Blogs from Minnesota, United States, North America - page 4

Grand Portage National Monument, Grand Portage, Minnesota It is hard to imagine that the European demand for hats made of beaver skin would be responsible for opening up an entire continent. But that is pretty much what happened up here. I was aware of the general history that French trappers had a great deal to do with exploring the interior, but I wasn’t aware of some of the more interesting details. Trapping for furs has been around for quite some time - clothing was originally made from animal skins before we figured out how to make them from plants or petroleum. I’m not quite sure why the French ended up monopolizing the industry, except that they happened to first colonize North America in the area that was once scraped clean of good soils by glaciers. So ... read more

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Two Harbors, Minnesota As the crow flies, or the fish swims, we only moved 41 miles northwest of Bayfield, Wisconsin. But because my LandCruiser neither flies nor swims, we had to drive around the western edge of Lake Superior almost 130 miles. It wasn’t a particularly difficult drive, although Wisconsin doesn’t maintain its highways along this part of the lake very well, and, so that portion was pretty bumpy. We basically took route 13, which parallels the lakeshore all the way down to Superior, which is the twin city to Duluth, right at the tip of Superior. There we we caught US 53 which took us up and through the cities and onto US 61, which rides up the north shore of the lake. In addition to being bumpy, the Wisconsin portion ... read more

Just arrived at Minneopa State Park near Mankato, Mn. 87 degrees, but we have a nice shady spot for the camper. Now if we can keep the mosquitoes away with my husband's homemade spray!... read more

Since I had no major trips planned this summer, I decided that it was time to explore a bit of the state around me - I have lived here five years now and done very little local exploring - and time to get back to camping. When my brothers and I were little, my family went camping every summer, and I have found that I missed that - the early mornings, the fires at night, the time in nature. Because I spend most of my free time writing, I am often inside, hunched over a computer or notebook, and I wanted to get away from screens and back into nature. My first excursion was to Blue Mounds State Park near Luverne, MN. Though the park is experiencing water issues right now (you cannot drink the water, ... read more

You can go straight East across South Dakota and Southern Minnesota on I - 90 if you want to. Boooring. Or you can take the backwards route to the Badlands, like us. We started down route 44 in the direction of the Badlands, but we never seemed to get there. They were always on the horizon, never getting closer. I know, its to be expected in the Midwest, but this was ridiculous. Until we arrived at the official entrance, and found that we had circled around the southern edge, and would now have to retrace our tracks going West through the Park. No problem. It was early and a lovely day. And the park was pretty empty. The light coming low from the East made a huge difference in how good the Badlands looked. Photos to ... read more