Chippewa National Forest: Camp Rabideau & the Lost Forty

This morning Noelle and I woke up after a not-so-restful sleep. Every sound Parker heard in the woods forced him to get up, move around and try to see what had made the sound. We packed up the tent under a gray sky while thunder clapped around us. Luckily we got packed up before the rain started to fall. We drove into Cass Lake for a supermarket breakfast and then headed north towards Blackduck and Camp Rapideau, one of three remaining CCC camps.

While the camp was mostly inaccessible due to maintenance of the structures,

we were able to get a short tour and go inside the old education building.

It was quite interesting and we would both like to visit again when the camp has been restored.

From Camp Rapideau we headed east to the Lost Forty. The Lost Forty is a section of timbered land that was incorrectly surveyed and shown as underwater on maps. Due to the mistake the trees there were spared and the Lost Forty features some of the only virgin forest left in Minnesota. There are some big trees there and we enjoyed walking among them.

Schoolcraft State Park

Friday was my last day at work and since I had some extra time before we pack up and head south, Noelle and I decided to go on one last Minnesota road trip. We packed up the Civic and headed west to Grand Rapids and Schoolcraft State Park a small but pleasant park on the Mississippi River. We hiked the short hiking Club Trail there and enjoyed the views of the river,

the wildflowers (mostly goldenrods and asters)

and even some wildlife.

After our hike at Schoolcraft we headed north into the Chippewa National Forest. it was our first time spending any significant time in the Chippewa. We found a pleasant campground at Mososmo Point and, other than the campground hosts, we had it all to ourselves. We did get a visit from a family of raccoons and a butterfly who really seemed to take a liking to me.

Mostly we just relaxed and even enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Sailing Lake Superior

Before we leave Duluth in a few days, Noelle's advisor Bruce wanted to get us out on the lake for a sail on Superior's beautiful blue waters. We couldn't have asked for better weather. While I'm not feeling ready to go out and buy a boat of my own, it was fun to be on the lake and even play the role of captain for a while.

One Last Beach Walk with Lucy

This morning Noelle and I headed to the beach for one last stroll. Today turned out to be our best day of beachcombing yet. We found a lot of interesting shells and even some wildlife we hadn't yet seen. We found some shy hermit crabs living inside some old whelk shells.

We also found our first horseshoe crab washed up on the beach.

There were a lot of birds on the beach as well. I think they were bidding us farewell as we were soon to head out and end our Jersey Shore vacation.

After checking out of our rental house we had one more shore adventure planned for our trip home: a visit with Lucy the Elephant.

Lucy, in case you're not aware is a six story tall building built in 1882 in the shape of an elephant to attract real estate buyers to what was then known as South Atlantic City. While she never did help sell much real estate, Lucy did become quite the tourist attraction. However, by the 1960's Lucy was in great disrepair. Luckily, a group formed in 1970 moved Lucy to a new location and restored her to her original glory. We went on the short tour and really enjoyed the view from the top.

Walking the Boards

This morning Noelle and I headed to the boardwalk. To get there we used the free, but underused, trolley bus that the city offers. The boardwalk "is the shore" to many people and I knew we just had to walk it at least once while in Ocean City. It was interesting to do some people watching, but the best part of the boardwalk is the food. We got some Mack and Manco's Pizza,

sampled some fudge, bought some salt water taffy, but for some reason we never did get ice cream at Kohr's. We also contemplated buying a hermit crab to take back to Minnesota with us but decided against it because we weren't sure if they would let us take it on the plane.

We were tired by the time we got back to the house, but we still had enough energy to make it back to the beach for one last swim in the ocean.

We stayed on the beach late, until hunger forced us to head home to get some food.

Back to the Beach

Last night Noelle and I went on a guided beach walk that started where the city beach ends and Corson's Inlet State Park begins. We learned a little bit about some of the shells that we found on the beach and some of the things that live there as well. Today the waves were a bit rough and Noelle and I decided to head out to see what we could find.

What we did find was a lot of jellyfish washed up on the beach.

We also found what's known locally as a mermaids purse: a skate egg case.

Mostly we just enjoyed walking the beach and listening to the sound of the surf pounding the sand.

Cape May Point State Park

Today Noelle, my mother and father, and myself took the drive from Ocean City down to the southernmost part of the Jersey Shore: Cape May Point and the beautiful Cape May Point State Park. It was pretty crowded at the park with lots of people in the nature center. There were some interesting exhibits in there as well and I learned a thing or two about the different animals that live in the area. Outside the visitor center was a small wildflower garden and we were lucky enough to see a monarch butterfly perched on some Black-eyed Susans.

From the visitor center we headed to the 157 foot tall Cape May Point Lighthouse and made the climb to the top.

There was a nice view of the Atlantic Ocean, the beach, some small ponds and an old bunker that was used to protect the US mainland during World War II.

Noelle and Mom and Dad saw some dolphins swimming along the shoreline from the top of the lighthouse, but unfortunately I had headed down to bottom because I got separated from them and thought that they had already headed down.

From the lighthouse we headed to the beach to check out the bunker.

Then we went to an observation platform to see what kind of life was active. It was difficult to see much without binoculars. While Noelle and I would have enjoyed exploring the area more, Dad was in the mood to go sightseeing by car and so we took off and headed to a nice restaurant/general store for lunch before heading back to Ocean City the scenic way.