Just two hours north of Minneapolis, you reach the shores of Lake Superior – the greatest of the Great Lakes. If you continue on Highway 61 towards Canada, you will pass through some of the most beautiful state parks and come within a few miles of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and some beautiful protected forests.

We originally plotted out some pretty epic adventures to celebrate 10 years of marriage. Once we looked at the price tag and the amount of vacation days we would need to travel to Patagonia or Tanzania, we decided to put that on hold until we can plan a little better and enjoy being back our home state. We left after our wedding and spent some quiet nights near the lake so we planned a repeat.

I will share more photos soon, but I wanted to recap the basic stuff because these end up being some of my favorite posts to look back.

I saw…

Birds, tall trees, beautiful blue lake water, Timberwolf tracks in the mud, the beginning of leaves changing colors, the Canadian border, the most beautiful scenery I remember ever seeing in Minnesota.

I heard…

Quiet, loons singing, waterfalls, waves crashing against the rocks, wind in the trees, hardcode Minnesotan accents.

I tasted…

Walleye, Voyageur Brewery beers, cold white wine from North Shore winery, melted marshmallows on my s’mores, the best wild rice burger.

I felt…

Cool wind at night, the magnificent Rumpl blankets we slept wrapped up in while camping, hot food warming us up from the inside, fleece jackets, comfortable new pajamas from the Ben Franklin store in Grand Marais, sore muscles from some pretty amazing hikes.

I smelled…

Camp fires, the wonderful smell of no showers for 4 days while camping (and that first shower was amazing), donuts from the World’s Best Donuts, fresh rain, hot coffee.

We needed this trip so bad and it was so wonderful to disconnect from reality for a week and be outside with just us. I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but things have been nuts, so I’m finally wrapping it up today. More photos to come soon, but get outside and play now. It has helped my wellbeing.