The Fall Tour - Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Just back from an awesome 3 days in Northern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is the trip of trips you hope for, when planning to view the countryside, with the fall colors at their peak!


Day One - Waterloo, IA to Baraga, MI
After a night in Iowa City saturday (Oct. 2nd) watching the Hawkeyes take care of the Nittany Lions, I took off at 6am to head north. My route took me thru Dubuque, then Madison, and GREEN BAY. As I approached Green Bay, the traffic suddenly became bumper to bumper... duh, its a home football game for the Packers! Oh well, thought I might as well check it out, so I got off the main highway and headed for Lambeau Field - 30 minutes before kickoff! It was a beautiful day.. about 60 degrees, no wind, and clear blue sky. The smell of brats, and fall were definitely in the air. I took some video of the drive around the stadium... Click here to view.

Next stop was Baraga, MI, on L'Anse Bay, on the Western edge of Lake Superior. A 10-1/2 hour drive to this location, but it set up Day Two to be able to spend more time exploring, rather than driving to the next area. My 1st real access to the beautiful colors was on this portion of the drive into Baraga. Here are a couple of the neat areas I was able to stop and enjoy. This photo was taken at the Wisconsin/Michigan border.



A bit further down the road, in Niagara, MI I came across this river photo, with the bluffs in lining the shoreline with more fall colors.

As I approached L'Anse Bay, I found this cool little "island" that someone had placed a home on. It overlooked the bay, but also had this small pond/wildlife area on the road side.... 


The Best Western in Baraga was my overnite stay. It was right on the Bay, and provided me a beautiful view of the Bay shoreline at sunset (no camera with me then... was lookin' for someplace to eat!)


Day Two - Baraga, MI to Minocqua, WI



Day Two was a bit more relaxing.... Took off about 6:30 for my drive up to Houghton (I was "corrected at a stop for coffee that its pronounced "Hoe-ton") and headed up to Eagle Harbor. When I arrived, the sun wasn't high enough to clear the tree ridges, so I hung out along the harbor getting some shots of the lighthouse in action. About 20 minutes later, the sun's rays appeared on the the lighthouse and shoreline, giving me another beautiful display of shoreline! The roads in town were under major construction, so I couldn't get to the light house to take some up close shots this time.

Next stop was to wander back down to Calumet, MI, and check out some of the great old sandstone buildings in and around town. Calumet was once known as Red Jacket, back in the days it served as the center of mining for the Upper Peninsula. Just outside of town are the remains of copper mines which flourished back in the 1800's (1860-1890). The Great Depression resulted in the mines finally closing down. The two photos show are of the historic architecture in town. The 1st shows an old factory building now used for storage. 

The second building is the St. Paul the Apostle Church, built in 1908. It is virtually unchanged since its construction (which cost $100,000). 

From here I decided to check out the abandoned mining facilities, which are now the site of tours. Rather than take the tour, I wandered around the grounds and came across some relics of the past.... an abandoned rail spur running along the bluff overlooking Houghton and Hancock. 

Not only was the view amazing, but the relics of the old mining days gone by were pretty neat!

Time to start heading back toward Wisconsin, and the Minocqua area... all along the roads heading Southwest, were beautiful scenes of color. One of the best sites was a farmstead in Michigan, with the trees on the hillside full of color, and the hay baled and ready for storage. 

Before leaving the Upper Peninsula, I came upon this lodge.... had to get a photo... it says it all!


A bit further down the road I came upon the town of Watersmeet, Michigan. Home of the "Nimrods"... now I thought having a mascot called a Wahawk was strange, but a NIMROD??? Well come to find out that there is a reason... Nimrod Nation











I arrived in the Woodruff-Minocqua area about 3pm, and headed to the site of my uncle's old cabin, on the edge of Mann Lake, surrounded by Government forest land and nothing else. The normal one mile overgrown forest path I normally drive to get there, had been "traveled"... looking like bulldozers, and other vehicles had been working there.. It was in too bad a condition to drive, so with camera in hand, I headed out by foot to check the abandoned cabin... well, in the last 5 years I have been checking it out, this year, the work on the road had somehow eliminated the road to the cabin! I walked almost to the lakeshore, but no signs of the path. So, starting to worry about being a mile into the woods alone, I gave up, and headed back to the car. Disappointing to see that this legacy of the Titus family may no longer be. I will try again next year... and use my GPS to get me there! 


Day two ended up at the AmericInn in Minocqua. If you ever have the need to stay in that area, this is a great place to stay.. inexpensive, but in excellent condition...

