Nelson Family Vacation part 4 of 4: back to the cities

Thursday 7/18 we had to check out of our little condo on the mountain at Eagle Ridge in Lutsen. We love it there. I think that will be a place we keep returning to. We made our last big breakfast there and finished packing up to be out before 11:00 am.

It sure was a foggy departure!! Wow. Made it a little easier to head out though to not have perfect weather to leave. 

We started the jaunt back to town with some extra stops planned to get some more Park stamps and patches for Noah. When we visited Split Rock last trip he didn't yet have his Book so that was one of the stops then we would see what other parks we could reach on the way back. Once we got past the lakeshore (just past Duluth) wow what a temperature change!! Hot hot hot!

The day got longish with the heat and some parks that took us off course and onto slower routes. Once we did Taylor's Falls we agreed we were done on the treasure hunt for the day.  It was in the mid 90's and we were all tired of driving. Poor Brent got a bad sunburn on the arm out the window (unfortunately it was the injured one too).

Once we got home we unloaded to repack a bit for our weekend adventure. We were going to stay in Shakopee and do 2 days at Valleyfair (the theme park substitute since there would be no Disney this year). The guys decided they had enough of their longish hair that bugged them during the week so went for quick haircuts while I regrouped to downsize cases, get rid of dirty clothes and put our leftover food away. My mom was there too since she was watching the Fur Babies for the week (they were VERY excited to see us). 

Repacked and simplified we headed out again. Didn't get in to Shakopee until after 8 pm. After a few challenges with check in and our door lock not working in the room to let us in (they came to fix immediately) we finally got dinner (and a free beer) at like 9 pm at one of the restaurants at the hotel after a very long travel day. The waitress told Noah he could play pool for free with the leftover balls from a previous game. ;)

 No swimming tonight though the pool looked good to Noah in the Atrium. Off to bed for another day of adventure to come. We got a package with discount park tickets too. 

Friday 7/19 we got up and had a great complimentary breakfast at the hotel ( much more than the usual cereal and bagel table) and got on our way to Valleyfair. 

We didn't go last year so Noah was excited to start the rides.  Thankfully the crowds seemed light. We started with Renegade. Unfortunately technical difficulties made for a long warm wait. Some other favorites from the day were Wild Thing (Noah finally agreed to try it and loved it), Power Tower, Xtreme Swing, The Wave (you will get wet, you may get soaked) and Noah and I did Soak City water park. Brent sat out of that due to getting overheated in the afternoon and doing The Monster which TOTALLY did not agree with him.  Mostly good day though it was hot. We did IMax and a musical show to cool down and ate at retro Coasters Diner. Brent hung there with the A/C for a while to feel better. We left a little earlier than planned and headed back to the hotel to swim. 

Noah's first time on Wild Thing:

After The Wave:

Ran into Josh Tooze & family...Brent and Noah had to show him they've missed him. LOL (and they were soaked at the time since they just got off the Wave.. ;-)

Saturday morning we all were dragging a bit after our week of fun, and decided at the last minute to check out early and save our park tix for another day in August when we could go less tired and Brent felt better. We all agreed on it as a good plan. Noah had said that except for Disney this had been the best vacation ever...can't argue with that...I'll take it!  It was good for us to have some family time away from the daily stresses. Brings us all closer together again. It is a good thing.

A few farewell shots of our hotel - our room looked over the Atrium (on 2nd floor)

from out our little atrium door:

So homeward bound to chill in our own home with the Grammies stopping in and our Fur Babies super excited to have us back. 

My mom said Delia (cat) sat on our suitcase we left since Thursday. She want going to chance getting left behind again. They were happy to have their family back. 

Home Sweet Home after our 950 mile adventure ...for a while anyway. ;)

(Full set of Pix will eventually all be uploaded to https://nelsonpix.shutterfly.com/)

Nelson Summer vacation part 3: Lutsen and Grand Portage.

Tuesday 7/16 we got up early and had our big breakfast (had a kitchen in our unit) and headed to the Alpine Slide that is at our resort we had done it during our stay 2 years ago, so were all excited to go again!!

You ride a ski chairlift up the mountain and then sled back down on a 2 mile track on a sled. Fun!  

It twists and turns and you can go really fast depending on how much you brake. We did our first run, Brent and Noah went at same time down the two tracks and then I followed. I had a Great run!  So did Noah. Unfortunately Brent overcompensated for one of the banked turns and tipped his sled. Skidded for a bit on his arm and knee. OUCH. He got back on course quick to get out of my way and got to the bottom. Got him cleaned up and did 2 more runs before heading back to the room.  He was a good sport. 

Brent took a video of one of his runs - I'll have to see if I can add it in...(not the run that he wiped out ;-)


From there, we decided on a less injury producing day. We packed lunch and headed back up to Grand Portage to check out the State Park. Supposed to be some great falls there.  Noah is also collecting stamps and patches from all the State Parks. We bought him a parks Passport in 2011...fun project. 

What a nice park!! Newish welcome building and they have a great 1/2 mile trail to the High Falls of the Pigeon River that borders the US and Canada. Wow! The power in those falls!  Beautiful! You could feel the roar. 

 

This is Lupine - we fell in love with it on this trip...want some at home!

 

 

On the way back we stopped at a History site at Grand Portage too that had lots of displays on the history of the area and the Ojibwa people. 

We drove back, tried to find the Kingdom Hall in Grand Marais that Siri and Maps insisted was right on Hwy 61 along the way (it was NOT at the site the map said it was).

 

 

Dinner back at Papa Charlie's and more swimming and a bonfire with s'mores and Mosquitos. Here were a couple of cute visitors to the resort...just hanging out...

 

Wednesday 7/17 started laid back...a bit too laid back since we missed our dry opportunity for the slide one last day. As soon as Noah and I walked out the door...drip, drip drip. Rain :(

We opted to (yep you guessed it) to swim instead. The pool is half inside and half outside ( you swim under a wall to get back and forth). There wasn't really lightning so it was safe to be there watching the rain pour down. 

Afterwards the gondola was open so we made one last run to the Moose Mountain for views and ice cream. 

 

Dinner was planned for Bluefin Grille, our favorite place up there. Yummy as usual with spectacular lake view. After dinner storm clouds started rolling in which made for some cool shots too. 

 

 

Chive Flowers...need some of these at home too. :)

Last night at the resort to soak up the cool mountain air!  We picked a great week to escape since city temps reached around 100 degrees and we didn't get much over 80 up there. Refreshing!  

To be continued...(part 3 of 4)

(Full set of Pix will eventually all be uploaded to https://nelsonpix.shutterfly.com/)