Fall Vacation, part 1: Duluth (Sept 7-8)

The last 2 years Richard and I did a lot of biking, including a few overnight bike trips that were a lot of fun. This year we haven't done much biking, partly because of the weather and partly because Richard was having alternating problems with a knee and a hip most of the summer and I was obsessed with skating and Pilates. His joints finally got better about the time the weather started looking pleasantly cool, so I took Labor Day week off work for a 3-night bike trip Up North. The weather turned out not quite as great as initially predicted, but it was good enough. We did a lot of driving, a bit of sight-seeing, and 72 miles of biking. We also did quite a lot of eating and drinking, which kind of cancelled out all the exercise in the health department but added to the fun. 

Outside Aquarium, watching lift bridge descend Starting off with the quintessential Duluth tourist picture. Look, look! The bridge is moving! See, there it goes. Isn't the little control house right in the middle adorable? That's where I'd live if I were looking for a place to roost in a post-apocalyptic Duluth. ( Read more... )

Fall Vacation Part 2: Bayfield (Sept 8)

In the afternoon, after our ride on the Munger Trail, we headed over the Wisconsin border to Bayfield, passing many miles of scenery that looks exactly like northern Minnesota. Pines and Aspen. Aspen and Pine. More pines and aspen. Okay, some of the pines are actually fir and some of the aspen are actually birch, but it's pretty much the same thing. I can't help but think that if there is an ecology in the world that could clearly benefit from a little global warming, this is it. It has a kind of pristine rural sincerity to it, but not a lot of variety. I won't subject you to any pictures of this scenery - you all know what it looks like.

Bayfield itself is, of course, utterly charming. That's how it makes its living after all.

Grey Oak B&B - Bayfield, Wisconsin (Sept 8, 2010) The B&B is the usual handsome, well-preserved Victorian, but the really impressive sight is the tree in the center of the picture - the largest living American chestnut tree in Wisconsin. Possibly in the country, since Wisconsin is one of the few states that has ANY mature American chestnuts (they were mostly wiped out 100 years ago by chestnut blight). Although it has recently lost its head, it's still alive and valiantly producing chestnuts. Sterile chestnuts, nfortunately, since there are no male chestnut trees left to fertilize them.

( more pictures here )