Day Three - Minocqua, WI to Waterloo, IA
The final day, like all my trips, seems to be a bit depressing, knowing its almost over. I took off before sunrise again, driving West... It was cool to see the fog, floating above the lakes, and see the sun begin shining on the colors once more... another beautiful day in Wisconsin!

As I pressed further south, the colors began to disappear, and more and more farmland replaced the acres and acres of forests. A couple more interesting sites along the way included the town of Colby... Yes, home of Colby Cheese! (it was too early to stop and buy any).  

A bit further on, were the remnants of cranberry fields that had been harvested. Since no harvesting was going on, there were no good "photo ops", other than empty cranberry beds. 

No trip would be complete without a stop at a different casino. This trip it was the Rainbow Casino (now called H-chunk Gaming Nekoosa). Nice place... and as usual, a few dollars were invested with NO RETURN!

My Santa Fe now was nearing La Crosse, and except for a stop to pick Sue up some Totally Naked beer for Sue, it was time to put the peddle to the metal and get back to Waterloo. 

The drive back thru NE Iowa, via Waukon, Postville, and West Union is one you should consider taking if ever heading up this way. Nice towns and beautiful countrysides. Although the color hasn't really peaked in this area, its a great place to enjoy the beautiful Iowa landscape!

So ends my travels for 2010. Some great sights, some interesting places, and some wonderful R&R.  I am already thinking about next year, and what to check out for "Rick's Travel Tales". If anyone has some places to recommend, send them my way.

Finally, to see all the photos I took along the way (too many to post here), check out my Picasa Web Album from the trip.

Enjoy!  - Rick

Great Travel Tools & Deals

Planning and finding great travel deals can sometimes be frustrating and time consuming. This edition of Ricks Travel Tales has a couple great tools that can help you make your future trip planning easier.. and save some money too!

Trip Planning

How many times have you tried to plan a multi-day trip, trying to capture all events, the associated reservations, schedules, and locations together that you can easily access anywhere? Sure, you can scribble confirmation numbers, hotel addresses, and flight numbers on a piece of paper. But what if you could put together an itinerary,  of all important travel info, including dates, flight info, hotel/event locations, confirmation numbers, maps and contact info all in one spot? You can!  

TripIt is a great web tool that can do just this. Set up a trip with the dates of travel, and then begin loading pertinent info for each date. Tripit will also automatically load reservations, flight info and events info directly from emails sent to your Tripit account. For those of you with smart phones, Tripit has an app that will allow you to access all this info from your phone too. 

Tripit will also allow you to "share" your plans with others. So no need to print out itineraries for spouses, friends or coworkers. Just add them to the "share trip" email listing, and they will have access to your trip itinerary!

Next time you are traveling give it a try!  TripIt

Travel Reservations

Most of us use popular travel search tools to find the best deals on flights, hotels, and vacation packages, hoping to get the best deals. Sights like Travelocity, Orbits, and Expedia have been the tools of choice... until now. 

A new travel tool with a proprietary search engine is now available! Rovia provides you with a travel tool to make not only flight, hotel and car reservations, but also cruise, all inclusive packages, villas/condos and and even group packages. The best part is, Rovia search results end up with rates usually better than the common search services! The site includes additional features such as info on weather, currency and travel documents required for your trip, and even a built in planner. If you become a Preferred Customer (free) you'll also receive $200k in flight insurance (on booked flights), special last minute deals and specials, and 30 minutes of Concierge Service, which can help you make your trip the best ever.

Check it out and use Rovia for your next travel experience. You'll be glad you did!

There you go, a couple great tools for your travel planning. I have used both, and would be more than happy to help you with either of these tools. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like more information. 

Rick Smith

Day Four - 2010 Summer Trip to Stillwater, Duluth, and Grand Marais, MN

Day Four - Final Day (from Duluth, MN to Waterloo, IA)

The reality of vacation being over is sinking in, and its back to Waterloo via Western Wisconsin, and SE Minnesota. We decided not to take I-35 back to the Twin Cities, but rather explore some more back roads in Western Wisconsin. Since we hit the casino the night before, we opted for the "convenience store coffee and donuts" and headed south east. 

Our 1st surprise of the trip was finding the Hole in the Wall Casino in Danbury, WI. We stopped for gas and a coffee fillup at a local tourist convenience store, and as we came out we saw a huge hotel being constructed. Guess what? It was opening day! So we had to check it out. The original Hole in the Wall Casino, was just a small single story building (in the foreground of the photo). The new casino and hotel was nice! And it was good to us! We left after about an hour with both of us ahead for this visit!


