We booked two nights at Bob's Cabins on Lake Superior, which are located about 6 km from Two Harbors and about a two-hour drive from our apartment. On Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed North. After about 90 min of driving and climbing what must be the only hill in all of Minnesota, we descended into Duluth and got our first glimpse of Lake Superior.
It was like looking at the ocean; we could not see the other side. We continued through Duluth, arrived at the cabin late on Sunday afternoon, and then were informed of the different activities and amenities the site had to offer. One of the things on offer was a library of board games. Micah was super-excited about the fact there were board games, despite having no idea what a board game was. Nevertheless we got out 'Hi Ho Cherry-O' and 'Chutes and Ladders' from the library; I didn't think I had played either of these, but it turns out 'Chutes and Ladders' is rip-off, albeit a more logical one, of 'Snakes and Ladders'. 'Hi Ho Cherry-O' was fun but Micah wasn't all that interested after one game. The cabin itself was small and cozy, with a small gas burner for cooking, two double beds and a single bed.
It took Micah a while to get the idea of Bob's cabins; there really wasn't much to do, but that was the point: it was about 'being' not doing. We went for a walk along the rocky shore and threw rocks in the water, swung on the tyre swing, read books and played games together. It was lovely. In the evening I forgot how to light a fire and the wood was wet and cold, so we ate our dinner inside the cabin. Micah's bed was in a separate room to ours, but without a dividing door. Nevertheless, he didn't give us any trouble.
We spent the majority of our second day in Two harbours, which is an interesting and windy little town. The second night I managed to light a fire using only one match and we ate hotdogs by it, while the sun set. After a few s'mores we put Micah and Reuben to bed and Amy and I enjoyed watching the moon over the lake from the warmth of the cabin.
Our next trip took place later in October. Mt. Rushmore is a nine-hour drive from our place, so we drove there over two days. We stopped at Sioux Falls, a small city just over the Minnesota-South Dakota boarder, which is about 4 h from our apartment and about 5 h from Mt Rushmore. Upon the advice of the receptionist we decided to have dinner at the Fryin' Pan in downtown Sioux Falls. She gave us a map, and I thought it looked walkable, so we tried. It took us an hour of walking to get there! The map only had the major streets so what appeared on the map to be a three- or four-block walk was actually closer to 14 or 15 blocks! We caught a taxi home after our very late dinner. All this was too much excitement for Micah, who entered hyper-mode and wouldn't sleep. We thought that given his excellent behaviour in a shared cabin at the Lake, we would have no trouble in a hotel room. But at 10:30 PM after trying to get him to go to sleep for three hours, we were almost ready to give up and go home. But we stuck it out and he finally went to sleep around 11 PM. We were all tired the next day, but we soldiered on. South Dakota is a really boring place to drive through; there are a few tourist attractions, such as the Corn Palace, with it's murals made entirely of corn cobs...
...and this giant bison.
But, apart from that, there is nothing to look at; just fields and fields of corn, soy bean, sunflower and wind turbines. And advertisements for Wall Drug. The highway is dominated by these. Starting around 300 mi before the actual store, we began to see ads for this place. A tourist trap of the best kind. It's hard to describe Wall Drug; you sort of have to see it for yourself.
It's a pharmacy/gift shop/playground/museum/restaurant. That's the best way I can put it.
Micah slept a little better the second night of our holiday, which we spent in Hill City. On our third day away we finally went to Mt Rushmore. Even Reuben is the only American in our family, we felt patriotic, looking up at those giant presidents' heads. Then we felt sad for all the suffering that had been inflicted on the Native Americans by the early settlers. This feeling was heightened during our trip to the Crazy Horse monument, which will be several times bigger than Mt Rushmore when/if it is completed.
We had initially planned to leave Hill City that day and then spend another night in Sioux Falls. But we were too tired to drive back after a whole day looking at faces carved in rock, so we rebooked our accommodation so we could spend two nights at Hill City. The next day we packed up and headed home. We stopped briefly at the Reptile Gardens and saw, among other cool things, a kookaburra and one of the crocodiles used in one of the James Bond movies.
We continued driving all day and got back to our place just after midnight. It was hard, but it was kind of fun and it was easier than stopping for another night. Furthermore, South Dakota is actually more interesting to drive through at night.
I think that the best and most lasting memories are formed when you do something crazy/difficult. Some people might think we were crazy to attempt what we did with a 3-year-old and a 5-month-old, but the memories will stay with me for a long time.
