Minnesota, Up North! Day 1

We have been wanting to head up north for a few years now.  We have seen pictures of The North Shore along Lake Superior as well as the Apostle Islands and their beautiful caves.  We have also wanted to visit where the Mississippi Headwaters are...since we live right on the Mississippi (literally a few miles from our home). 

After looking at our calendar at the beginning of the summer, we realized that it probably wasn't going to work out with camps and such.  We decided to put it off for the time being.  A month or so later, Becki and her mom were talking about the Mississippi Headwaters.  Her mom mentioned that she would love to go if we ever decide to head up that direction.  With that incentive, we looked at the calendar and found a date that worked for both families...just before school starts back up again!

Planning for this trip was far from easy.  Who would've guessed that Minnesota would be such a hot spot for traveling!  We tried for weeks to find the best hotel combination (fit our needs, location and price range) with very little luck.  We finally decided to flip our days and visit Duluth (Lake Superior) first and the Headwaters second.  While the prices didn't change for hotels (Wow, is all I have to say about the prices!!), we were able to obtain a few rooms, finally!

We met Becki's parents (Ron & Rose) at a McDonald's a few miles up the road.  We ate breakfast, re-situated the kids and all their stuff (2 in each vehicle), prayed and hit the road for a long day of driving.

We were able to drive straight through until lunch, just south of the twin cities.  Our trusty GPS only led us astray a few times! :)  After lunch, we made a Photo Scavenger Hunt stop in Moose Lake, MN.

We then continued north towards our hotel.  Once checked in and unloaded, we all piled into one vehicle and drove across the street to a Rest area/overlook/visitor center to enjoy the view as well as find a letterbox.

Rose & Ron (Becki's parents)

 We then drove down to Canal Park and spent 2 hours downtown - walking along the water and seeing the lighthouses up close.  We walked across the lift bridge and waded in the Lake.  It was a beautiful evening with a nice breeze.  We absolutely loved being on the water!

 

 We got back in the car and decided to drive across the lift bridge and see the peninsula.  The houses were amazing!  We then headed back to the hotel for the night - grab some dinner and swim for the evening.  We were all ready for a break at that point, after a long day of traveling. Day 1 of our Minnesota, Up North trip had come to an end.