We spent a wonderful few hours in Duluth exploring the waterfront. They have a great museum that we spent time in that explains a lot about the ships and the shipping industry that comes and goes through the city. Time well spent as we waited for the John G Munson come into the docks. We walked along the boardwalk, climbed on rocks, ate some lunch and then headed back to the campsite to get ready for the long drive home the next day.
The crossing from Madeline Island to the mainland was beautiful this time. Calm waters, warm but not hot, and a gentle breeze. Jeff and I went to the top deck to enjoy the view.
We arrived at Pattison State Park by early afternoon and got all set up quickly. Carson and I went off to explore the park. We went to the nature center which had an explanation of tree rings, and also a great display about the CCC that built a lot of the campground and buildings during the Great Depression. Then we went to find Big Manitou Falls, which is the biggest waterfall in Wisconsin at 165 feet tall. It was very impressive! There was a selfie station at “the best place to take a picture in Wisconsin” (according to the sign), so of course we had to take a selfie. The rest of the hike was beautiful too. It is on the North Country Trail, which we have kind of followed during our entire trip. As we hiked back to our campsite, there were a bunch of wet paint signs on the park benches along the way. Of course the first thing one wants to do when one sees that sign is touch the wet paint! Carson learned that it was indeed wet, so he had to wash his hands in the lake, LOL
We spent a nice lesiurely morning at the campsite. It was pretty cool for August so not many mosquitoes at all. Nerd hobbies alert: Jeff put his Ham radio intennea up to try to connect with other operators, while I did some cross stitching. How old are we?
We went in to the town for lunch and some cell signal so we could catch up with the world’s news and so I could upload photos for the blog. I enjoy giving up social media during these remote camping trips, but it is frustrating when I want to look something up and can’t. Example: What rock/plant/tree is this? or What is this random cool looking ruin in the middle of no where and why was it built here? I have an inquiring mind and want to know things! LOL
After lunch and grocery shopping, we drove around the island. Most of it is gravel roads and privately owned. Jeff found the road that becomes an ice road in the winter when the lake freezes over too much for the ferry to run. There is another fort that we could have gone to see, but the teens with us were protesting because “all forts are the same!”. They are not wrong!
We got back to our campsite mid afternoon and read or did our nerdy hobbies, and then Jeff cooked grilled pork tenderloin sandwiches for supper. The winds finally started dying down about sunset, but the beach remained deserted.
Kline Road Trips 