Tall Ships Duluth

Hey Everyone:) This past Sunday and Monday, Jonas, Jason and I made the short trek up to Duluth for the Tall Ships Festival 2010---8 Tall Ships came to the harbor in Duluth for a week of tours, trips, etc. Most of the ships are docked and open for tours and observation from the pier, while one or two ships sail out into the harbor with people that paid way more money than we did:) It was super cool to see! I just knew that Jason would love them since he has always been fascinated by nautical things---he just finished reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, has always wanted to learn to sail, and has a childlike fascination with old time sea battles, pirates, the whole deal. I also think that these ships are beautiful---and am amazed that people learn how to sail them---it looks like an enormously overwhelming amount of ropes to me:) This particular beauty, and my favorite one:), The Europa, has its home port in Scheveningen, Netherlands, makes long ocean crossings, goes on voyages to Antarctica, and competes in Tall Ships races all over the world! Isn't that amazing? It takes a 60+ person crew to make this baby go! Talk about cooperation:)
We spent most of Sunday morning on the festival grounds, touring the ships, and just observing them from the dock---Jason wished he had brought the kayak because other people were in the bay getting really close to the ships from the water---well, we will know for next time:) We both love Duluth as it has been a sort of launching pad for us for many many camping trips (mainly backpacking) over the years, and we have returned to Duluth from the North Shore many a time all smelly and dirty from living in the woods, to enjoy a nice hot meal at Grandma's Restaurant, or simply for a quick dip at the beach after not showering for several days. Anyway, so after a hot morning at the festival, enjoying the music and hustle and bustle, we headed North on Hwy 61 to find ourselves a camping spot for the night (I think this might just be my favorite road sign ever:)We were hoping for the best, as all the reservable spots (that we found online) in all the campgrounds on the North Shore had been taken. We hoped to find a non-reservable spot to still be open at 3:00 in the afternoon on a sunny, warm day, and as these kinds of days are somewhat of a rarity along Lake Superior, we knew we were taking our chances for sure! We intended on going all the way up to Tettegouche, but decided to stop at Gooseberry just to check, and as we pulled up, I got out, and waited to talk to the ranger. One very disappointed man in front of me stared sadly down at his brochure, as the ranger had just old him that they were all out of spots for RVs, but I thought I might as well ask anyway, since we were merely tent camping...."Do you have any spots for tents left?" She looked at me and smiled, and said that actually, she had already turned away over 20+ people, because they were full, but had just remembered that someone had canceled, so lucky for me, they had one spot left:) "We'll take it." We've learned after much experience, that beggars cannot be choosers when it comes to campsites up here in the summertime---if you get a chance, take it, because there are no guarantees farther north. If we were just a married couple with no kids, we could always try the Superior Hiking Trail for a spot, but not with all the stuff we had brought that day---and Jonas probably wasn't up for a 2+ mile trek carrying his backpack and sleeping bag (although, don't get me wrong, people, we l.o.n.g for this day:) Hopefully he'll be ready soon for carrying his own stuff, but then we have to get baby girl ready too! Anyway, we got to our spot, and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon on the rocky shoreline of Lake Superior, watching people cliff jump, having a seagull steal Jonas's entire package of cheese and crackers (here is our spread for dinner that night, and the seagull swiped a package just like the one on the table by the applesauce:) Jonas was absolutely furious with that seagull---and we heard about how seagulls should just "drink water and eat fish" for the rest of the weekend:). We skipped rocks, climbed around, and Jonas even took a dip in the lake water himself:) Brave little soul:) It felt good to be back on the North Shore; even though we had a somewhat dramatic night (it thundered and lightninged and rained like crazy all night long---and it was a but squishy in that 3-man tent, and I am a little more stiff these days going on 6 months of pregnancy:). But Jonas was certainly a trooper, and we had lots of good opportunities to talk about being scared and how he was safe with Mommy and Daddy, and how God made the thunder and lightning and sends the rain to give the earth a drink---now 2:30am is not exactly my favorite time for these discussions, but really it was sweet nonetheless to have him cuddle up to me with a little sigh, "Safe with Mommy." We survived the torrential downpour of the night and the clouds surrendered their fury to the welcomed peaceful blue in the morning. I love camping as a family, and was proud of us for sticking it out---believe me, it crossed my mind to make a run for it to the van and get out of there! However, these are the experiences that draw families together, and Jonas still talks about the seagull (with a grimace on his face, I might add:) and the lightning that was lighting up the tent all night long:) Needless to say, we have already purchased a bigger tent for the next adventure--a 3-room beauty, actually:) It sort of made the backpacker side in both Jason and I cringe (as this would certainly be a no-no purchase for lightweight camping), but we have come to except the fact that our backpacking days, while still an option for us when someone can watch the kids, are taking a brief hiatus when the whole family comes camping. And we're okay with that. We just love camping, and we want Jonas and eventually Baby Girl to love it too, so we'll be patient:)