North Shore Camping - Temperance River State Park

Lake Superior at Temperance River State Park

Made a short camping trip (Monday-Wednesday) with friends up the North Shore of Lake Superior to Temperance River State Park. With fire and drought conditions, we weren't sure what to expect but we ended up with beautiful weather and a much cooler time than the heat and humidity of the Twin Cities.

Click here for short video montage.

There were some milky skies from wildfire smoke but not so bad that we felt it. Not good star observing but a near full moon made up for the lack of starry nights.

Temperance River State Park camping facilities are nice with showers, bathrooms, vault toilets, and a dish washing station. The upper campsite is very close to Highway 61 with truck noise which rules out a return stay for me. I don't need that kind of man-made noise while I am camping.

Temperance River

On the other hand, the hike along the Temperance River gorge is amazing. There are waterfalls that rush through narrow passages. The well-maintained hiking path is fantastic with viewing spots along this dramatic stretch of northern Minnesota.

We went to Coho Cafe in Tofte three times! (secret treat - they have ice cream!)

The highlight of the trip for me was the near full moon reflecting off an incredibly still Lake Superior. The smoky sky made for an orangy-yellow moon creating a stunning effect in the sky and on the water.

Reupholstered Ikea POANG Series chair

Ikea Poang Series chair that was going to be thrown away. Reupholstered by friend Kathy. The most difficult part of the project was putting it all back together.

Kathy sewed a cover for the original fabric which has padding (batten) already sewn into it. We had to align the grommets in the original fabric to where they should be on the new fabric cover. Then after inserting the metal frame, align the holes in the frame with the grommets and holes in the new fabric and then inserting the additional foam for the back and seat.

The foam would not go in because it clung to the fabric padding and as you pushed it through, the holes would get out of alignment. After almost 2 hours, we got it close enough for me to take home to assemble to wood frame.

Before

After

Another hour of fidgeting with the alignment of the holes and the dang thing was together and secure. I don't think it will ever be coming apart again 🤨

Biking-Camping West Central Minnesota

Pearson's Century Farm, Litchfield, MN

This year's annual summer biking-camping adventure with Bud was to west-central Minnesota. Short cut to video montage.

We were kinda in the middle of a triangle drawn from Wilmar to Litchfield to Hutchinson. This was another HipCamp site on a farm with goats, a cow, a burrow, chickens, and lots of cats.

The drive out on Monday was less than 2 hours. To be honest, the farm is in the middle of nowhere. Acres and acres of farmland were everywhere around. There are basically two crops: soybeans and versions of corn. That's it! The acreage of these two crops goes on and on and on. There are patches of trees (mostly oak) and lakes or ponds generously sprinkled in.

The "camp" is on Pearson's Century Farm. I forgot to let the owner, Travis, know when we were arriving, but he quickly responded to my text to let us know where the campsite was located. If we had been paying closer attention, we would have seen the "Campsite" signs.

We've gotten pretty efficient on setting up our campsite, so we were done in a few minutes. I should mention that most of Minnesota, including where we were, was under an excessive heat warning. We discussed not going at all but were glad we did. At least we were out of the urban heat island and fortunately had a very shady campsite.

Bike transport

I searched AllTrails to find a paved biking trail that would be mostly shaded. We knew driving to bike trails was in our future. We drove to Wilmar, MN to ride the Glacial Lakes Trail to Spicer, MN - 14 miles ride trip.

Back at campsite Monday evening for dinner of hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked beans. After dinner was a short walk to the sunset meadow.

Tuesday morning, we had a big breakfast in camp before driving to Hutchinson (Hutch to the locals) for a trek on the Luce Line Trail. We got about halfway to Winsted before we ran into trail re-construction and turned around. 

Back in Hutchinson (they go big on their parks), we cooled off at the Dairy Queen before heading west bound for a few more miles. The heat was intense this year, so our rides were shorter than on previous adventures.

The need to cool off was high so we found a local public beach in order to get into some water. Lake Manuella has a nice sandy bottom with warm water, but it felt so good to get wet (that wasn't sweat).

Dinner Tuesday evening was in Litchfield next to Lake Ripley but too hot to sit outside. It might sound counter-intuitive, but a campfire Tuesday night kept the mosquitoes away for a while.

Back to Minneapolis Wednesday just in time for the worst wildfire smoke ever! Looking at the maps, the wildfire smoke was even worse just where we left so the timing was perfect.

Memorable sights: sandhill cranes; lots of pelicans; beautiful lakes and ponds; huge acres of soybeans and corn; majestic oak trees; amazing bird songs in the early mornings; Hutchinson park system.

Video montage.

Wisconsin Mississippi Bluffs (Dianne and Bob's)

 We were treated to a spectacular sunset. Here is the sunset sequence...

We were also treated to delicious food, games, and fun stories.

The pickleball tournament finished with Bud as the big winner (including a trophy). An ankle dip in the pool was much needed to cool off from the heat.

Pepin Pava Pool