Rolling Along With The Reynolds

Jim and Cindy's Adventure Blog traveling all over the USA

Travel Blog

William O’Brien State Park

Continuing our turtle crawl down south for our eventual A/C replacement appointment, we spent 4 nights in the beautiful William O’Brien State Park, located in the oddly named town of  ‘Marine on St. Croix’. The river separates the state of Minnesota on the west, while the state of Wisconsin is on the east side. The Park had plenty of paved bike trails, hugging the  north-south road of Hwy 95.  Many more wide mowed trails are in the Park, but unfortunately no bikes of any kind are allowed on these trails. It was a quiet place to relax and enjoy a few campfires in a sparsely populated Park. We did manage to make a car day trip over to Osceola Wisconsin to see the beautiful Falls; both from the top of the rocky bluffs at PJs Saloon (great burgers and beer!) and down the 180+ steps to the bottom of the stream.

Pics around William O’Brien State Park (Album 2023-32)

St. Croix Bluffs Regional County Park

Moving just an hour further south, we stayed at the lovely “St. Croix Bluffs Regional County Campground” for 3 nights. Had a bit of an issue with leveling at our assigned site, but the wonderful Camp Hosts (Daniel and Wilhelmina) went above and beyond to see that we were happy. They moved us next door to them at a larger more level site with full hook-ups. Now that’s how to host! Also while here, we attended a very educational campfire program, “Call of the Canines”, and learned more about the local fox, coyotes and wolves.

St. Croix Bluffs Park (Album 2023-33)

Stillwater, MN

This town deserved it’s own section within this post. Stillwater is the oldest incorporated town in Minnesota. We visited several times during this week. One very cool spot was the Stillwater Boom site and cave right on the river. Formerly used by the loggers, it now serves as a somewhat sketchy locale for locals to party on the weekends. It is large enough to walk in, probably 30 feet inwards while plenty tall to stand in, maybe 20 feet high, with graffiti all over.  Moving into the historic downtown area, we happened to catch an evening of Live Music on the riverwalk (their Summer Tuesdays concert series), and just prior to that had a delicious meal dockside. There is an historic Lift Bridge located here that is still operational for boats to go underneath, but has been closed off to vehicle traffic and is now a great place for walks and bicycles to reach the other side into Wisconsin. Another unique feature this town boasts about is their authentic gondola rides; too bad the rains and the time didn’t allow us to take advantage of that.

Pics around William O’Brien State Park (Album 2023-32)

 

Chisago Lakes area

This campground in Shafer (Wildwood RV Park), as well as our next two destinations, sit alongside the St. Croix National Wild and Scenic River. 

* While here, we explored the St. Croix River three different ways: by car to see the dam (located across the river in Osceola Wisconsin), by paddle wheel boat on the river itself and by foot along the trails of the clifftops.  
Bald Eagles abound here, as well as herons, beavers and deer.
* The Franconia Sculpture Park was the most unique and fun attraction only a mile away from camp! The park is over 50 acres big, and houses temporary & permanent art installations that are truly Burning Man worthy. The fun cool part that added to the magic was the chance to rent a Golf Cart to get around the grounds.  Check them out at www.franconia.org

Franconia Sculpture Park pics (Album 2023-31)

Chisago Lakes: We are a region of small towns connected by our Swedish heritage. Nestled among lakes, farms, and bordered by the St. Croix River, you will find Chisago City, Lindstrom, Center City, Shafer, Taylors Falls and more.

 

Iron Ore region – Gilbert, MN (Album 2023-29)

Gilbert, MN

Gilbert is but one of four towns within the “Iron Mountain Community area” (Virginia, Eveleth, and Mountain Iron are the others). This was to be a short stop on our way up further north destined for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and onwards to Voyageurs National Park. Those plans were thwarted due to unexpected RV maintenance; the residential style basement A/C unit died. It had been buzzing strangely for a few days while we were in Iron River, and finally just died altogether.