Back on the road, we passed beautiful farmsteads and wooded areas. Very peaceful, and what the Midwest is all about. Suddenly, Sue points out some strange things in a field, and as we turned the corner, we came upon the Franconia Sculpture Park. Now this was something you would NEVER expect to see, so we had to stop and wander. Some amazing works of art, all sculpted from everything imaginable. From old canoes, to bicycles, leftover steam shovel buckets, and animals formed from concrete.  I've only included a few here, but if you want to see all the photos I took of this park go to the Trip album at Picasa.  Here are a couple of my favorites -



It was time to move on. Our final stop was a winery in Cannon Falls. Despite about 20 miles of detour that we had to take to get to the winery, we made it.



Called the Cannon River Winery, this old car dealership was converted very nicely, to accommodate wine tasting, and hosting events. We arrived as some "motor home vacationers" were sitting and chatting about their adventures, while tasting some of the available wines. As I told Sue, "I hope we don't appear that way when we are on our journeys (you had to see/hear them to understand!).
Knowing this was our last day, and we still had a couple hours of driving ahead of us, Sue grabbed some wine and we headed out.

The trip to Minnesota was a great escape for Sue and I. After a long school year (and summer filled with baseball and softball games), it was nice to relax, and forget about things for a few days. As I write this, football, swimming, cross country, golf, and volleyball are all in full swing at Waterloo West High School, and with a new Athletic Director, and plenty of sporting events to cover, I know the next installment of Rick's Travel Tales cannot be too far off!


Stay tuned!

Day Three - 2010 Summer Trip to Stillwater, Duluth, and Grand Marais, MN

Day Three - Duluth to Grand Marais, MN (and all points in between)
After a day of shopping in Stillwater, MN and a day in Duluth exploring the tall ships, and the sights around Duluth, Day 3 was a day of exploring "up the trail", as the Minnesotans say, the Western Coast of Lake Superior and the northern harbor town of Grand Marais, MN. As has been the pattern for the 1st couple days, skies started out overcast, but temps in the upper 60's. 

With our coffee in hand, we head out for the 2-1/2 hour drive. We decided to drive straight thru to Grand Marais and have a late breakfast/lunch. Then, we'd make stops at the many scenic areas we passed on the drive up. However, our 1st journey was the Duluth Skyline Parkway. This road system travels along the bluffs overlooking Duluth, and has some amazing views. It begins at the Thompson Hill Visitors Center on the southern edge of the Duluth area. The panoramic view from the overlook at the Visitors Center is awesome! Unfortunately, with the cloud cover, the photos don't do it justice. 

Further down the Skyline Parkway we came upon another scenic overlook - Rice's Point, which overlooks Duluth-Superior's outer and  inner harbors. This vantage point provides an even better vantage point of the industrial complex around the harbors of Duluth. 

Wandering further along the Parkway, we came to Enger Park and the Enger Park Tower, also overlooking Duluth, and the beautiful Enger Park gardens. The views from here, like the other locations, were amazing. This location gave a closer view of the Canal Park area where we spent most of Sunday. 

From this point, the Parkway wandered thru older, residential areas of Duluth, before heading along Hawk's Ridge and Lester Park. The Parkway followed "Seven Bridges Road" (yes, there ARE 7 bridges along that stretch), which traversed down the hillside, following the creek bed, and some picturesque water falls/rapids. In a small opening along the route we came upon a complex of 3 outdoor hockey rinks, nestled in amongst the wooded hillside. Looked like a great place to strap on the blades and play!

As we continued on, we came upon 3 deer enjoying their morning breakfast and the creek (I couldn't see any coffee pot, but 'm sure it was there somewhere). It was obvious from this "Video clip" (yes, finally, some video! From my hot little Kodak PlaySport Video cam) they were trying to figure out who and the heck is this guy, and what's he doing! A neat park area, and less than a mile to the entrance and the residential areas of Duluth!


By now, we were ready to head "East" to Grand Marais. Yes, its east, or rather NorthEast, following the shoreline of Lake Superior. Many, fabulous places to view the lake and its ever changing shoreline. From tree lined shores, to rocky cliffs, waterfalls, and harbors, there's just about any type of place to enjoy the scenic coastline. The drive, a 2 lane highway, passes thru Two Harbors, Beaver Bay, Illgen City, and the road to Lutsen Ski area.Definitely the road construction season. But we pulled in to Grand Marais around 11am. 

