Tip - Weatherbase.com for picking your next stop

We had another "Grand Marais Day" yesterday, Bob did some adjustments on the doorside slide which had been making more noise than it should. After a walk to town for breakfast and the slide repair the rest of the day was relaxation; reading and enjoying the scenery and weather. So we thought we would share a tip on how we try and find the great weather, especially in the summer.


Before we started full-timing we would be asked where will you go, how will we know where you are at? Our answer was the same, we told them to look at a national weather map and find the 70 degree band, we will be somewhere in that band.


During the summer that means a limited number of areas; close to the Great Lakes, along the coast of Maine, along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington, higher elevations of Colorado, etc. The tip we have is a great site that has a vacation planner. You enter the temperature range that you want and it searches historical averages and provides you a list of towns that match your criteria. The web site is Weatherbase 

where you click on Vacation Finder and select a month, 

here July is selected and no higher than 75.

Then you select a region.

Here are the listing for the United States.

Pretty neat site that has helped up find cool temperatures and hopefully allow us to stay in the 70s year round. A word of caution when using the site is that sometimes the mapping feature is out of whack, just like your GPS sometimes. For example Grand Marais Minnesota does not show up as a good place for the summer since its mapping feature has it way inland. Lutsen which is about 20 miles south of here does as does Grand Portage about 40 miles north so we knew Grand Marais had to have good weather.


Hope this helps keep you cool! Or whatever temperature you want to be.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

"A Grand Marais Day"

Yesterday we had what we used to call a "hang loose" day but we really needed a new name for it since we don't go to Hawaii anymore. Now we have a new name, "a Grand Marais day".


What is "a Grand Marais day" you ask? First of all it starts with the weather; yesterday was in the low to mid 70s near the water and clear blue skies. We had a great breakfast at home eating the last of the made at home wild rice blueberry pancakes. We sat outside in the shade and read our books for awhile and then went downtown for lunch.


We had a great lunch at the Crooked Spoon and then walked around downtown buying a couple of things. We ended up at Sydney's Frozen Custard and got some custard and sat outside looking at the lake.

We came back and sat in the shade again and just read and relaxed. Here is the view we saw from the chairs at the front out our site.

While sitting outside our neighbors came by with their dogs for a visit and others along our row took the opportunity to stop and chat. One of them was from Texas and he mentioned how he called days like this "a Grand Marais day". We liked it so much we adopted it for ourselves.


We took a walk around the park after a supper of the leftover pizza from Sven and Ole's and the leftover calzone from My Sister's Place and ended up at the Pavilion where we sat and watched the water for awhile and caught yet another sailboat and lighthouse photo.

A Grand Marais day indeed.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Grand Portage National Monument

After our visit to High Falls we stopped at the Grand Portage National Monument right on Lake Superior.

In the 1700s Europe had a strong obsession with beaver pelts to the point that beavers were almost extinct in Europe. So their attention shifted to North America that had a great population. A majority of the beaver at that time was on Native American land in French territory. The best routes back to Europe were controlled by the British. A unique and profitable partnership developed, one where the Native Americans were treated equally and all three parties worked together on how to get the valuable beaver pelts from inland North America to Europe.


High Falls was not the only impediment to river traffic along the Pigeon River but it was the most spectacular.

Beaver were trapped by Native American and other fur trappers and then transported by Voyaguers along the rivers. Once they hit the last 20 miles Pigeon River they had to portage around the impassable portions to Lake Superior. The Native Americans had been using a trail for many years which became the "Grand Portage", an 8 and 1/2 mile trail bypassing the river and ending at Lake Superior. Voyaguers carried 90 pound packs like this for almost 9 miles; they sure were tough in the old days.

We began our visit at the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center where we saw a great film, narrated by the great grandson of the one of the more influential Native Americans involved in this partnership. The Heritage Center also had great exhibits to learn more.

At the National Monument part of the Stockade has been recreated.  There were guides in the two main buildings, the Great Hall and the Kitchen. Here is what the Stockade probably looked like from a photo in the Heritage Center.

The Stockade was where all the business took place, where the North West Company owners lived, and where meals were served. Here is a picture of the Great Hall we found on the internet.

Here is a photo of the interior of the Great Hall.