Itinerary changed to head south to get a brand new A/C unit installed. Fortunately, the closest place that was able to order the unit and replace it was just a days drive away. However, the time was not to be until two weeks from now. So,  we decided to slowly make our way down to Faribault, MN (just south of the twin cities Minneapolis/St.Paul).

The summer heat of the mid-90’s was hot (relatively speaking, since the majority of the USA is experiencing three digit temps). We made due battling the heat by acquiring a portable air conditioner. Jim and I probably could’ve survived without it, but there was no way our fuzzy black cat was going to, nor did we even feel comfortable leaving her in the coach by herself.  Because of this, our day trips were temporarily halted until a working A/C was realized.
 

  • West Forty RV Park was an interesting place. It was simply a place for campers to hang at night after riding their ATV’s all day in the miles of ATV trails. Our site won the honor of being the worst unlevel spot ever. We stayed here for 5 nights only because of it being a holiday weekend and no other campgrounds available.
  • Small town parade in Gilbert Minnesota. Happy July 4th! Some of the Parade entries were hilarious (the seesaw snowmobiles, the Clown Band), some were quite impressive (the massive automated candy machine), but all of them were created and built with great civic pride. It was good to be in small-town America.
  • I’m still healing from tick bites received back in the Spring in Florida, but insects don’t want to leave me alone; got bit on the neck by what must’ve been a spider. A crazy hot burn on the neck coupled with hot temps isn’t pleasant. However, the holiday festivities helped to keep a positive attitude on our situation. Darcy had fun and provided laughs playing with my tutu. 

 

 

Iron River, WI

We landed in Iron River Wisconsin today (goodbye Michigan; it was a great 31 days, we will return again!) for a supposed week of “slow down”. I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll be nothing of the sort!
We’ve got a superb spot in the campgrounds right on the water of Iron Lake.

 

 

 

Apostle Islands

The stunning Apostle Islands. Weather was beautiful; air temps were in the high 70’s while Lake Superior water temp was 40 degrees!

Apostle Islands by boat (Album 2023-28)

 

 

Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge

Cloudy day made for cool vibes…
* Drummond village, in the Chequamegon National Forest. Nothing but ATV trails and lakes everywhere.
* Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Saw several interesting animal beds off the hiking trail. These looked too large for deer, and there are after all bear around, yet we saw neither.
* dense fog rolled in off of Lake Superior for the night (sunset at 9:02 CST). Felt like a movie set driving home to the campground!

 

70- mile Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway

Day trip around the 70- mile Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway:
Orienta Falls, the Port Wing village and Marina, Cornucopia Beach (home to an artesian well; crystal clear chilled water), and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houghton, MI

A bit of a change of pace; we’re camping at a city park in Houghton Michigan, on the Keewenaw Peninsula. It’s a bustling metropolis of 8,000 population, home to Michigan Tech University. We’re right on the downtown waterfront, and have an awesome view of the Portage Lake vertical lift bridge. Lots of boats, pontoons, paddle boarders, kayaks, and sea-planes! Can’t wait to see the bridge in operation for the big boats (historically large cargo ships transporting copper from the Peninsula mines).

A drive through the Keewenaw Peninsula today:
* took the scenic 7 mile gravel Cliff Drive to see towering walls of rock.
* toured the Delaware Mine, one of several former copper mines in the region.
* stopped to soak in a peaceful scene at Medora Lake.
* went to the end of 41 to Copper Harbor and beyond into Ft. Wilkins State Park.
* learned some interesting history on life here as a Soldier in the 1880’s by walking the fort grounds.
* drove to the western mouth of the Portage Canal; saw the Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse and hunted for yooperlites (some glow under a UV blacklight due to the fluorescent mineral sodalite).
* caught a Lake Superior sunset back in Houghton and enjoyed a delicious meal and brew in a cool historic building called “The Library”.
Another full day taking advantage of the super long days (sunset at 9:52 PM).

Keewenaw pics around Houghton (Album 2023-26)

Delaware Mine