Finland (Minnesota) Adventures

This past weekend, we travelled up to the North Shore. We started our explorations off with a lighthouse adventure and rock climbing. Analise wanted to make sure that when we hiked we got to climb on rocks. There was definitely a lot of rock climbing to be had throughout the trip. After taking in some amazing views of the lake, we headed to Gooseberry Falls. We once again hiked for a bit then went swimming in the river near the lake. Dan managed to get in the lake. He commented that within seconds he started to feel his feet freezing. Emma and Analise barely made it in. They swam across a small part of the river. As they climbed out, Emma managed to get a leech on her which resulted in lots of screaming. Erin tried to remove the leech with a rock, but it took Dan squeezing it off for it to finally remove itself. Man, those suckers are gross. Emma's experience left all of us in a bit of shock and no more swimming was done for the rest of the trip. After swimming came a hike alongside the many waterfalls within the park. Then we were off to our Airbnb house for the night. The next morning, we visited Tettegouche State Park. Once again we saw lots of waterfalls and hiked down to the lake for a picnic lunch. Emma participated in a park program where she learned how they made rope before machines came into play. She got to take home the long piece of rope she made. In the afternoon, we took a bike ride alongside the lake and hiked around Beaver Creek. Analise and Dan climbed on some really large rocks and we skipped some stones on the beach. Not exactly sure when we visited black sand beach but we added to a cool rock sculpture while there. We also went to mass at a small church in Silverbay that evening and roasted marshmallows over the stove. We opted for the stove because the mosquitoes were pretty bad at night and there was no small wood pieces to start a fire. On our last day, we gathered June berries from a nearby park. Then we headed to Split Rock Lighthouse as well as Duluth. It rained off and on throughout the afternoon. We weren't sure if we needed rain jackets or sunscreen. Erin is known for putting on sunscreen right before it rains. We hiked around Lester Park for a bit and had a picnic lunch. Then we headed down to Cannal Park to visit the Lift Bridge. We made it to the other side where there was softer sand. By the end of it, we were all exhausted. It was hard to think we had a full week of Girls on the Run camp coming up as well as Grandpa Mark's birthday and fun times with Joy. Summer is slipping by quickly.