H20 Rejuvenation at Voyageurs National Park

For the sake of our sanity, health, and trip constitution, it was really important that the camp site after our Minnesota Mosquito Haven be a bit more fun and enjoyable.  Fortunately, Voyageurs National Park has been exactly that.

We arrived at Wooden Frog State Park 2 nights ago.  It is one of the best paid campsites we have found yet.  It’s kind of funny that it’s considered a state park, since you can literally throw a rock and hit National Park property, and the site is partly managed by National Park Service Rangers, but we are not complaining!  All of the National Park campsites can only be accessed by water, which sounded fun, but ends up being more trouble than we felt it was worth, especially since the campsite we found contained all of the marks we feel important: quiet, private, and convenient access to fun activities.

This is definitely a very unique National Park.  It is the first national park we have been to in which you really don’t get a feel for it from the car.  It contains over 200,000 acres, and 38% of that is water; this park is designed to be viewed  by boat.

The first day we were here we took it easy and recuperated from the wounds of the previous mosquito-haven campsite.  It was still too windy to paddle board, so our main outing was to explore the visitors center, and enjoy some drinks at a local brewpub.  The brewpub was the highlight—it was a beautiful setting along the water.  It felt like we were on the ocean, except for the lack of salt in the water!  The brews themselves were not our favorite (we are sooo not on the West coast anymore!), but it still made for a wonderful afternoon.  The dogs especially liked swimming in the fresh water.

 

 

Yesterday, the conditions made for the best paddle boarding of our trip thus far!  The water was calm, with a very slight breeze.  We paddled around an island just outside our camp, and then explored some of the beautiful houses along the shore.  I’m pretty sure Dusty started to fall asleep on the paddle board, because one moment he was lying down on the back, and the next he had slipped into the water. This is a pretty normal occurrence for Dusty, so it’s easy to get him back on the board .  We also invented a new exercise routine for Loki:  clip his leash to the board, and push him into the water.  Then encourage him to swim to shore, and he’ll get a workout from pulling you and the board to shore!  We tried this with Dusty, but he just insisted on getting back to the board instead.

 

 

Overall, we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves here.  Minnesota actually reminds us of Washington State (home) more than any other on this trip.  There’s lots of beautiful forest, and, although it’s all flat, you don’t really notice the lack of mountains unless its a clear day, which hasn’t been very common since it seems to rain as much here as as does back home, as well.  The trees are different (more birch and pine, and less fir), and the birds make for more pleasant sounds.  I love the sound of a Loon at night or in the morning!

Tomorrow we are joining a free Ranger-led canoe tour of Kabetogama Lake to view a Beaver dam.  After that… who knows!