Attention: Issue with photos

       I would like to offer an apology on the behalf of my pictures. For some odd reason blogspot has removed or hidden my photos. I have gone through the majority of the posts and reloaded the pictures, but I am unable to load all of the photos because I lost my camera card that had all my pictures on it from the past year. It still has not shown up. So, I wanted to inform you on why some of the pictures are not there and some are. Thank you for your understanding.

     ~Laura Arminta

Snap Shots of A Family Vacation

 

Our van was filled with excitement as we scrambled into the green, Ford, 15-passanger van. This was our first week long family vacation that we had had in about three years, and we were going to our first ever Blue Grass Family Festival in Lake Itasca, MN. It was an amazing weekend of workshops, jam sessions, and bluegrass bands.

At the headwaters of the Mississippi

The second leg of our vacation was Lake Superior. A 5 hour ride from Lake Itasca and we set eyes for the first time on the large, cold lake of Lake Superior,MN.

Sailboat on Lake Superior

We camped fairly close to the rocky shores of the lake for about two nights. On one of those nights it down poured for about an hour and then as suddenly as it had come, it stopped. I was so thankful that God allowed out tents to not get flooded or knocked over during our entire vacation. On our first whole day there, the family decided to go hiking along the shores of Lake Superior. It was so beautiful and absolutly breathtaking. The rocky shore reminded me of some pictures I had seen of some of the coastlines in Maine. At one point some of us tried to get wet, by standing as close as possible to where the waves would crash against the rocks, sending a spray of water into the warm air. It felt really good if I may say so myself.

I am so happy to say that I also went swimming in the Lake Superior. In the term of swimming I mean that I put my head completely under water and was thoroughly wet. The water was so cold! The trick was to slowly, but steadily walk deeper and deeper into the crystal clear, yet freezing water. My body began to tingle with pain as I went in deeper, so I stood still till the pain stopped and continued further in. Finally, my body adapted to the cold water and I began to feel warm and comfortable. Was it good for me? Not sure, but it was fun once I got use to it. You should try it sometime, if you ever go to Lake Superior.

Caleb posed for me by these strange trees? Does anyone know why they are that way?

 

Dad was hoping to get mom wet, and mom, if you can tell, is ready to run. =)

 

On the Rocky Edge

Looking at the waves

My little brother, Caleb

 

A Bed & Breakfast/Musuem that we went to. It use to be an old Lighthouse.

 

 

         The following day we went on long drive up along the coastline heading north toward Canada. We got within five miles of the border, the furthest any of us have ever been. We got to see a tourist town, which was so amazing. I would have liked to stop there and walked around. It had the neatest, little shops ever. So if you ever get the chance, stop at Grand Marais and explore the town.

 

Random rocks where stacked all along this rocky shore

 

Samuel at Gooseberry Falls

 

 

A Lighthouse

 

We finally made it all the way to Grand Portige. Grand Portige use to be the place where men would transport goods to various locations by means of a canoe. They were the truckers of their era. The musuem was really cool, but sadly my mom has the pictures of it on her camera and I do not have her camera with me. So, I cannot show you the pictures. Sorry about that.

 

An anchor that I thought was pretty fantastic!

 



   Thanks, for coming along with me on this pictoral trip of my family vacation. I know it was slightly a lot of ramblin, but that is how I tell trips the best. =) I probably missed a lot of little stories, but I thought that I would share some of the beauty that I discovered and enjoyed up north. God truly is a masterful designer.
     
       ~Laura Arminta