The Apostle Islands and Porcupine Mountain, September 2024

Cathy and Me

Our seemingly annual RV trip with Cathy and JA.

Monday Sept 23

This year we are exploring the South Shore of Lake Superior. Cathy had this fantasy of doing a circumnavigation of the lake, until she realized just how far that is. It could easily take a month, or more! Then we thought we’d visit 4 or 5 different places on the south shore, but that was still a lot. So we chose 2 places to visit in a week.

Our first stop is the Apostle Islands. It was about a 4.5 hour drive from the cities, not too bad. I’d never heard of it, but I think it might be semi-famous. Lots of islands and lighthouses.

We pulled into our campground around 3:10, at almost the exact some time as Cathy and JA. It’s a nice campground. We have full hookups for the first time in a while. We haven’t done anything yet except eat dinner (Cathy made fish tacos, very good) and sit around and talk. We stayed outside chatting until almost 7 pm, until it got too cold. Tomorrow we’re going on a cruise to visit some of the islands and learn more about the area. We’re getting some beautiful weather for this trip. No rain, cold at night (40’s and 50’s), 60’s and 70’s during the day.

Tuesday Sept 24

It got pretty cold last night. I was glad I had long pj pants! It was 39F when I got up at 5:30.

In the morning I ran 3 miles around this very hilly campground. Then I took a shower and before I knew it, it was time to feed the dogs, eat lunch and bike into town. We were going on a boat tour of the Apostle Islands. It left at noon and we needed to get there a little early to be able to get a seat outside on the boat.

We also had to figure out how to get to town on our bikes. It was only a little over a mile, but confusing. We had to get on the main highway for a little while but it had a broad shoulder so it wasn’t too bad. There was supposed to be a bike/walking trail but we couldn’t find it and ended up just using the streets of the town. It was downhill all the way there. 

Finally we found the dock where the boat was tied up, and just in time. There were still some seats on top upstairs too. Lucky us!

It was a beautiful day, calm and sunny and not even very chilly. It reached 70 by the end of the tour. I needed my layers, and sometimes my hood, but it’s the end of September in northern Wisconsin on Lake Superior for heaven’s sake!

Lighthouse

The Apostle Islands were an important source of sandstone before steel was invented so the town of Ashland was a major port before Duluth and the rise of steel. So there are a bunch of lighthouses on the islands. Each island has its own personality. They are almost all part of a National Lakeshore Park, but there are a few private homes left here and there. There’s lots of wildlife, including bears. We saw quite a few bald eagles on the tour.

Sea Caves Devil's Island

We also saw the sea caves on Devil’s island. They were pretty cool! Most of the islands have a rocky side that faces the prevailing winds. The rocks erode and are pushed down the island to the lee side where there is a sandy beach.

The tour was very informative and it was just enjoyable being out on the water in the sun. I hope I didn’t get my face sunburned! It was really sunny.

The only downside was riding our bikes back to the campground after the cruise. Downhill all the way there meant UPHILL all the way back! Some parts were really steep too. I didn’t get off my bike and walk, but I sure wanted to sometimes!

Wednesday Sept 25

On the Ferry to Madeline Island

Today we took the ferry over to Madeline Island. We brought our bikes which was lots of fun. It is SO hilly though riding to Bayfield and back! Thank goodness the island itself is pretty flat.

I have a nice bike, a hybrid, but nice. JA has a nice mountain bike. Lee has his old Cannondale that he had rebuilt last year. But Cathy is riding a 35 year old 10 speed cruiser so the hills were just a killer for her. Plus she doesn’t ride that much and we ended up doing almost 20 miles total, which is a lot if you’re not used to it.

The ferry is a short ride, only 25 minutes at most. It was an easy bike ride out to the state park on the island. it’s not a big park. We went to the overlook, explored the campground and the beach and that was about it. You could take an RV on the ferry and stay on the island if you wanted. Maybe next year!

View From Madeline Island Across the Lake

We rode back into town and ate lunch at a place called the Beach Club. Checked out the little museum, which had a lot of information about the Native Americans that used to live in this area. Then it was time to catch the ferry and go back.

We tried to take a less steep route back to the campground, but they’re all pretty bad. I did walk my bike up one hill, but I think it was mostly because I was tired.

Tomorrow it’s off to Porcupine Mountain in Michigan.

Thursday Sept 26

Another crazy hilly run, 613 ft of elevation gain in 4 miles. Very tiring!

It was only about 2 and a half hours to Porcupine Mountain, so we took our time and stopped a few times along the way. The first stop was a grocery store in Ashland, WI. Then we went down the road about a mile to a lakeside park for lunch. We had Lee’s delicious tuna sandwiches. They’re on a baguette and include hard boiled eggs, olives, capers and a lemon dressing. They are not your average tuna salad sandwich!

Then we drove for about 30 minutes to Interstate Falls for a very short hike (a third of a mile each way). Even Heather could handle it, although I did have to carry her up a few short steep hills. The falls were very nice, not huge but very pretty. And the leaves are starting to turn here. Some reds and yellows here and there.

