After a couple of beautiful days camping lakefront at Rainbow Falls and Lake Superior Provincial Park we were on a path leading through Ontario almost straight home—or so we thought. In a move that was pretty spontaneous for us, we cancelled our three-day trek through Ontario and headed back over the border so that we could officially close the entire Lake Superior Loop.
Besides spending a number of hours watching the freighters pass through the Soo Locks we spent a day on Mackinac Island, which we had regretted not doing on the way up. Basically, hop on hop off horse and carriage rides all day and free fudge. I’m not talking just a little fudge—we sampled at ten different fudge shops. A definite sugar high. We are safely home. Miss Boler held it together for the entire adventure. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
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I think we can all agree that amethyst is incredibly beautiful. So, it’s hard to imagine that you can pay only $5/lb to scoop up something that has taken millions of years to form. We just HAD to engage in the Amethyst Mine Panorama experience. We showed restraint and managed to stop at just one pound!
What was harder was climbing to the top of Sleeping Giant. Sleeping Giant is billed as being arguably the best day hike in Ontario. As the tallest cliff, it is a 22+ km round trip (mostly black diamond). For days I doubted whether I was going to try. It wasn’t pretty and I’m still digging gravel out of my hands, but I conquered the giant. I questioned my will to live during the last four kilometres (ha, ha)! The next day I was only a little bit sore and a lot proud to have done it. When you are standing at the top of the gorge it is the literal definition of breathtaking. In contrast, the day after the giant couldn't have been more relaxing. We took a charter from Silver Islet to Porphyry Island Lighthouse. Spending time hanging out on the island was just the recovery day we needed. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. What a delightful surprise when we reached our Apostle Island Campgrounds. On-site, they have constructed a gigantic waterhole where you can cool off. The temperature was 30+ so we embraced it. Aside from the tasty Wisconsin Ice cream, I think the experience we’ll remember most from the Apostle Islands is the sea caves. Our cruise took us by Devils Island which is surrounded by sea caves. Incredible! The next day it was on to all things ships and shipwrecks. I believe Dad thought the Meteor (the last existing Whaleback freighter) was going to be his highlight until the Anderson experience. We had just reached our campsite in Duluth when Dad checked the schedule for the lift bridge to discover that Arthur M. Anderson was about to pass through. The Anderson was the ship following right behind the Edmund Fitzgerald when it went down. They received the Fitzgerald’s last message. Well, needless to say, he hopped in the car and rushed in to see this piece of history. From Duluth north, it was all things lighthouses and waterfalls. We are back in Canada and are currently camping a Kakabeka Falls. These powerful falls provide power for over 22000 homes. We’ll miss Minnesota and having Betty’s famous pies for breakfast, but it felt good to cross the border. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. P.S. It is definitely NOT 30+ degrees here. Our hikes in Pictured Rocks National Park took us to see incredible waterfalls and rock formations. But I am convinced that the best way to visit the rocks is kayaking along the shore. Picture Rocks Kayaking takes you and your tandem sea kayak by boat to the best 8 km of the rocks. We paddled through arches, into caves and under serious overhangs. We threw our heads back and drank fresh water runoff that had worked its way through the rocks. We painted our faces with the iron from the rocks. We were impressed with the blue-green patterns from the copper in the rocks. Basically, we celebrated these amazing rocks. Our guide Bobby gave us each a 2018 quarter that featured Chapel Rock. He also made a recommendation to climb Sugar Mountain near Marquette. So, guess what we are doing tomorrow? You are always in my Prayers. As ya’ll know since he retired Ray has taken up scuba diving. So, as we headed out on the rainy drive to the shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point, we knew it was going to be worth the detour.
Lake Superior claims over 2500 recorded shipwrecks. Probably the most recent renowned wreck, thanks to Gordon Lightfoot (R.I.P), is the Edmund Fitzgerald. As the lyrics claim in 1975 “When the gales of November came early” the Fitz sank to the bottom of Superior claiming the lives of all 29 crew members. In 1995 there was a complicated recovery of the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald. It now sits in the Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to those who perished. A replacement bell with the names of the 29 lost sits on the wreck which is now considered a gravesite. And yes, they played Gordon’s song in the museum, the gift shop, and again today on the Glass-bottom Shipwreck Tour of the Bermuda. I believe that song is destined to forever be a classic. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. My mother, affectionately known as GG, was a cringe-worthy hoarder. Although she had some lovely things her specialty was over-the-top tacky. There wasn’t an inspirational cardinal or plastic Santa that she could resist. Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland was one of GG’s happy places. I felt a bit of a giggle bubbling up thinking of Mom strolling through the 2.2 acres (which includes over 6000 tree ornaments). Her love language would ensure that her limited budget acquired unlimited trinkets to gift. Not going to lie—I bought something and it did feature a cardinal. Here’s to you GG😄
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