Grand Marias to Canada and Back
We spent Memorial weekend camping and biking in Grand Marias at the city RV Park and Marina. What a gorgeous town!
The sites were a little close together and Grand Marias is popular destination so the campground was packed. But still, it’s right on Lake Superior and we had enough space.
The view from just a few rows away from our campsite. When it was quiet, you could hear the waves.
Introducing the Drunk Canadian
When we arrived, one of the guys from the site behind us, with a thick Canadian accent, helped guide Jamey as he backed the camper into our spot, which was helpful. He later knocked on our door to help a pretty late arrival with the same thing. Once they had guided the new guy and family into their site, he asked Jamey where we were from.
“Minneapolis,” Jamey replied.
“You’re American?! What do you think of Trump? I love him!” (Side note, we were in America, granted, Grand Marias is close to the border, but we were both surprised how surprised he was to meet American’s in America)
Full disclosure, this guy was pretty drunk. I let Jamey squirm for a bit while the drunk Canadian went on and on about “effing Hillary” and the “damn Muslims” and “at least he’s doing something,” before I asked for his help with something inside. Once we excused ourselves, drunk Canadian returned to his campsite and proceeded to tell his friends around their campfire (by loudly shouting) about how great it was that American’s get to have guns, and how he wants to have guns to protect himself, how much he hates Hillary … he was loud and obnoxious and his diatribe was peppered with tons of effenhimers. His friends tried shushing him several times. At one point I said to Jamey “if this guy really thinks all American’s are walking around with guns, he should probably shut up soon!”
Eventually, a mom at a neighboring site came out and yelled at him to keep it down, her kids were sleeping. He went inside and the of the evening around the fire was pleasantly Trump and gun free.
100 Miles: Grand Marias to Canada and Back
Saturday morning, we got up, got on our bikes, and headed out for our annual Memorial Day Century. This year, we planned the route from the Grand Marias campground, across the Canadian border, and back to the campsite, with plenty of stops to enjoy the beauty of the North Shore. Google Maps assured us the route was “mostly flat” so we clipped in and set out on the way. The North Shore is not flat, Google. It’s not a mountain, but there are several pretty steep hills along the way.
Jamey is so proud of that bike jersey and that climb!
We stopped for lunch at the casino, complete with poutine of course. Then it was time to tackle the big hill; Mount Josephine. That was HELL OF A CLIMB. We finally made it to the top of the mountain, winded, sweaty and I’ve never been happier to see flat land in my entire life. We presented our passports to the border patrol and entered America’s hat. We rode another 10 miles or so inside of Canada to get to the halfway point and turned back around.
The ride down Mount Josephine was much easier than the climb up! I don’t think I’ve ever moved that fast on a bicycle. It was fun/scary/exhilarating. Suffice it to say, after 100 miles, we were both pretty exhausted.
My phone died just before we made it back, so I didn’t get those last two miles on Strava. GRRR
We made it back to our camper fairly late in the evening. Our original plan was to shower and head into town to visit the brewery and celebrate our century over a good meal. Everything was closed except a loud bar and we agreed we were too tired to deal with that, so we ate a frozen pizza and slept hard. That was probably the most challenging ride so far (I know, we’re not as hard core as serious cyclists but I’m proud of us for finishing!)
Sunday gave us the time to sleep in and have the breakfast of champions: eggs, bacon and beer. I mean, it was an oatmeal stout from Fitgers, it’s meant to be consumed at breakfast!
Recovery food
It was the start of a fun day for Jamey, who spent another few hours at Voyageur Brewing company, sampling the local beers. By the time my friend Chuck made it to us to take us on a tour of the Gunflint trail, Jamey was feeling good!
The Gorgeous Gunflint Trail
Since we had never been this far up the North Shore, my good friend, Chuck, who lived in this area for years, came to show us all the best places. I, for one, had no idea we had so much beauty here in Minnesota. I was amazed at all the beautiful rivers, creeks and trees. My only regret is we never got to see a moose. Everyone needs a local tour guide like Chuck!
The next time we come to the Grand Maria area, we’ll stay for more than a long weekend, bring the dogs and take a lot more hikes to explore all the natural beauty we didn’t get a chance to see in this first trip that far north.