Interstate Falls, WI

Then we drove the rest of the way to Porcupine Mountain, about an hour. We crossed the state line into Michigan and changed time zones too, although I don’t think I’ll bother to adjust unless we’re going somewhere. The cell phone reception was very sparse, even non existent in spots. Lee’s phone decided that our destination was up a rural road only a few minutes away but I was pretty sure that wasn’t right. Mine had us going to the Visitor’s Center at the park so we followed my phone until Lee’s phone could get reception again. 

We’re in Union Bay Campground in the state park. It’s nice, but we’re back to an electricity only campsite, no sewer or water. We filled our water tank and if we are careful we should be okay for 2 days.

There are all sorts of signs warning about bears here. No sign yet, but I’m apprehensive. I have no desire to confront a bear on a run or a hike, or while taking 3 little dogs to go potty at night!

Friday Sept 27

Everyone else wanted to go on a hike but I did not. So Lee took Sophie and I stayed at the campsite with the old lady dogs, Harper and Heather. We lazed around most of the morning. But around 10:30 I started to get restless and decided to go for a short bike ride. Lake of the Clouds is only 7 miles away, maybe I could bike there?

Well! Seven miles uphill as it turned out. I went around 5 miles, forced myself to keep going to the top of a steep rise and then turned around. It took me half as long to get back as it did to ride out. Down one of those long hills I actually hit 30 mph! It was kind of fun and kind of terrifying. At speeds like that my bike starts to shake a little and gets harder to control. I was definitely scanning ahead for any hidden bumps or gravel! But I was fine. 

I got back to the campsite, fed the dogs and myself and settled down to relax. I did a lot of crocheting and a little reading too.

Before too long the rest of the crew had returned. They had driven up to Lake of the Clouds and done a hike from there. Sophie had a ball and wasn’t at all tired.

We all took at easy in the afternoon. Late in the day I decided to take the truck up to Lake of the Clouds to see the view. I’m glad I turned around at 5 miles on the bike ride. The road flattened out until right before the parking lot but then it got REALLY steep! I would have been just trashed. And it was very narrow too, no shoulder at all.

The walk to the lookout  from the parking lot is very short, only 300 yards, but straight uphill. The view was beautiful though. Every day the leaves are turning more and more. The lake itself was way down in a valley. It was all very pretty!

Lake of the Clouds

Saturday Sept 28

Lake Superior

In the morning I went for a run, 5 miles along the shore of Lake Superior. I took a lot of pictures because it was just so pretty. And because it was mostly flat I was able to actually run instead of shuffling along, gasping for air!

Because we don’t have sewer access in the RV I used the camp showers. I’m not worried about using up the water, but I don’t want to fill up the grey water tank. We’re leaving tomorrow so as long as we continue to be careful we should be ok.

There were chair lift rides at the local ski resort so we decided to do that next. Wow what a view! We could see for miles out across the lake. So pretty! The sun was very bright and it was warm. It’s a very small resort, just one lift, about 10 different runs. 2 green, 2 blue and the rest black. The thing is, it’s probably bitterly cold, not unlike skiing at Bretton Woods. And it’s far away and we’re retired from downhill anyway.

Porcupine Mountain Ski Lift View

The rest of the day we just lazed around. I took Sophie for an afternoon walk. We went to see the boat ramp, the historic marker, the places where you can access the lake from the campground.  Its cooler this afternoon.

And that’s a wrap for RVing in 2024. When we get home it will be time to haul the boat, winterize the RV, and get ready for a Minnesota winter. Maybe this year we’ll actually have one!

A Triathlon Turned Run-Bike-Run

It’s been a month now. I haven’t wanted to write about the triathlon. First of all the water quality at Shady Oak Lake deteriorated right before the race so the swim portion was cancelled. I was disappointed and also relieved. Although my swimming has really improved I’m terrible in open water. And this race turned out to be just very strange. It was supposed to be just for fun, and you could choose your distance as you went. Because everyone was running and biking different distances there were no Age Group awards, no podiums, no way to tell how you did against the other people in the race.

I had decided early on that I was going to do the longest distances for each component. So I ran 5k, biked 12 miles, and then ran 1.5 miles. Who knows how many other people did that, but I know for sure that none of the slower people like me made that choice.

I was apprehensive about the logistics of a tri, even without the swim. Just managing two different disciplines at the same time felt overwhelming, thank goodness I didn’t have to deal with three! But I had done a lot of reading and Facebooking about tris so I knew what to expect.

I got there plenty early, found the place in the transition area where I was supposed to rack my bike, and the helpful volunteers showed me how; I would have never figured it out otherwise! There's a bar, and you hang your bike from the seat post. If there was an incorrect way to do this I would have found it without their help! 

Running, shoes, hat, water, gel, sunglasses, phone - check. We started in waves of about 50 people (about 400 people total), in order by when we registered. I was in the second group, and as it turns out it’s a good thing. Because I had mainly focused on swimming and biking and really hadn’t run much at all this summer, my running was crap. Getting covid a couple of weeks ago didn’t help either. I was really slow, even for me. 