Here is another photo of the interior of the Great Hall.

Here is a bedroom of one of the owners of the North West Company, there were four stationed here all the time, that was in the Great Hall.

The 3 other bedrooms in the great hall were setup as displays of other buildings that would have been in the Stockade; the accountants building, trade building, and a display of what the English shops selling products that were shipped from here.

Here is the accountants display.

Here is a picture of the kitchen, probably the most advanced kitchen in the area at that time per the cook manning the kitchen at the time of our tour. Biscuits and gravy and stew were on the menu. To answer a probable question, no we did not sample from the menu, it was for show only. It did smell good so that was a little disappointing.

Once a year there was a "Rendezvous" where Native Americans, Frenchman, and British all gathered and celebrated the great year they had and conducted business. The Rendezvous is recreated each year at the National Monument.


Now for the sad part of the story, what Paul Harvey called "The Rest of the Story". After the American Revolution the boundary between the U.S. and Canada was settled upon as the Pigeon River, putting the stockade on the American side. The North West Company tore down the stockade and relocated it to the new Fort Williams in Thunder Bay Ontario. The film made a note that while the gates of a fort-like structure like the Stockade was usually closed to keep Native Americans out that the Stockade up to this point was opened so that they could enter as partners. We Americans changed that after the Stockade left, we put Native Americans on reservations, what they called in this area as "the hungry years". It is not something we are proud of. Also contributing to the decline was the fashion change in Europe where beaver was no longer in vogue.

It would be interesting to visit Fort Williams in Thunder Bay sometime.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

High Falls in Grand Portage State Park

We started our day with an excellent breakfast at the Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant which we will blog on later since we know we will be back.


We then drove further north to this scenic overlook of Lake Superior.

Something you don't see everyday, a copper moose weathervane at the scenic overlook.

Continuing north to almost the Canadian border we then turned left into the Grand Portage State Park. The state park, held by the surrounding Grand Portage Indian Reservation and leased to the state of Minnesota for $1 a year, is the only U.S. state park jointly managed by a state and by Native Americans. It is also the only Minnesota state park not owned by the state.


You walk through the Visitors Center to get to the trail to High Falls, the highest waterfalls in the state of Minnesota at 120'. The impassibility of the High Falls and other areas on the Pigeon River, which is the border between Canada and the U.S. necessitated the development of the 8.5 mile overland trail which has come to be known as the Grand Portage which we will discuss in a future blog posting.


Our mission right now was to see the High Falls which put us on a boardwalk trail consisting of a 1/2 mile distance to the falls.

As we got closer to the falls and started climbing a railing was added.

Then we got our first view of High Falls.

We could see the remainder of the trail to another vantage point.

Here are the falls from that vantage point.

On our way back to Grand Marais we stopped at the Chicago Bay Market in Hovland for lunch and had great sandwiches on homemade bread. Another great day along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Moving Day - Still in Grand Marais

Moving Day
Still in Grand Marais
We are poets and did not know it :-)


We got very lucky yesterday, July 8th. The campground at the Grand Marais Recreation Area has reservable sites and a few non-reservable sites (14 day max) along with seasonal sites. We were in a reservable site with only 3 days left on our reservation. Our next stop was for 11 days. Bob decided to check out the non-reservable sites and a couple of them were open so we took one and canceled our next reservation. The advantage to these sites is that you are right on the water. The sites are unfortunately configured for a motorhome so when we backed in with our fifth wheel our big window in the back looks out at a big bush but this is the view from the front as we step out the door.

We were doubly cautious on this our 2nd shortest move of about 200 yards because our shortest move is when we rushed things and dropped the Cameo onto our truck bed and ended up looking like this.

We slowly went through the checklist and made sure that we did everything and we double checked everything. We survived the 200 yard move and put everything back out; chairs, bird feeders, weber grill, etc. The cats were a little cautious coming out of the bedroom once we got there acting like are we really there?


A couple of nice things about our new site is that the smoke from the campfires is a lot less so we were able to have the windows open in the evening. We also are using our snap on window screen for the back window for the first time. The sun sets boring right into the back window and we were amazed that no heat made it to the window. The satellite dish on the roof also works great so we will not miss our shows.


