Voyageurs, Apostle Islands and the UP

It was time for us to make our way to the UP for Troy’s Annual Boy’s Fishing Trip in Curtis, Michigan. On the way we checked off another National Park – Voyageurs on Kabetogama Lake in Minnesota. We didn’t know that Minnesota had a National Park until we started doing research for the trip. The park is one of the few that is mainly water activities. We stayed at a quaint fishing lodge that also had a few spots for RV’s right on the Lake – wonderful views and great fishing. We rented a fishing boat from the lodge and hit the waters early! Lisa is not a morning person and to get her up early to go fishing is not the easiest task but she did it and in good spirits, we were both excited to be out on the water. We caught a mix of Walleyes and Saguers with the catch of the day going to Troy a 30” walleye, 8 fish caught in total! We brought them back to the lodge, where they cleaned them for us and that evening we had a fish fry – can’t go wrong with beer battered fish straight from the lake!

So, we have a bad habit of leaving the dog’s food containers outside the RV for the following day. In the places where we are truly “in the wild” we make an effort to remember to put them away. Well we forgot to put them away the second night at the lodge and Lisa hears the metal tins go flying and assumes that a Raccoon has gotten into the food, again! This would be the 3rd time, raccoon number 1 we scared away before he got into the food and the 2nd raccoon was munching away until Troy stared him down with the flashlight. We have had these dishes that store the dog’s food underneath for 3 years and the dogs have never “broken in” to get the food yet the raccoon’s figured out how to tip them over on their first try – interesting. Anyways back to the night in question, Lisa figures it is just another coon and makes some noise when opening the door assuming that it will run away, she peers outside and sees a BLACK BEAR eating the dog food – not good! After Lisa yells for Troy for a few minutes he finally manages to see what the fuss is all about, oh a BEAR! Yeah Troy, a BEAR! We make some noise, shine a light but the bear doesn’t want to move on – Dog food is yummy, right? Finally the bear gets the hint and moves on to rummage garbage cans located through the lodge. The next day we learn the bear comes around quite often and has become a “nuisance” according to the owners of the lodge, really, you don’t say?

We have stumbled across some very interesting picture taking opportunities along the way but the two below may be Troy's favorites taken in Minnesota Fish Country! :)

We had an appointment in Duluth/Superior to have the RV's oil changed so we headed to the “big city” and hung out there for a few days. Not much to do but Duluth does have a nice waterfront area were you can watch the boats go by and an Aerial Lift Bridge that is pretty cool. And of course you can’t forget the Lighthouses. We have seen Lighthouses everywhere on our tour and for some reason they are always a tourist attraction however we just don’t get the attraction, Sorry! Here is a picture of the Lighthouse on the Duluth pier – not bad, for a lighthouse!

Next state on the road trip, Wisconsin! We headed to Bayfield to take a tour of the Apostle Islands. We had been told the area was gorgeous and we were not disappointed. The downtown area is on the waterfront of Lake Superior with little tourist shops, pubs and of course fishing and island tours. The night we arrived we did a mini pub crawl grabbing apps along the way experiencing all the town has to offer! It was very quiet mid-week in Bayfield, this is definitely a weekend destination! We signed ourselves up for the Island Boat tour and arrived at 8:45 am the next morning to find the boat packed already, we were given middle seats on the main enclosed level of the boat, makes it a bit difficult to take pictures of the surroundings but Troy made his way to the upper deck a few times to get a few more lighthouse pictures :) The area is beautiful and exploring it on your own is probably the way to go, next time either sign up early to guarantee an upper deck seat or use your own boat!
Wow, we were now back in Michigan, such a strange feeling! We made it to Wakefield and made camp for the night. The Campground was on a lake so we let the puppies play in the water and lost 2 dog toys, guess the dogs weren’t in the “mood” to bring the toys back! Last time we buy $12 water toys, tennis balls will work just fine next time :)

The following morning we made our way to Curtis, love the UP, so much beauty! We did a 10 day camping trip in the UP 6 years ago and the drive brought back wonderful memories. This trip is not “camping”, it is “RVing”, big difference! Not that Lisa would have camped for the last 4 months but we do miss the trips when we “rough it”!

It was now time for Lisa to hit the road and let the boys be boys on their annual fishing trip, she couldn’t leave fast enough!