08-26-2008 - Camping Mini-TR con't - Day Two
In the morning we finally surrendered to waking up for the day-I think we both woke up about 5 times throughout the night. So we were tired, but excited to face the day. It was cool out and still a bit windy.
I can't remember the exact details, but somehow I managed to have a bit of quiet time alone-Henry must have been still sleeping and Joe was at the tent or something...anyway, I went down to the lake and sat on the beach to just gaze out. Before I knew it a loon popped up!
The loon is our state bird! I have seen one before, but not very often, so it was a neat thing to see.
After just a bit I turned around to head back to the tent and who did I see standing there with Daddy waiting for me?
Little Mr. Henry!
Lookin' so cozy in his hoodie and hat.
Eventually we got ready for the day and headed into town for breakfast. We ate at a little cafe and the food was great. I got a typical breakfast, lots of coffee, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, ham. Joe got "bread pudding french toast" that was soooo yummy, but way to sweet for my taste in the morning. Henry had a pancake-which he loudly decleared as "YUM! YUM! YUM!" No food pics-too early, brain not fully functioning without coffee pumping through my veins...but DH did take this one:
Looks cozy doesn't it?
After breakfast we went to the local "big box" which is called Pamida (not sure if they have these all over, or just Minnesota?). We were on the hunt for METAL TENT STAKES! We were DONE dealing with the tent caving in!
Pamida had no tent stakes. The only big box in Camping Country, Minnesota and not tent stakes.
We went to the grocery store which was next door. No luck there either.
So, we started to head toward the lake and toward the light house that we wanted to explore. On the way we found a local hardware store.
THEY HAD METAL TENT STAKES!
We purchased 2 packs and a hammer. $10 later we were happy, happy campers.
We continued down toward the lake and got side tracked by more trains at the Two Harbors Depot.
The last steam train that had ran in this area. IT WAS HUGE!!!!!!
We headed over to the Depot and visited the gift shop for a bit. While roaming around in there the Scenic Railroad pulled up. There is another route that goes from Duluth to Two Harbors and back.
After the depot we headed to the lighthouse, but first explored the area right in front of it-which was just a small trail and some rocky areas that went out into the water a bit...it was VERY windy.
I love this pic.
The lighthouse
A view of the loading docks across the water-there was a big boat being loaded, but we couldn't really see anything happening.
After the lighthouse we headed back to the tent. The plan was at 3:00 to meet up with
thewesterberg and get some ice cream in Duluth! We got back to the tent and put in the metal tent stakes. Henry was veryyyy fussy and I knew he was exhausted-he hadn't napped at all yet that day. So we opted to give thewesterberg a call and see if we could postpone the meet until later that day, she graciously understood (being a Mommy herself!). I was also exhausted and getting another headache and needed a nap. The wind was still blowing, and we had the windows half down in the tent for air, so the flaps from the windows were catching in the wind-the noise scared Henry and he kept crying, which only made his exhaustion (and mine) worse. Joe took him outside and for a stroll while I napped at the tent. He reported back later that Henry fell asleep in less than 3 minutes once in the stroller and out of the scary tent!
After our naps we were HUNGRY. We hadn't ate since that morning, so we went into Duluth and ate at Grandma's. Grandma's is very well known in Minnesota, there is a Grandma's Marathon and we learned there are about 3 or 4 different Grandma resturants in Duluth alone. We ate at the main one for dinner.
Instead of normal high chairs, they had these space saver ones that worked great in their HUGE booths.
Look at those cute little feet hanging out there...he had socks on, but kept pulling them off. Gotta pick your battles...
DINNER! Mine was a roast beef sandwich with swiss cheese, peppers and onions, au jus to dip it in. Side of garlic mashed potatoes. Gee, can you tell we were NOT following WeightWatchers that weekend?!
Henry had gotten a corn dog and applesauce, which he loooooved.
Joe had gotten a burger along with a milk shake and a Coke.
After they rolled us out of Grandma's we called thewesterberg to meet up! She was very near by, so we started heading her way, and of course on the way we had to walk past the lift bridge.
The lift bridge is pretty unique-the whole bridge goes up and down when big boats have to go under it. It doesn't open in the middle, but literally the whole thing goes UP. I had never, ever seen it before despite being in Duluth a few times and just as we were walking past they announced the bridge was about to lift, and HOLY COW, there was a HUUUUUUGE ship going through!
Continued in next post....
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I think once the girls go back to school next week, I'll really focus on getting this done. I look forward to seeing what yours looks like!
). Hopefully in a couple weeks I will carve away some time. I look forward to seeing yours!
We had a cold windy night on our first trip this year - and made the rookie mistake of not tying down our awning. Big mistake, huge. At 2am we were outside in the wind and rain trying to figure out how to get the awning off the top of the camper without dismantling the entire thing (pop-up). Then I laid awake all night thinking the wind was going to blow the camper over. Luckily the kids slept through it all! 
I'm a city girl that likes to VISIT the country and small towns. I go bezerk living in one....such as now...itching to move to the City again! But, I love camping and enjoying small towns-it's beautiful and a nice getaway.