The Main St. runs right along the harbor, with a nice swimming beach, and park area surrounding the water. 

Having NOT had a bloody mary for the whole trip, the Gunflint Tavern was beckoning us. We were
able sit by the window, and enjoy the view overlooking the harbor. As you can see from the next
photo, not only were the bloody marys outstanding, but so was the beer chaser!

I could tell at this point, I was going to like this town! We split a huge serving of nachos, and enjoyed watching the towns folk go about their duties, and a seaplane land and take off across the street in the harbor (more on that later).

OK, now its time to explore. From the Gunflint Tavern, we wandered thru a couple shops on the main street. One store I didn't get to check out was The Beaver House. Don't know why we didn't. Heck with a building like this, who could NOT visit it!

From here it was time to head out to the small
lighthouse on the breakwater which protects the harbor. After a short walk from main street to the

Coast Guard Station, you come upon the entrance to "Artists' Point. Following the sand path you
come upon some amazing rock structures along the shore leading to the cement breakwater.There's
definitely an artistic setting, at any hour of the day! Fog was rolling in while we were exploring, making
the setting even more alluring.

We made our way out to the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater. A great view of Grand Marais
and the harbor activity from there! 

While there, the seaplane (mentioned earlier) headed right at us to take off (Time for video clip No. 2).

The day was getting on, so we wandered back to town, passing by the unusual rock formations on the

Superior side of the breakwater. I suspect many of these to be man made, but nonetheless very

intriquing, especially with the fog.

Our final stop before starting the drive back to Duluth was a visit to the Lake Superior Trading Post.

This place had everything. From camping, hiking, fishing, and boating supplies, to souvenirs, art and clothing. I suspect this IS the place not only in the Summer, but especially in the Winter for all your needs! This photo shows a view from the balcony inside the store.

Time to hit the road and wander back to Duluth. It was about 2pm by now, and some of the

"adventurer" in us was waning, so we only picked a couple places on the way back to stop. 

The 1st stop was Palisade Head, North of ilver Bay. This overlook was right on top of the rock cliffs, and the view was incredible! While I scampered around the top of the cliff to find good "photo ops", I could hear some grunts of someone working hard on something. Sure enough, there were 2 people climbing the rock face! I couldn't even get close enough to the edge to take a look! This photos is as close as I got!

From here, we traveled down the coast to the Split Rock Light House, only to find the parking lot overflowing with tourists.... not what we felt like facing, so we drove further down the road to an overlook, where you can see the light house from a distance. I suspect this photo has been taken thousands of times... here's one more!

Next stop was Two Harbors. This town also has several tourist attractions along their harbor, including another light house, only it has been converted to a B&B. So we walked the shoreline, and came upon a gentleman by himself, who offered to take our photo. After chatting with him for a bit, it was clear (according to Sue) he is probably how I look when I am out wandering by myself! LOL..... he had his camera, was a wealth of knowledge, and loved to explore...

OK, now we are getting hungry again, so its time to head to Duluth, and find a new place to eat. As we entered Downtown Duluth, we came upon Fond-du-Luth Casino. Not one of your "new" casinos. In fact, it looks like its been here a long time! But hey, you never know... this could be the place we "strike it rich". We stopped and gambled about an hour (no, we didn't strike it rich). Losing money always makes us hungry, wandered further down the street to find a spot for dinner. 

Along the way we came upon a most unique spot - "Last Place on Earth". Check out the signs in the windows! Maybe they are looking for franchisees in the Cedar Valley??

Another block, and we came upon Pizza Luce.. Perfect for some beer and pizza. After stuffing ourselves, it was back to the hotel to crash. A great day exploring, and I definitely enjoyed the time visiting Grand Marais. Might just have to plan another trip there, and stay awhile!

Day 4 (last day) of our journey is awaiting... stay tuned!

Day Two - 2010 Summer Trip to Stillwater, Duluth, and Grand Marais, MN

Day Two - Stillwater, MN to Duluth, MN

Day Two (Sunday) started out overcast with a chance of showers. After refueling and grabbing a 24 oz. coffee, it was on to Duluth via I-35. It was only 2-1/2 hours to Duluth, and the Tall Ships Festival. The Festival, part of the Great Lakes United Tall Ships Challenge, which kicked off in Duluth a few days earlier. This is the main event of the Duluth Summer, and is expected to bring in literally tens of thousands of people over the 6 day event. Check out a couple news stories from the Festival - 
- Fox 21 - Duluth 
- WCCO - Minneapolis
- Kare 11 - Minneapolis

We exited I-35 in Duluth about 9:30, and got in line to park. Even by 10am the festival area was already crowded with tourists, and vendors hawking water, souvenirs, and events of the day.  The Duluth Bayfront Festival Park was the venue for all the activities. 