But the biking portion went better. I averaged around 13 mph, same as I did in the 65 mile Tour de Tonka, which is good for me, but very slow for a race. During the biking portion I started to realize just how slow. You could do anything from 1 to 3 4 mile loops. I gradually realized that almost no one as slow as me did the full 12 miles. By the time I got off the bike there were only a couple of people behind me.

You could decide at that point to just run over the finish line and call it a day. That’s what I probably should have done but no, I had told myself I was going to do the final 1.5 miles so I did. There was no one, and I mean NO ONE on that course at the end! The water station was closed, the volunteers pointing the way were gone. When I got to the final stretch I wondered if the finish line would still be up! There were a few volunteers walking to the finish area and they saw me jogging along. One of them ran ahead yelling, “One more! One more!” Haha. People lined the finish shoot and cheered for me! I was kind of embarrassed, and also laughing at the absurdity of it all. I had finally managed to come in Dead Fucking Last in a race. 

As time goes by, and I’ve had a little time to think about it I think triathlons are just not my thing. I like to run. I like to bike, a lot. I’m proud of myself for learning to swim better, but I think I will stick to pool swimming from now on. But tris? No. I can’t see my swimming getting that much better. Getting faster on the bike probably means getting a road bike.  I can run ok for my age but to be halfway decent means focusing on it, and I just don’t have the time or energy to devote to doing 3 sports well.

So one and done. That’s ok. I’m running the TCM 10 mile race on Sunday. I’ll focus mainly on running for now and use biking, swimming, pilates and strength training as cross training.  I'm starting to plan my fitness goals for next year. I think it's going to be a year of half marathons. That's a hard distance for me, but not as all-consuming or depleting as full marathons. I've signed up for the Gary Borkland Half in Duluth next June already and I'll probably add Goldy's Run and a few others to that as well. And maybe another distance bike ride too. Could I do the 70 miler in Mankato next fall? Will I get a road bike next spring? Stay tuned!

Family Reunion

Here's all the kids except Oscar. L to R: Charlotte, Kirby, Lula, Leo and Willa

Both Lee's sisters and their husbands, some of their kids and grandkids, and some of our kids and grandkids, all descended on our house over Labor Day weekend!

Friday August 30th

Everyone arrived around 4 pm. Mark and Mary, Sam, Elsa and Charlotte.  I finally get to meet Charlotte! She is almost 2 years old. It’s so nice to see everyone. Mark and Mary haven’t been to Minnesota since before we built our house. Tomorrow Cathy and JA are coming up from Zumbrota and Sam and Danielle and their kids are coming from Duluth. And of course Sarah and Erik and the boys will be over too. We don’t have space for everyone to sleep at our house so Mark and Mary are sleeping in our RV, Cathy and JA are sleeping in THEIR RV, and Sam and Danielle and kids will be in a hotel in Chanhassen. Elsa, Sam and Charlotte will sleep upstairs. Lee made pasta jambalaya for dinner. It’s fun to just sit around and talk to everyone but I have a race in the morning so I go to bed early.

Saturday August 31 

The Triathlon is in a separate post. I get home from the race around 11 am and Cathy and JA show up right about the same time as I get home. Everyone else, including Sarah and the boys, went out on the boat. Cathy brings food wherever she goes so she has rice salad and smoked salmon. We have lots of things to snack on too. I tell them to make themselves at home while I take a shower. They hook up their RV, and we try to make sure it’s on a separate curcuit from our RV, but we still periodically trip a breaker throughout the weekend. In the afternoon Sam, Danielle, Lula, Willa and Oscar arrive. We seem to have a large number of bananas since everyone brought some with them so I make banana bread. Everyone comes over for dinner. There’s lots of eating, talking and laughing. Lee and his sisters and their husbands stay up talking, but I’m trashed and go to sleep.

Sunday Sept 1 

The banana bread was a hit and is soon gone so Mary makes more. Our kids take their kids over to the hotel to swim. We hang out, talk eat, dinner again. The little kids have so much fun playing together. Ages 6mo-2-3-two 4.5 yo and 6.5 yo Leo. Oscar is a challenging baby. He doesn’t sleep much and a pretty fussy. But he’ll grow out of this phase and probably end up being a sweetie. Lula is so precocious I keep thinking she is Leo’s age not Kirby’s. Willa is amazing. She is visually impaired but very determined and smart. And Charlotte was a doll! We’d heard that she was a challenging kid but we thought she was great, just two. Wait til she’s three!

Monday Sept 2. Everyone left in the morning. Charlotte didn’t want to leave, she had so much fun playing with all the big kids. So I told her that all the other kids had gone home and the only people that were staying were Uncle Lee and me. Then she was ready to go home too!

It was so much fun having everyone here, especially watching the kids play together. It reminded me of when I was little, playing with my cousins. I was the oldest of 13 cousins and some of them were much younger than me (the youngest was born when I was 20!) but there were two cousins on my mother’s side that were close in age to me and my sister and we played together a lot when we were small. Its a great memory and I’m happy that my grand kids will get to experience that sometimes too.