Trip Report Part I

Grab a cup of coffee because this is going to be a long post.
But first, a little birthday action...chocolate cake and singing from my girls and beloved. A perfect 35th. (And yes, before you ask, Lolo is wearing the same Dora the Explorer dress).
We packed up and left after dinner last friday night. First stop. The Naniboujou Lodge in Grand Marais, MN. It's about a 5 hour drive from our home. Drive was relatively uneventful. Girls and I slept part of the way. (Norah sleeping most of the way, Lolo chatting away for a good part).
Lolo found the word "Naniboujou" hysterically funny. She would repeatedly us "Where we going?" Jim or I would reply "We're going to Naniboujou." She'd crack up laughing and say "You kiddin' me?!" We'd say "We're not kidding." She'd try to say "Naniboujou" and just laugh hysterically. The lodge, itself, was quite interesting....opened in 1929 as an exclusive club, its charter members included Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. The dining room is a unbelieveably gorgeous painted room (seriously, check out the website link above) with an enormously beautiful river rock fireplace. The food was outstanding. It's hard to believe that such good food can be found in such a remote location. It's completely worth the drive just for the food and a lazy day by the lake.
We spent a lazy saturday just eating, wandering the shoreline, and napping. Our rockhound of a daughter, Lolo spent a good part of the day scouring the beach for rocks....rocks to throw in the lake, rocks to keep, rocks to stuff into sandals....We also discovered that Norah has a strong affinity for rocks. We seem destined to bring home tons of rocks from the North Shore.
More to come....