Another great day full-timing.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Catching up - Sara's Table in Duluth

It rained almost all day yesterday so all we did was go out for another great breakfast at the Blue Water Cafe and get a couple of essentials at a grocery store. This give us a chance to catch up on a blog entry about our stay in Saginaw Minnesota and our visit to Duluth.


We had a couple great breakfasts at Sara's Table in the Chester Creek Cafe at Taran's Marketplace. Yeah, that is the name of the place. We overheard some folks calling it the Chester Creek Cafe while others called it Sara's Table. Here it is from the street so you won't miss it.

We saw this place on Diners Drive Inns and Dives (DDD) and we just had to eat there. It was an amazing breakfast; Jo got french toast made with cranberry wild rice bread and it was the best french toast she has ever had. "Our Favorite Things! (Food)" has been updated. For her other meal she got a greek omelet which was excellent. Bob got a breakfast burrito one visit and 'green eggs and sam' the next, an omelet with smoked salmon. Everything we had was wonderful. It was such a short visit that we only had time for two breakfasts, we would love to try it sometime for lunch.


We liked the cranberry and wild rice bread so much we bought a loaf and made our own french toast a number of times. It is great with peanut butter and jelly too. This is one of our all time favorite DDD places so you must visit this place whenever you are near Duluth.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo


Here is a link to the DDD episode that includes a video.


Here is a link to an article about the DDD episode

Celebrating our anniversary with great food and a hike to a falls

Yesterday, July 5th, was our 21st wedding anniversary and it is unbelievable how fast the years have flown by. We awoke to find the strangest bird at our bird feeder (as a reminder you can click on the photos below to enlarge them). We might need some help identifying this bird :-)

We certainly had better weather than we did on our wedding day. It was 105 degrees and the historic courthouse in Independence Missouri did not have air conditioning.


Food has always been a part of our lives as you can probably tell from our blog and yesterday was no exception. We finished off the loaf of cranberry wild rice bread that we bought at Sara's Table in Duluth and made french toast for breakfast. We then had a great lunch at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais and sat outside. Here is the view from our table.

Being fans of waterfalls we decided to visit one that is fairly close to our park, Hidden Falls in Cascade River State Park. We are saving High Falls near the Canadian border for a day with cooler temperatures as it was forecasted to be in the low 80s. Here is the start of the trail to Hidden Falls.

You are immediately along the Cascade River and you follow it all the way to the falls.

Here is another view of the river. 

Here are the falls from the side.

We saw the most vibrant colored toadstool that we have ever seen along the way.

And exposed tree roots like we have never seen and planking to help you over the crevices.

After almost a mile hike we arrived at the falls. It was cool to hear and see the water all along the trail.

Once we were done hiking it was time for more food. We stopped at Sydney's Frozen Custard and ordered a pizza for supper and had custard while we were waiting. We then went back to the park and rested from our hike. The temperature at the park was 68 degrees while the official temperature taken up the hill from the town was 85, the benefit of being so close to the lake. While we were resting though the wind shifted and it hit 81 in a few moments but then back to 68 very quickly. 


Some of the most bizarre weather moments we have ever had in 21 years of marriage has been the drastic temperature fluctuations here in Grand Marais Minnesota.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

It's Independence Day (belated)

One downside to this lifestyle of living full-time in our RV is that we never know what day it is. Since we are retired and get every day off from working we especially don't know when most of the holidays are.


It is a little confusing anyway which day to celebrate independence. Should it be July 2nd when independence was approved (John Adams thought it would be this date), or July 4th when the text of "The Declaration of Independence" was approved, or August 2nd when it was signed by most of the signers, or sometime in January in 1777 when the last signer added his signature? We have settled as a country on July 4th.

The 4th started out as a beautiful day in Grand Marais with sunny skies and temps in the mid 60's. We had a great lunch at the Crooked Spoon and then walked around downtown hitting a lot of the shops. We did get donuts from the World's Best Donuts and we both agreed they were pretty good. Towards evening though thunderstorms rumbled in and we were sure the fireworks would be canceled. We were a little disappointed because they would be set off real close to us, close enough we would be able to watch them from chairs right next to our Cameo. The rain broke and they started up the fireworks. You won't believe this but we watched them inside through a window. We had to sit on the floor and the steps but it was worth it.


