Nort Country

Good NESS- This post-a-ble takes us back to the last weekend of July. Summer is bittersweet for many reasons, but for my actor S.O. Summer can come to a screeching halt well before a calendar indicates. In her case, Summer was ending approximately the beginning of Fringe, as she was tapped to be a Fringe Blaugger, From there, it would be gig to gig to git until, when was it, dear? 2012? (I kid)

Since we started dating, we had both desired to go on a camping trip up to the North shore. Filled with magical hikes, nature, and campfires, we hadn't been on a proper camping trip since South Dakota. We had briefly planned going up last year, but as some readers remember the timing wasn't all that great. So finally, we made some reservations and we made it happen. Grand Marais or bust. (And of course, again, tragedy would arise juuussst before we left. However that is a blog for another time. Meow)

It is here, on our 3+ hour commute, that I was tasked with the monumental job of helping her name her Fringe Blog. I thought I did okay. I mean, I'm no Don Draper but I was able to rip out a goodly list. (I figured the title's that were "good" weren't met with an eyeroll) My personal faves were "Re-Fringerator Perry" (Can you see it? Her picture at the top, wearing the Bear's jersey with a tooth blacked out?) And "WTF?!?= What...the Fringe?!?!" For the record, all of these GENIUS titles were shot down by management. Continue)

It had been a hot summer, so you can imagine our surprise when we arrived and it was...pretty chilly. Really chilly. As in, we had to toodle around town to see if we could find blankets. Grand Marais is touristy, all right. Packed w/peeps, the shops take care to remind you that even if you can find a blanket at home for less, if you're unprepared you 'd better get ready to shell out $200 for one. (We didn't) It was a little surreal. Finding the camping site we did up North During the summer (The "Honeymoon Suite" it was called, for it was tucked away. Shut up) is nigh on impossible- but Moda is a crafty and gifted campsite finder. The campsite itself was...well-

You had the die-hards. The people who brought up their campers and were settled in. They had front lawns. Flowers. Gardens. Gazebos. The works. And then...this is what we weren't anticipating- The ladies dragon boat races. Man. The campsites were overrun with groups wearing their matching T-shirts. (I made the comment that some of them looked like they should be selling turqoise and silver jewelry in Santa Fe) According to Mo when she was in the bath/shower area- she's never heard a group of bigger trash talkers. ("You're goin DOWN!"/"No YOU'RE going DOWN!!!") Crazy.

Outside of the smoked fish, food and nature, the highlight had to be our "EPIC TRAIL HIKE". See, we were itching to regain our status as "Varsity Trail Hikers" after a few setback hikes. So we got in our gear, threw on our Camelpacks (Natch. And hey! I had one at my folks! Unused!) and hit the Superior Trail. We asked for challenging routes and after surveying our physical forms (both of us, taut steel of hiking precision) the park ranger drew us a "Challenging" 8 mile hike.

And it nearly beat us. Holy crap. Not just that it was hilly. Or long. But, and this is weird, almost all North Shore forest trees are birch and not pine. And they have an invasive root system. So all trails had thick coiled and hard roots that were both trip hazards and murder on your arches. Oh...and they had hills that were so steep they were a scramble just to get up. No. Fun. We did it. And boy, were we glad it was over.

We pulled out the next day, stopping for a brief photo op at Split Rock lighthouse and then Gooseberry Falls. (Never again. It was like an ant hive of pampies, picture takers. Anything scenic was nigh on ruined by families. Sorry) We made our pit stop for a pint at Fitger's before rolling back into town.

And this is roughly where I lose my beeb for a few months. But we had ourselves and EXcellent summer.