It’s time for the annual Fall Trip with the kids. This year since Matthew is in school we went on MEA weekend. That meant whole trip was a little later than usual and we missed the peak of the fall colors.

We spent the first night on Lake Vermillion. Fall is my favorite time on the lake. It’s quiet. You might see a boater every few hours. The weather is chilly at night but comfortable for a tramp through the woods during the day.

The children and I picked the remaining wild rose hips along the shoreline. Some animal, maybe a deer had beaten us to most of them, but walking along the shoreline I was able to find quite a few. I am planning on drying them and using them in tea.

Then we drove to Ely for lunch at The Northern Grounds which is right next door to Piragis. Piragis was having a pretty good sale in their outlet area and we managed to get an old aluminium canoe for a great price.

We drove down a few old forest service roads and didn’t see another car for hours. We finally caught Highway 1 and zoomed up the north shore to our destination at Lutsen. We stayed at a lodge at Lutsen that Jeannie found last year. Unfortunately, they remodeled all the rooms with kitchenettes removing the kitchenettes in the process. To make matters worse, they gave us a room with only one bed. This wasn’t what we had reserved so we were a little dissapointed. They did manage to find us a room with a futon which converted into a bed. Given the popularity of the weekend I thought that was pretty good.

During our first and only night at Lutsen the lodge next door had a fire. Based on the lousy weather and the less than ideal lodgings we decided to leave a day early. The management was glad to have the extra room to accomodate the people who had to flee their smoke and water filled rooms.

The alpine slide is the big reason we go to Lutsen, but we were rained out this year. While the kids were splashing in the pool I took the tram across the valley and hiked on the Superior Hiking trail for a mile or so. I can’t wait to get back on the trail in the spring.

TAGS: None