Day 37: Tri-State Day

July 29, 2012

Today we woke up in our hotel room in downtown Chicago, Illinois and are now close to bed at our campground in Wayne Dunes State Park in Michigan after a brief stop at the Indiana Sand Dunes National Shoreline in Indiana. This makes it 3 states that we have been in today. We left Chicago early this morning in order to make a stop at the Sand Dunes before finding a campground in the wasteland that is Michigan State Parks. According to our mapbook this is the only campground within a 200 mile, or so, radius. Luckily, there was lots of space available, although the 15 minute line-up at the Park Entrance (caused by daytime users) had us a bit worried.

Our campground is located in a big Oak forest just beside some giant sand dunes. We got in late, and so will be visiting the Dunes tomorrow morning for a look and, hopefully, a dip in Lake Michigan. The forest is very nice, but there is lots of Poison Ivy that we have to avoid. As well, this is by far the loudest forest we have been in; the sound of Cicadas is overwhelming, nearly as loud as a hotel room in downtown Chicago.

Our brief stop at Mt. Baldy along the Indiana Dunes shorelines was nice, but the place is completely ruined by the giant Nuclear plant right next door, blocking the whole Northern vista. Mt. Baldy is a giant sand dune on the North end of a long strip of Dunes at the coast of Lake Michigan in Indiana. As of now the Eastern edge is about 3 metres from the edge of the parking lot, but if recent trends keep up, it will be in the parking lot within 5 years. The combination of wind and tourists is causing the dune to move inland at a rate of about 5 feet per year. I’m not quite sure what will happen when it hits the parking lot, as demand for the site and beach already far exceeds the space in the lot.

View North from Mt. Baldy

Leaving Chicago this morning was pretty straightforward. There was no problem with the valet, aside from him not putting the engine break on after bringing our car back out. The best time to drive in this city of crazy drivers, and pedestrians, most definitely appears to be Sunday morning. We encountered very little traffic and no pedestrians jay walking in our short drive from downtown to the freeway. As a sports fan I was excited to pass Solider Field (home of the Bears) and Comiskey Park (home of the White Sox) on the way out of town. This, combined with the Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley the day before provided a very nice complement to my Chicago sports visit.

Wrigley Field is tiny, it takes up what appears to be just a single city block, but somehow fits in an entire baseball stadium. It was great to see the old wonder, wandering around the concourse and streets outside, looking at the ivy-covered outfield walls, and watching the rivalry that is the Cubs-Cardinals. The game wasn’t the most exciting, perhaps because I am not used to the National League rule of the pitchers having to pitch. It seemed like every rally was snuffed out by a pitcher coming to bat and promptly striking out. It really stunted the flow of the game. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the game and am glad to have gone. 

Day 34-36: Chicago Chicago

Our time in Chicago has come to an end and tomorrow we begin our last three days before arriving in our new home town, Toronto. Chicago has been wonderful and is definitely the highlight of this summer. A world class city, Chicago has everything that an urban citizen needs wants and desires from a large modern metropolitan. A beautiful setting is provided by Lake Michigan and the Chicago river.  This is complemented very well by the city’s architecture which seamlessly blends historical buildings with ultra- modern ones to create a stunning skyline.  There is no lack of green space and beautiful parks, and the city seems to make an extra effort to create an atmosphere where art, music and culture thrive to enrich the lives of both the locals and the tourists. ( I was happy to read in the local magazine that the city has just invested in creating a new cultural plan with help from consultants from Toronto!)

We cramped a few things in our short stay here, and in the interest of keeping this short, here is a list of the highlights of our time in this great city:

Grant Park: This is a very nice big park with trails that connect it to the main streets downtown, the lake shore and multiple museums and the aquarium. In our few days there, we passed by Grant Park many times and it was always nice to stop by a sculpture,a piece of public art or fountain.

Millennium Park: Another park right outside our hotel in the middle of downtown is Millennium Park. This park is home to the famous “bean” sculpture and many other works of art. This park also seemed to be the cultural hub of the city especially in the summer. We picked up a booklet that listed all that was going on in the park during the summer months and all the activities were free of charge. There were music, theatre and dance performances almost daily, and every Sunday morning there is a 4 hour workout session that includes an hour each of Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates and Zumba. All for free! There was also a fee public dance party every Friday evening and a Family Fun Festival was on the week we were there.  This is only to count a few of what was happening in Millennium Park throughout the year.

The Field Museum: We’ve been to many museums on this trip and several of them were natural history museums, but this one by far tops all of them. Housed in a beautiful looking historical building, this museum contains many permanent displays of natural life and a few feature exhibits and shows. Of the featured ones, we chose to visit the bugs exhibit which had us shrink to the size of little bugs so that we can go underground, a few feet into the soil and explore life under the surface. Zaid loved looking at all the bugs and pretending to be underground with them. Definitely a great exhibit for the little ones. A great hit was also the exhibit of African animals especially the big cats and the apes. And just for good measures there was a little exhibit all about earth evolution including the rise and fall of dinosaurs and so Zaid’s satisfaction with the museum was guaranteed with this addition of a few giant dino skeletons to look at. We spent about 3 hours in the museum and did not even get around to see everything. Definitely a great museum by all measures.

Deep Dish Pizza: You can’t go to Chicago and not have Chicago style pizza. We followed the recommendation of a friend and visited a local deep dish pizza chain. I was expected something heavy and over the top but instead we got a classic sausage pizza with what seemed to be a nice light homemade tomato sauce. The pizza tasted good but I still prefer thin crust. I found the deep dish to come with just a little too much dough and cheese for my liking.

Tower Observatory: There were a couple of options as far as looking onto the city from a super high tower. We chose to go up to the John Hancock tower's 94^th floor for a coffee treat and unbeatable 360 degree view of the city. You could see all of the downtown sky scrapers, the actual city neighbourhoods, the lake and the sky. The afogatos we had were delicious and for less than $5 each, more reasonably priced than a Starbucks drink back down on earth!

Baseball Game: We wished we could have done this together but since we waited too late to buy tickets it was almost impossible to find three tickets together, unless we were willing to pay upwards of $1,000 for them. So Ben, being the one who cared the most about this particular activity, went to the game by himself. The boys and I had some time for a nap back at our hotel and then a walk and lunch in Grant Park.

In addition to this list, we also met up with a childhood friend of Ben’s who now lives with his wife in Chicago. We all had dinner together at a nice pub downtown. Unfortunately our two boys were in a grumpy and tired mood which did not make for a relaxing dinner. Ben and I fear that our boys may have driven our friends away from the idea of having kids, ever! To Alex and Jenna: we are very sorry!

On Sunday morning we checkout of our hotel on Michigan Avenue and were on the road again in no time. Next is the Sand Dunes in Indiana and the Henry Ford Car Museum in Detroit, and then home. 

Haifa 

Day 35: Deep-Dished in Chicago

July 27, 2012

A few posts ago I wrote about how Winnipeg rocked. If Winnipeg rocks, then I don't really have any adjectives to describe how much we are loving Chicago. This is a city that does nearly everything big and gets it right. . Enormous green spaces crash into towering buildings, the lake runs into rivers that snake their way through the city offering wonderful urban river-walks, turning corners brings you face to face with a beautiful and creative piece of public art, old style towers from the 1800s stand majestically beside new and modern works of stunning architecture. The city has completely floored me. I have been on a Chicago high of excitement since we arrived yesterday afternoon.

The famous "bean" - Cloud Gate

I am having some trouble writing this post as there is so much bumping around my head that I want to get down, but the energy from the city is making it a bit hard to focus. I'll keep at it though, as the energy of Chicago, which has swept through me, is the best inspiration for writing about this place. 

I was putting Zaid to bed this evening when all of a sudden I hear faint bass beats wafting up from the streets below. They didn't seem to bother Zaid, but my curiosity was piqued. I recalled having walked by a stage advertising a free dance party during the summer this morning and put two and two together. After getting Zaid down (or at least I thought) I headed outside to see what was going on. There was a dance party, and it was awesome. There was probably 500-800 people and all of them were dancing. From young parents with their children to old couples in their 70s, from the stylings of the "Chicago Dancing Diva's" to the stylings of rhythm-less middle aged white people, from girls in tie-die shirts to guys in basketball jerseys, from Indians dancing Banghar, to me tapping my foot and bobbing my head, EVERYONE was dancing. The whole event was free and lasted about 2 hours. It was funded completely by the government, with no form of sponsorship anywhere. This is a city that does things right.

Revellers at the free dance party in Grant Park

We've packed a ton into the last day and a half here: Affogato's on the 94th floor of the John Hancock center with a view of downtown Chicago to the south and a rainstorm coming in over the north; 2 hours this morning at the Field Museum of Natural History being shrunk to the size of bugs and seeing the Tsavo man-eaters; a long walk down Michigan Street and beautiful building after beautiful building; Deep-Dish Chicago Pizza at the famous Lou Malnati's; playing with light and reflections at the Cloud Gate Sculpture; turning the corner into a gigantic fountain set against Michigan Lake; stumbling across a sidewalk purse sale and successfully bargaining our way to a free wallet for Haifa.

View from Cafe on 94th floor of John Hancock Center

We both had very high expectations for this city, and I was a bit worried that there was no way they could be met; I was wrong. This city has far exceeded even our outrageous expectations. I love this city, every moment has filled me with excitement, both for being here, and for our move to Toronto. As I have said before, Vancouver is not a city. It is a very large town in a beautiful setting, but it is not a city. I want to live in a city, and Chicago has stoked the flames of this desire for me. I cannot wait to get to Toronto and finally, after nearly 25 years, live in a city again.

Day 33 - Port Washington, Wisconsin

It seems that we have finally reached the point of being tired of being on the road. Even though we have loved almost every place we have been so far (with the exception of the dreaded Blariot Ferry Park), and continue to enjoy every day of this trip, we are also at the same time getting tired of the constant travel and homelessness. Yesterday was the peak of this tiredness for us. For some reason we all woke up already tired, and after a long day of driving we arrived at our campsite nothing but more tired. With no energy to set up camp, we all just sat there in exhaustion starring out at the trees around us and at each other. Finally after an hour and several breaks, one used to go purchase beer, Ben got the tent up and I was able to go in and get it ready for the night.  After some rest we managed to summon enough energy to complete our day with the requisite walk around the park, and the making and eating dinner. By the time the boys were tucked into their sleeping bags and sound asleep, we were too exhausted to stay up any later and soon joined them in the tent. 

We had decided yesterday to change our plan from camping again today to staying in a hotel instead. This morning we received confirmation that our decision was the right one. We woke up this morning to heavy rains and thundershowers that, once again, soaked up our tent, chairs etc. We quickly got everyone in the car as soon as the thunder started and used little breaks of light or no rain to pack up our camp slowly over the morning. When everything except for the tent was tucked away the rain stopped, so we left our tent up to  dry and went for a drive. We drove to a nice look out area from which you could see the whole park and parts of Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan. Ben and Zaid went for a short walk while Owen and I sat on a bench enjoying the views, the fresh air and for me my cup of morning java. 

When we got back to our camp our tent was still wet so we took it down and decided to dry it in our hotel room instead, something that we have done many times over this trip. Our drive to Port Washington was not too long and we stopped a couple of time along Lake Michigan for breaks and lunch. Today was a windy day and the winds were particularly bad on the Lake shore. This made for a hurried and frenzied lunch as we simultaneously had to eat and keep our food from flying away! 

We arrived in Port Washington in the afternoon and easily found our hotel near the main entrance to town. We checked in and spent some time resting and catching up on email, facebook etc. Our hotel has a swimming pool so we decided to go for a swim which is always a big hit with Zaid and Owen who love the water and can't seem to ever get enough of it. After a swim it was time for dinner so we headed into town looking for something local and fresh. We stopped to stock up on more excellent Wisconsin beer and the guy in the store recommended the New Port Shores, know for being the only restaurant in town on the lake shore. The place is obviously a very popular local joint because even for an early dinner it was packed and the only tables they had were in the back room. We decided to stay anyways and it was not a bad table after all for I at least still had a view of the lake from my seat. Both Ben and I ordered a local fish fry which is similar to fish and chips except that the fish is dipped into a much lighter and crisper batter (I believe it's mostly corm meal) which actually stays on the fish when you pick it up. Both of our dishes were delicious and Zaid devoured his Mac n' Cheese plate in no time (which happens to come with a bowl of apple sauce which also was devoured). 

After dinner we got back to the hotel. Soon Zaid and Owen were asleep, and now Ben and I are sitting down, enjoying some local beer, catching up on modern technology and planning our next day. Tomorrow we drive to Chicago but since we are not too far away, we plan to stop in Milwaukee on the way for a break and something fun to do. We are both very excited about Chicago and I expect a very busy and tiring 3-4 days. After Chicago our trip will be starting to come to its end as we drive straight back to Ontario and finally Toronto.  Even though we are at the point now of looking forward to having a home again and staying put for a while, I know that we will be very sad to see this trip come to an end, and I know that I will miss this time of our life very dearly. 

Haifa  

Day 32: America's Dairyland

July 24, 2012

In any trip there will inevitably come a day when you awake and the excitement and sense of adventure you had every other morning seems to be sleeping in a bit longer than usual. Perhaps it is just taking a few days off and will come back again, but usually it signifies the adventurer is growing weary of the nomadic life and wants to head for home. For all of us, with the possible exception of Owen (who at this point probably only knows this nomadic lifestyle), that day came today.

We woke up early, packed up the tent and were on the road before 9:00, a new trip early. Owen fell into his morning nap right away, as always, but soon Haifa and Zaid joined him. After a long 5 hours on the road we finally stopped at our new campground. For some reason, I was unable to find the energy to even take the tent and poles out of the bag. It took me about an hour to put up the tent, as I took long breaks after every step of the way. The thought of taking the tent down again tomorrow and then putting it up in the afternoon proved to be too much and so we have decided to make tomorrow an extra hotel night.

Zaid and I relaxing by the riverfront at our campsite in Brunet Island State Park

Our feelings about being on the road are in no way meant to be a judgement on the state, or people, of Wisconsin. Wisconsin, for me at least, has been a revelation – it is a wonderful State, full of beautiful and varied landscapes and the nicest people way have had the pleasure of meeting at any point on our stay. We drove from Superior to Brunet Island State Park, just North of Eau Claire yesterday and had a long day driving to Potawatomi State Park on the western shore of Green Bay on Lake Michigan today. Both of these State Parks have proven to be wonderful places, located in Boreal Forests and staffed with the friendliest and most cheerful Park Rangers of all parks. The Ranger at Brunet Island gave Zaid an explorer’s package, complete with a Smokey the Bear stuffed animal, which Zaid eschewed his usual Duck (Ba-Ta) for. Zaid got to keep the activity books, and a few supplies, but had to return Smokey for another child to enjoy later.

Zaid throwing rocks into Green Bay on Lake Michigan

The drive today, while long and draining on us all, provided a wonderful change of scenery from the Western edge of the State through the city of Green Bay and into the Michigan Lake zone.  Along the way we passed through a number of small towns with familiar names: Owen, Abbotsford, Wittenberg (the last name of family friends), Caroline (my mother’s name), Denmark, Luxembourg, and Brussels. It became quite an interesting game by the end, trying to guess where in Europe we would end up next!

We had planned to stop for lunch at a park in Green Bay but were forced to change our plans after we exited the city without having seen even a city bench to rest on. Green Bay is, by FAR, the most blue collar city we have passed through on this trip. You could see the poverty come out at you from the moment we entered the city until we exited out the eastern edge. It makes me quite curious to see Detroit and the surrounding ghost towns.

Tomorrow we are planning on a scenic drive down Lake Michigan to Port Washington, just North of Milwaukee. The area promises numerous sandy swimming beaches and sounds like just the kind of relaxing place we need to re-energize ourselves. We are still very excited about our 3 nights in Chicago and fully expect to get a second wind as we enter the Windy City. I hope Chicago holds a big enough wind to keep us going for the 3-4 days we have planned to get from there to Toronto.

Well, that is all for now. I head back to my amazing Wisconsin beer (they have great beer here; it is not just a myth). Tonight it is Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale by New Glarus Brewing Co. (one of the top 10 breweries in the world last year).

Day 30: "Drink some beer, do some fishin"

July 22, 2012

After a short 2 nights in Minnesota we have entered Wisconsin until Thursday morning when we head to Chicago. Well, while technically in Wisconsin, it is not possible to be closer to Minnesota than we are without actually being in Minnesota. The hotel we are staying at in Superior, Wisconsin is literally the first building you come across after crossing the John A. Blatnik Bridge from Duluth, Minnesota.

We arrived in Duluth late morning today after a short drive down from Tower, where we had stayed for the last 2 days. Yesterday was the first relaxing rest day we have had in ages. We spent the morning relaxing at the campsite, going for a dip in the lake and taking a walk around the forested end of the point. After lunch and a nap for Zaid we headed out to do some sightseeing just as the sun was reaching its maximum power, in hindsight this was probably not the best choice.


Our first stop was the Soudan Iron mine, the first, richest, and deepest Iron Mine in Minnesota. It is no longer operational and now serves as Minnesota State Historic Site. The main attraction is an hour and half journey 150 underground into the old mine itself. The trip promised to be a cool 50 Farenheit (which must be cooler than the 92 that it was above ground), but we decided to give it a pass. We were all very skeptical about Zaid's ability to remain focused for a 90 minute guided tour. If it had been a 5 minute trip then he may have handled it well.  The decision to remain above ground proved to not be a large loss as we had a tonne of fun exploring the surface buildings and equipment. Although, our favourite part was probably standing in front of the elevator shaft into the mine, with the cool temperature from the depths of the mountain pouring out into our faces. We stayed there for close to an hour and thoroughly enjoyed the whole time. One of the joys of this trip is these unexpected stops at hidden gems.

Ben on a Mine structure overlooking Northern Minnesota

We nearly stopped at another potential hidden gem this morning as we passed by the town of Evelth, which lured us with signs promising the "US Hockey Hall of Fame." Unfortunately, being the only one even remotely interested in stopping, I was outvoted and we kept on the road. In short order we were required to stop though as the low oil light came on. We stopped at a gas station in the hamlet of Independence, purchased motor oil, popped the hood and stared dumbfounded at all the components underneath. Which lid did we need to unscrew? and where was the dipstick? Haifa and I were crouched in front of the car, me with motor oil and Haifa with the Car's manual, neither of us doing much of anything. Luckily, a local saw our confusion and came over to lend a hand. Within minutes he had helped us fill the oil and we were back on the road. Many thanks go out to the Independence native for helping a couple of stranded tourists.

Everything I had read about Duluth promised a beautiful city nestled between the shores of Lake Superior and a steep hill. However, upon first entering Duluth we saw nothing but the usual stretch of strip malls, big box stores, and fast food joints that seem to mark the entrance to every town large enough to call itself a city. It seemed, however, that this part of Duluth was stretching on for a fair bit longer than other, larger, cities we had visited. Where was this promised beauty? Just as we were getting a bit disappointed we took a curve along the highway and had this amazing sight of Duluth before us. Downtown was off the right, the port and the bridge to Wisconsin was centre, industry to the right, Lake Superior dominated the skyline, with the faint shoreline of Northern Wisconsin providing a dividing line between water and sky.

Our first glimpse of Duluth

After driving through the city we stopped at Subway and drove to Leif Erickson Park, nestled along the Northern shore of Lake Superior. The view of city and lake was amazing, and for a special touch for Zaid, a passenger train passed right by our picnic site.

We, rather easily, found our way without help of a map, to our next destination - The Great Lakes Aquarium. I guess when you are looking for a building on Harbor Street, the first place to go would be the Harbor. This proved to be a huge hit with all of us, complete with a live Otter feeding, a huge water-table room set up as the great lakes, and the petting of live Sturgeon and Sting-Rays.

Ben, having worked up enough courage to touch the Sting Ray

We finished our day off with a swim at the hotel's swimming pool, but not before we had dinner at Hammond's Steakhouse. This proved to be a retro 70s era classic American Steakhouse and served up good food that was exactly as you expected. Haifa and I had the Steak and Shrimp special, while Zaid had his usual "Chicken Fries" (Chicken Strips and Fries). All of our meals came with a salad starter and to our surprise Zaid finished up every last piece of lettuce from his salad. All that remained on his plate were the remnants of the Ranch dressing. Happily for us, the salad had made him too full to have much of his deep fried Chicken and Potatoes. Finally he has a healthy meal out.

We have a few LONG days of driving ahead of us. Our plan is to drive to the area around Eau Claire, Wisconsin tomorrow and then east to Lake Michigan the next day. After a rest day we head down the Lake to the big city of Chicago where we will be staying for 3 days. We are getting close to that long awaited Cubs game.

Day 28: "Go The Distance"

July 20, 2012

Today we have hit two milestones in our trip: we have finished the fourth week of travelling, and we have entered into the USA – Minnesota to be precise. The crossing of the border has brought renewed vigor and excitement to our trip as we are in a place completely new to all of us.

Crossing the border caused the usual stress and worry that crossing any border brings to my mind. I have a deep-seated fear of people in uniforms with guns and whenever I go into a new country I worry that I will be denied entry for some minor reason. This stress is intensified when returning to Canada as I have an irrational worry that I will be denied entry back home, left with nowhere to go, destined to be stuck at the border crossing indefinitely.