Located next to the Great Lakes Aquarium, the festival area not only included all the tall ships and exhibitors/vendors, but also a huge stage where The Pirates of Penzance daily shows were held. 

We opted not to view the stage show, as we wanted to beat the crowds to the "on board" tours of the boats. Lines to several of the ships were listed as 1-2 hours, so we grabbed the shortest line at the U.S. Brig Niagara. This ship has 17 professional crew members, and during this summer sailing event, adds 20 "trainees" who live on board for a minimum of 3 weeks. The ships are such majestic vessels, but once on board, man, are they small! The information says some carried up to 200 soldiers on board, along with supplies! As you can see from the photos below, this must have been quite a ride!

We selected a ship where they had a canvas covering above the deck. Ironically, as we boarded the ship, it began sprinkling. "Cameraman Rick" was VERY PLEASED with this as it kept my cameras dry!

After departing the ship, we wandered along the dock and checked out the other ships. By now, lines were at least 2 hours to tour on board. The ship garnering all the attention was the "Bounty". This was a replica of the real ship, and was the most popular at the Festival.












With the crowds growing, we opted to head over to Canal Park, and check out the lakewalk, the Aerial Bridge, and the Lake Superior Marine Museum and Maritime Visitor Center. 

The lakewalk, which runs from Canal Park up along the northern end of Duluth, has great views of Lake Superior and the canal entering the Duluth Harbor under the famed Duluth Aerial Bridge. 

It was definitely time for a break so we grabbed a table at Grandmas Saloon & Grille deck, overlooking the Aerial Bridge and Canal. This restaurant is one of the main hubs for the Annual Grandma's Marathon in the Spring. While enjoying some appetizers and "adult beverages", we were able to view the passing of the tall ships giving rides out onto Lake Superior.

Upon finishing, we decided to head back to the Festival, and make our "souvenir run" before heading out to the North Shore of Duluth. The walkway along the ships and the Aquarium were now packed, and with the sun finally breaking thru, it was getting HOT! It was definitely time to head on out.

Our next stop was the historic Fitger's Lakefront Hotel. This hotel, which still operates several rooms, also houses the Fitger's Brewery & Grille, two other restaruants, and a host of small shoppes. 

We wandered out to its lakefront area, and grabbed an ice cream cone while admiring the view of Lake Superior and Duluth. This area had not only the seating area shown here, but a deck built out over the Lakewalk and railroad tracks which the Northshore Railroad uses for its daily tours. 

From here, we decided to hit the lakewalk and wander back down toward the Canal Park area. Along the walk we passed a really interesting mural created on the train tunnel heading into Downtown Duluth. Its hard to see, but the mural is made entirely of 1" square tiles. Amazing!

Further down the walk we came upon a "first" for me... a Handicapped Porta Pottie"! (No, I didn't go in to check it out). Ok, now has anyone ever seen one of these???)

By now, between all the walking, and the heat/sun which was now into the upper 80's, we made the executive decision to wind things down for the day. But before the drive back to the hotel, we had to check out the brewery at Fitger's. Those beers definitely hit the spot!

We left Fitger's, and wandered up the shoreline thru the older established lakefront neighborhoods. Some beautiful homes, not unlike those you see along Prospect Blvd in Waterloo, but with Lake Superior as your backyard setting. Several with "for sale" signs in the front yard, so if anyone is looking for a great summer vacation spot, tell them "Rick Sent you".... 

Not quite ready to head to the hotel, we decided to check out the Black Bear Casino and Resort in Carlton, MN. A VERY NICE facility. After about an hour of slot play, Sue and I actually left ahead!










Time to head to our Country Inn & Suites in Proctor, MN, after grabbing some subs at the Proctor Pizza and Subs Shop, in Downtown Proctor. Nothin' better than relaxin' in the hotel after a busy day, and some good food!

That wraps of DAY TWO of our trip to Minnesota. DAY THREE will take us up the coast of Lake Superior to Grand Marais, and all point in between. 

Stay tuned!