Trails End Campground

After hiking back from Magnetic Rock and a hearty lunch at the lodge, we drove to the end of the Gunflint Trail. At the end is an incredible campground: Trails End Campground.

This is the view from Campsite #1. It's up on a bluff above the lake. Absolutely stunning view. It's on our list of places to go back to.

 

Magnetic Rock

We kicked off our first day with a hearty breakfast at the lodge and then set out to see Magnetic Rock. It was a beautiful hike up on top of a ridge with some fantastic views of the fall colors.

The highlight is Magnetic Rock. It's a HUGE rock standing on end at the top of the mountain. The rock is out of the iron formation and it's strongly magnetic. Scientists say that it was put there by the glaciers. I don't know about that - I've never seen ice cubes stand rocks on end. My guesses are (1) Paul Bunyan, (2) Aliens, or (3) Stone Age Giants.

 

Room with a View

Each cabin has a little seating area on the water where you can look at Canada.

The lodge has fishing boats, pontoon boats, and canoes. Gunflint Lake is an entrance into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is a huge chunk of northern Minnesota where motorized travel and machinery is prohibited. It's on our bucket list to do a canoe trip there.

 

Cabin in the Woods

Gunflint Lodge is a collection of cabins on Gunflint Lake with a central lodge for food & drink. They accept dogs, so S got to come along.

You can't have a cabin in the woods without a nice wood burning fireplace. The window looked out onto Gunflint Lake and Canada on the other side.

 

Gunflint

The day after the concert, we headed north for a much anticipated stay at the historic Gunflint Lodge. It's 3+ hours north of Duluth. We had a beautiful fall drive up and along the north shore. A flat tire added a nice stop in Grand Marais where we got lunch while the tire was repaired.

The Gunflint Trail goes from Duluth north to a dead end. Gunflint lodge is 12 miles from the end of the trail. The lodge was build in the 20s and is a Minnesota classic. They are open year round and have some nice ski trails and dog sledding in the winter. We went for the fall colors.

 

Pet Shop Boys & New Order

We kicked off our October with an amazing concert with the neighbors and their group of friends: Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Both are bands from the 80s. Despite the band members all being 10 years older than us, they put on an amazing show.

 

New Bike

We took CP to REI to get a new bike. His place in Eden Prairie has a ton of bike trails and he has an easy 1 mile ride to work.

 

Last Home Game

We picked our seats for the last home game months ago. At that time we didn't know what it would be like. We spent the summer sweating out the games, but this time it was chilly. Fortunately, there was a Twins hat giveaway. We had great seats right by 1st base and we sat in the shade for 5 innings until we had to find some sun and warmth.

Can't wait for the home opener next year!

 

Backyard Seating Area

With the pathway stones that were pulled up for the backyard remodel, JP put in a nice little seating area under the dogwood tree.

We were able to use up about half of the stones. The plan is to fill in all around it with more plants next spring.

 

Camping Season Again

With the temps finally cooling off, it's camping season again! We went with the Ks (next door neighbors) at Interstate State Park on the Wisconsin side. It was perfect weather and there were no bugs.

We hit Stillwater on the way home for a sit down lunch at one of the riverside pubs.

 

Sweltering

We had a the all-time driest September on record. It was another scorcher of a summer and we are looking forward to getting into some more sensible temps. The official high on 9/20 was 92°. After that it cooled off 40° and later in the week we had to turn on the fireplace.

The cold front that came thru gave us some absolutely perfect weather. I've been taking the bus home from work in the afternoon, and the walk home takes me past the beach. It was a picture perfect afternoon.

 

Twins Night Game

We hit an evening game with the next door neighbors. It started with a rain delay of an hour and ended with extra innings and a loss. We had fun anyway.

 

Cleaner Clothes

After doing battle with our washing machine for a month, we got a new setup that works much better. We had better luck with the dishwasher that was also behaving badly - a $20 part fixed it and it is working well again.

Summer Concert

We only caught one show at the bandshell this year. We walked over with DK and the dogs. It was a beautiful late summer night and the music was good, too.

 

Dog Walks

We never tire of our walks in the neighborhood. We have a screechy eagle that hunts the lake. His favorite perch is the top of this tree off of the parkway.

There is always a heron, loon, ducks, or turtle to be seen along the shore.

Twice a week the Lake Harriet Yacht Club has a regatta.

 

KG's Baby

We got to meet the newest member of our extended friend-family: KG's new baby.

 

Sunset Storm

One of our favorite places to be is at the G's pool. We were treated to a beautiful Nebraska sunset-lit storm.

 

New Suits

GP was here all summer and only realized once he got back to Lincoln that he needed a new suit.

CP's friend got married - time for a new suit.

 

Year 4 @ UNL

We drove down with GP and got him reinstalled into his apartment. JP found a great desk at Ikea that fits perfectly in the corner.

 

New Shoes

We put some new rubber & rims on GP's Toyota. The old tires were hard as rocks and the steel rims were starting to rust.

 

Inaugural Firepit Night

The stars & moon aligned: Friday night, G wrapped up his 2nd class and internship, new firepit, new cushions for the chairs, new backyard, neighbors, and temps in the 60s.

The new firepit is simply amazing. No smoke and it puts out a ton of heat.

 

Green Grass

We have green grass!

 

50th and Bryant Construction

Part of the Bryant Ave. reconstruction project involves the intersection at 50th. It's going to look a whole lot different in a few months. Right now, the 1919 Bachman building with the awning looks right at home.

This week, the Malt Shop reopened after their major renovation. JP & I stopped in for a yummy malt and some tasty salmon spread. It's another great restaurant withing walking distance.

 

Afternoon Twins Game

I took an afternoon off and we caught an Twins game. We had time for a nice lunch before the game. It was an awesome game and we came away with a win against Detroit. Afterwards, we hit O'Donovan's for their amazing Corked Corned Beef sandwich.

While waiting for our ride home, we stood in front of First Ave and gawked at all the bands that have played there over the years. Each star has a band name painted in it.

 

Neighborhood Night Out

JP Ended up organizing the National Neighborhood Night Out event for our block. Most of the neighbors came out for hot dogs, watermelon, games, and a pet parade. We have a ton of kids on the block and they all had fun, despite it being 96° with a dewpoint of 78°.