Combined with a reunion with the bikers travelling across Canada, crazy drivers passing us on a single-lane highway with a double yellow and windy road, and a pickup truck that left a propane tank rolling across the highway in front of us, the border worry caused the drive to the border to be quite stressful and tense. Luckily, we all made it to the border none the worse for wear, without even Owen crying.

I believe my stress may have shown at the border since after the requisite questions about fresh fruit, where we are from, and where we are going, the border guard put in a radio call for further checks. A second guard comes out and leads us to the long-term waiting area and takes our passports to the back room, leaving us in the car for about 10 minutes. We had just enough time to make Plan B (head east towards Thunder Bay and then down to Toronto) when the guard came back, passed us our passports and welcomed us to America.

We made a small stop in International Falls to exchange money and purchase the promised cheaper US gas (did not seem any different in price to me) before heading on our way to Bear Head State Park in North-Eastern Minnesota. The state highway south proved to be horrible, full of cracks and bumps from the biting cold winters, which made the driving somewhat slower.

Shortly before our turn-off we passed by a sign that made me very excited, and Haifa very confused. I bet she was wondering what the heck I was up to with a huge smile and giggles over passing the exit to Chisholm, Minnesota. Bonus points awarded to any reader who can determine why I was so giddy with excitement about this seemingly non-descript place.

After the turnoff we expected a short-drive to the town of Tower, Minnesota, and then an even shorter drive to the campground. As we passed the 20 minute mark with no sight of either we got a bit concerned, after consulting the map again and determining that indeed we were seemingly on the right path we realized our mistake and cursed the heavens over the blasted imperial measurement system. Miles and Pounds I can figure out when pressed, but for the life of me I have no idea what is up with the Fahrenheit system of temperature.

For the first time this trip we experience disappointment upon arrival at a campground; a large “Campground Full” sign greeted us at the entrance. Haifa jumped in to ask about overflow camping or a campground close by and was met with a grumpy women who suggested trying another state park. Which state park, and where they were located was apparently beyond her knowledge base. Her attitude certainly didn’t help with our disappointment.

After a brief discussion we decided to head back to the town of Tower, stop for lunch and then find a visitor centre to help determine our next move. We had turkey sandwiches in the town of Soudan – home to the very first Iron Mine in Minnesota,  which is now a modern day Mining museum complete with a tour of an old mine shaft. We determined that in order to go to this, and the Tower Railroad museum, tomorrow that if we couldn’t find any campsite close by that we would get a motel in town.

On our way through town we caught sight of a sign promising camping and followed the directions to Hoodoo Point campground just outside of town on Vermillion Lake (for those following at home this is the third Vermillion Lake we have visited). The manager said he had one site left, but that it was a pretty bad site and advised us to take a look before paying. Driving past shade-less fields full of RV’s we got quite worried about what the bad site would look like. To our pleasant surprise this bad site is easily the best in the whole campground. We are surrounded on three sides by trees, have a large space to fit our tent, have a kitchen, play area, and living room. We quickly booked for the night and will hopefully be able to extend our stay in the morning.

The stereotype of Minnesota, even for us from up North in Canada, is one of a deeply cold and empty land full of lakes. It is full of lakes, but it is not empty or cold (at least not in summer). Today was the hottest day of the trip by far. The extreme mugginess did not help, neither did the complete lack of any cooling wind. A dip in the lake helped a bit, but the sweat came back just as soon as we were out. Then, at about 8:00, a 10 minute thunder shower rolled in. This was literally greeted with cheers from the campers. Booming “Yeah’s” could be heard from around the campground as the sky caved in on us, pelting us with as much rain as it could muster. Big shaking thunders and flashes of lightning caused quite the show, and the rain cooled us down for the rest of the evening. Walking to the bathroom later I was awed at the sight of the thunderstorm to the southeast of us, reflecting the pink of the setting sun as the flashes of lightning could be seen from inside its belly. It was a wonderful sight.

Tomorrow, with luck, will be a relaxing day. We hope to extend our stay here so that we can visit the sites in town and jump into the lake a few times. We have booked a hotel in Duluth on Sunday and then have three days to traverse Wisconsin before we get to Chicago for Thursday. Given the busy 4 days ahead of us, we are all looking forward to taking it easy for the first time since the Okanagan.