Hope everybody had a great and safe Independence Day! Let Freedom Ring!! We are truly the land of the free because of the brave!!!

Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Tip - Portable RV Water Softener

Periodically we like to give tips on what makes full-timing so much fun or easier for us, usually a gadget. This time it is the Portable RV Water Softener.


For the first couple of years of living full-time in our RV we dealt with the issue of hard water clogging up our kitchen sink aerator and showerhead, no telling what it was doing to the plumbing. We never were happy with any of the salt based softeners so we did nothing, until we came upon the Portable RV Water Softener from Filter Water Direct. Inside is a catalytic insert that uses Filtorsorb as the catalytic media. This technology breaks down the calcium in the water using a catalytic action and converts it to a harmless form of calcium referred to as araronite that passes through the plumbing system without clinging to pipes or fixtures.


Here is a photo of the Portable RV Water Softener attached to a hose.









We approached this with a little skepticism because it sounded too good to be true. It was about the same price as a salt based system so we decided to give it a whirl, its only money right! We have to put in a disclaimer that this is all anecdotal evidence and we did no scientific analysis of the water. We put in a new aerator and cleaned the showerhead right after we installed the Portable RV Water Softener and waited. Usually we had to remove the aerator about once a month and tap out the hard water deposits collected and had to soak the aerator in vinegar a couple of times during our 5 months in Goodyear AZ. After we left Goodyear we realized we had not done either removing the hard water deposits or cleaning the aerator in vinegar. For the showerhead we usually had to clean it at least once in vinegar and 5 months later we did not have to do that either.


There is one drawback and that is that the catalytic insert periodically needs to be taken out and cleaned with a bristle brush. Not knowing what periodically means we decided to check on the catalytic insert after 6 months of usage. While there was some buildup on the insert it was not as bad as we thought since the Goodyear water is incredibly hard. Taking it out and cleaning it led to our realization just how good this thing was working. Bob took it off and we took showers once or twice while he was cleaning it and putting it back together. After Bob put it back on and Jo took a shower she immediately commented as to how the water was softer and her skin was a lot less itchy. All showers were in the same location so presumably the water did not change. So we are sold on the Portable RV Water Softener.


Here are some tips for installation; Bob had to take it apart and put teflon tape on the machine threads and buy some machine thread to plumbing thread adapters and then add some teflon tape on the plumbing threads to eliminate the leaking around the filter.


Here is a photo of the Portable RV Water Softener with a cutaway showing the insert.





Here is a photo of the catalytic insert.





YMMV


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Artists' Point and Lighthouse - Grand Marais Minnesota

We had another great sightseeing day with our friends Bob and Wilma and we never left the town of Grand Marais. We started the day off in the Pavilion by the water just enjoying the cool weather. We caught this sailboat heading into the Bay and we just had to snap it because we have sent a postcard with this very scene at sunset.

When it was lunch time we went to Sydney's Frozen Custard which also has wood fired pizza and sandwiches. We both decided on a pizza, we got a Mediterranean which is an olive oil brushed thin crust with olives, tomatoes, garlic, cheese, onions and we added gyro meat. Bob and Wilma got the Kilauea which had a red sauce and sausage and pineapple. Both pizzas were excellent, food around here is excellent. We sat in the shade and then decided we needed a frozen custard and it was great too.


It was just a short walk to Artists' Point and Grand Marais Lighthouse so we decided to do some sightseeing. It is a 1/2 mile hike over lava rock and through a small boreal forest. Artists' Point has been the inspiration for painters and photographers for years. Here are the lava rocks along the way.

Here is the trail to the Lighthouse.

Along the way we saw from wildflowers.

Here is another along the trail to the Lighthouse.

From the Lighthouse here is a closeup photo of our RV Park across the bay. 

We like sitting in the Pavilion shown there and just water and people watching, enjoying the weather, and contemplating just how wonderful a life we have to be able to visit the incredible places that we have been.


For supper we went to My Sister's Place and had a great burger, did we mention that the food here is excellent? We really enjoyed Bob and Wilma's visit and was sad to see them leave. No sadder than they were since it was just a few minutes and they were back in 95 degree weather.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo