wasn't any kind of weed. I can't even count how many ducklings were behind her, but they were keeping up really well even though the water was pretty choppy that day. They were the cutest little things.

And here are the lighthouses. The one on the left was at Two Harbors. It was built in 1892 and is still active today. The one on the right is Split Rock Lighthouse. It was built after a single storm in 1905 caused damage to 29 vessels on the rocky north shore of Lake Superior.

Two towns of note that were worth the stops were Two Harbors and Grand Marais. In Two Harbors, we learned that from the first shipment on 1884, iron ore has been the foundation of the town. It also still has a tugboat, the Edna G., that was one of the first, and was the last, steam tug on the Great Lakes.

Grand Marais is a cute little artsy town, and one of the last bits of civilization before you leave the U.S., so that's where we stayed one night. 

The last picture was taken at The Java Moose, where Anthony tried one of their apple cinnamon scones, which he gives two thumbs up. I had a nice big cup of coffee while I blogged.

We also found these fun tidbits. People have sent me pictures of this kind of bike that Anthony could use to cut our grass. He actually does use a reel mower on the front yard, just not with a bike attached.

One last gem before the border was the Grand Portage National Monument. Here we learned about an 8.5 mile portage, which is a footpath used to carry boats and supplies from Lake Superior to the Pigeon River. Through this portage passed all the trade goods and furs from the Canadian Northwest.

Please note that in 1793 that at the height of the fur trade, 183,000 beaver pelts passed through The Grand Portage!!!! Only because the latest fashion in Europe was beaver skin hats!!!  AND they had hunted the beaver in Europe almost to extinction. Wow!! I am not saying we need more beaver around, but that seems excessive. FOR HATS!!

We also learned about how the birch-made canoes could haul tons and tons of supplies.

A birch made hut.

And you guessed it, more beautiful scenery.

More info about why The Grand Portage was needed:

Last but not least, this is probably our most expensive souvenir of the trip.

A nice little chip in the windshield:p