Northern Minnesota

 Our summer adventure involved heading north to Minnesota

 First we rented a cabin that was located on Swan Lake in a town called Pengilly.  We rented kayaks and had a blast.  (but alas, no fish were caught despite much trying)

 The cabin had a lovely table from which you could watch the lake and a fire pit for s'more creation.

The cabin came with a row-boat, named after my friend Maria....wasn't that nice!

 After Pengilly we went to Duluth.  Here are the kids riding a zip-line on Spirit Mountain

 We went hiking after going to Spirit Mountain....which was my favorite

We spent one afternoon playing on the shore of Lake Superior

Everyone (except me) went on a boat trip.  Ken said I would have been fine, but I have a tendency toward sea-sickness on boats.  I like this picture because it shows Duluth's very cool bridge.  It was designed, but then not built in Duluth for decades.  In the meantime it was built in Chicago.

Duluth is very narrow, but long, built on a cliff/hill.  While the family was boating I walked up the hill that I had been viewing throughout our stay. (Our hotel was on the lake and you could view the city of Duluth from the hotel.)  It was a great hike.

We spent one night in Minneapolis on our way back to Iowa.  We went on a tour of an old flour mill.  It is a huge part of Minneapolis history and was a pretty nice tour.  We went to Mall of America, but it isn't my cup of tea.  

We arrived home about 10 days ago and I still haven't got the house back in order!