5/24 - Grand Portage, MN

David and Jenny by the woodstove at Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse

Two Harbors Lighthouse

Lake Superior!

We left the campground at 7:52 a.m. Long day's drive for David. It's raining (again!). Steph reminded me that I had named this trip Water World so it's my fault! Temp is in the '50's. I don't know if I'll ever be warm again!

Gas - $3.269 a gallon and 15.72 gallons. Across the street was the Little Dog Car and Pet Wash. You can wash your car or your dog!

Back on the road and it's really raining! See another sign for a lighthouse, so we head down that road. There is a charge to visit this one and since it's raining, all I want to do is take a picture, but can't do that without paying. Glad we stopped because it turned out great!

We ended up getting a private tour that included sounding the foghorns. They were really loud! Originally designed to carry 5-7 miles out, they only sound 1/10th of their original volume. I asked if they hired deaf people to sound the horn, but they didn't know. They did say it had to be sounded every 20 seconds for hours at a time when it was in use.

The docent inside the lighthouse pulled out the engineering manuals from the early 1900's for David to look at. We climbed to the top (33 steps) and looked around. I noticed there were shades on the glass. When we got back down, I learned the shades were needed in case the lens had to be cleaned during the day. The lens works like a magnifying glass and the lightkeeper pulled the shades to keep the light from focusing on him.

More rain and still more rain! We got to the campground and quickly set up. Didn't disconnect the truck so we could pull out early for our trip to Isle Royale National Park. Only problem is, the weather has been so bad, the ferry won't be running until the weekend. We can't go then, so we decide to head on to Canada on the next day.

Quiet evening and soon ready for bed. One TV channel....

See ya down the road!

Jenny :)

At Two Harbors we saw a sign for a lighthouse, so we headed that direction. The lighthouse is now a bed and breakfast!