A Weekend Staycation

Erin and I are both a little nerdy.

Each of us has a National Park Passport that we stamp whenever we visit a park, just like a real Passport when visiting a foreign country.  Its fun, the stamps are free and we don’t buy any other souvenirs while we are traveling.  We just carry around our little books wherever we go.  Last summer we collected 21 stamps from all over the Western portion of the United States, from North Dakota to New Mexico.

On Friday we finished our last day of summer classes and instead of sitting around for the next week whining about how bored we were, Erin and I thought it would be fun to take a spur of the moment road trip.  Living in Wisconsin, there aren’t too many destinations but there are a couple of places we could visit to get our Passports stamped; Voyageurs National Park and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  We began checking the maps and planning our route.  Neither of us had ever been to Manitoba and Winnipeg wasn’t too far out of the way.  First stop, Canada!

I printed off the directions and we went to bed.

The next morning we packed our bags and hit the road.  Six hours later we were going through Customs at the Canadian border.  A word of advice; if you want to ensure an intimate experience with Border Patrol, try driving into a foreign country without any reason, with no reservations and no knowledge about the city you are visiting.  We were pulled aside when we entered Canada and  on the way back when we returned to the United States.  We were drilled with questions by half a dozen officers both ways and each country searched our car.

After half an hour of answering questions and learning about the laws of Canada, we were on our way to Winnipeg.  When we arrived, neither of us were impressed.  We drove through the city, around the city and across the city before finding their Capitol, which was a handsome building.  We stopped to take some photos and ventured inside a few minutes before closing time.  The guards were very friendly and let us in to explore.  Huge statues of buffalo flanked either side of the marble staircase leading to the rotunda.  After driving around the city for another hour, we found a hotel and called it a night.

Tomorrow’s destination became International Falls in Minnesota.  When we finally made it we asked the gas station attendant what there was to do in the area.  “Nothing.”  Then I asked where the falls were.  “There aren’t any.”  Seriously?  Well, isn’t that nice!?  We laughed and joked a little before deciding to push on to Voyageurs.  After a short drive we made it to the park, got our Passports stamped and went on a stroll along the lakeshore where we watched a mother duck swim alongside her ducklings as they popped in and out of the water.

If you are ever visiting Voyageurs, it would be in your best interest to do so with a boat of some sort.  There are a few hiking trails in the area but almost all of the camping is on the islands off the main shore.  We didn’t have a boat so we thought we might be able to take a boat tour with the park service.  We found a Ranger and asked when they offered guided tours.  “Not until next weekend.”

We decided to drive to the next visitor area and see what was there.  The map showed a hiking trail along the shore, maybe that would be nice.  When we found the trailhead, it was about 100 yards of trail.  A bit frustrated, we made the best of our time at the park.  We caught a turtle and played with a chipmunk, took some photos and finally headed to our next destination; the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin.

By the time we arrived it was dark and we found a hotel on the shore of Lake Superior.  The next day we could scratch Goal #46 off my list, Kayak at the Apostle Islands.  We found some brochures from a few companies and decided to call them in the morning.  We hit the streets in search of food and found a tavern where we had cheeseburgers and homemade french fries.  In anticipation of a fun day tomorrow, we called it a night.

When we woke up, I looked out the window to find Lake Superior cloaked in a thick fog.  The people on the streets were wearing rain coats and sweatshirts.  The weather hadn’t turned out as the forecast predicted.  It was cold, windy and wet.  Going kayaking wouldn’t be enjoyable, so instead we went on a boat tour around the lake where, through the fog, we were able to see the islands.  The most spectacular of these islands is Devil’s Island.  The shore is riddled with beautiful sea caves in the red sandstone cliffs.  Seeing these formations in person really got me excited about kayaking around the area and we are already talking about visiting again later this summer when the weather is better.

After our tour, we headed back home.  We saw a lot of places and even though we didn’t get to do very much, we still had a lot of fun.  Being on the road exploring beats sitting on the couch in front of a TV any day.  I was able to add another Canadian province to my list and I got to see some really beautiful places.  I can’t wait to get back to the Apostle Islands in a couple of months!

Three days, 3 states, 2 countries, 1,200 miles and 2 National Park stamps…