Life is a Highway, Part 1 (4th of July Vacation)

This year's 4th of July holiday found us traveling through scenic Northern Minnesota... into Canada. And, of course, with lots of adventures along the way.

Here's a flavor for day one which really started after we spent the night in industrial Duluth in a Super 8 motel since all the campgrounds were full. The motel room that was so dirty we stripped down the beds and used our sleeping bags instead. Oh, and the motel room that had an AC unit that 3 girls with 7 college degrees couldn't figure out how to use. But, lucky us, we had fish in the bottom of the bath tub.
I've digressed. Really... here's day 1. We've become the masters of packing our days with fun.

Of course, where would Minnesota be without a van decked out with portholes for windows and covered in astroturf?

Ummm... and don't forget the car AND PET wash. Oh, and RV dump too. Priceless. And I'm speechless.

We stopped twice at a flea market on the North Shore (of Lake Superior, not Hawaii)... once on the way up and once on the way back so I could buy a red rocking chair to fit in the back seat next to Claire on the way home. Thanks Claire for being such a trooper.

And we randomly found an Alpine slide... so of course we fit that into our adventure.

And we stopped at the Grand Portage National Monument. It was all about trappers and swap meets.. or something like that.

And of course we had beautiful country. This is what they consider "mountains" in Minnesota.

And of course crossing the border into Canada. Luckily we had a cute border guard who just laughed when we told him we were going to... umm... ka..kaka... kaka-something.. some falls across the border. Oh yeah, Kakabeka Falls.