Great Vacation Week!

I am so fortunate.  I was able to take another full week off of work, the first week of October.  I was having such a good week, and every evening thought I would write on my blog but never did.  Last week I went back to work and didn't have a chance to write.  So, here I am two weeks later.

I had a real good balance between relaxing, and getting some extra cleaning done around the house!!!  The weather could not have been more perfect...the temps every day that week was between high 60's and high 70's and some days were sunny, even without a lot of sunshine the days were beautiful!!!!  One morning I was up very early and by 8 am, I had the venetians blinds cleaned and the curtains from the living and dining room windows in the wash!  Every day I did something "extra" around the house as far as cleaning goes, and still spent a few hours each day outside enjoying the great fall days!   When I was out and about enjoying the beauty of the fall leaves and the beauty of our city, I took lots of pictures.  I will be posting those in the next few weeks.  If you follow me on Facebook, I already posted them in albums.  I topped off my week of vacation by going to Hudson (WI) to visit our daughter and family on the weekend.  On the way down, I visited for an hour or so, a friend who was in North Branch visiting her sister, from the Milwaukee area.  Also spent extra time with my husband, in between his golfing.  While he golfed I enjoyed the beauty outside also.  We celebrated both of our Grandchildren's birthdays.

I can't believe that they are 22 and 11 already!!!

When I went back to work last week, I went back knowing my house was in good order, and that I had had a wonderful vacation and was ready to dig into my work week!  I picked a good week to be away from the office too, because I really didn't miss anything, and it was one of our slower weeks, so I didn't come back with a big pile of work to be overwhelmed!

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota

These photos were taken when our niece Stacie visited us from PA in August.  

I was pleasantly surprised to see the improvements since I hadn't visited the falls since our sons were younger.  There are walking trails much improved and more signage and much easier to get right to the three falls.  

Map is clickable

On Hwy 61 40 miles NE of Duluth/12 miles NE of Two Harbors 218-834-3855 (visitor center)

Gooseberry State Park in Minnesota invites the public to re-visit the recently completed trails, overlook plaza and highway/pedestrian bridge.  from: http://www.northshorestateparks.com/gooseberry.htm

Split Rock Light House on Lake Superior - HWY 61

Historic Split Rock Lighthouse - this just made it on the National Historic List last week. 

It is about 60 miles North of Duluth on Hwy. 61

and it was built before a road was there...to save ships from

crashing against the cliffs. The shipping companies that lost and had damage to their ships lobbied congress for this lighthouse to be built after there were 3 violet storms in November of 1905, killing 116 sailors on one ship and damaging 30 others.

The homes for the Caretakers of the Lighthouse

Above: The Fog house (for the Fog horn)

View from Lighthouse

                                Stacie and Linda at the Lighthouse - August 5, 2011

Background on the Lighthouse:

Shipwrecks from a mighty 1905 November gale prompted this rugged landmark's construction. Completed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1910, Split Rock Light Station was soon one of Minnesota's best known landmarks. Restored to its 1920s appearance, the lighthouse offers a glimpse of lighthouse life in this remote and spectacular setting.

- MN Historical Society web site

"The site ultimately selected for the lighthouse and fog signal was 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northeast of the Split Rock River, on Stony Point. There were no roads yet up the North Shore, so all construction materials were brought in by barge and hoisted up the cliff with a derrick and a steam-powered hoist. By midsummer 1910 work was complete on the lighthouse, foghorn building, and three houses for the lighthouse keepers.

The derrick remained the only way to bring supplies up the cliff until the lighthouse staff built a tramway in 1915-16. The station finally became accessible by a road, now Minnesota State Highway 61, completed in 1929. Five years later a crew from the Civilian Conservation Corps built a new access road and lighthouse tenders were provided with a truck to bring in supplies by land, so the tramway was dismantled." - from Wikipedia.org

ENGER PARK TOWER - GIFT TO DULUTH FROM NORWAY

These photos were taken in August when my niece Stacie visited us.  

Enger Tower and Enger Park were deteriorating over the years, and now the grounds have been improved to what they used to be 40 years ago, when I first came here...the tower has been restored to the beautiful tower that it was when the King and Queen of Norway first gifted it to our city! When my parents came to Duluth with my younger siblings the first summer I lived here, my Dad took the kids up to the top of the tower (as you see Stacie did in the photo above) and they still talk about how much fun that was for them as kids. We saw a lot of families there with kids and it's nice to know that it is now safe for them to climb to the top as it was when my brothers and sister went to the top! From the top of the tower you can imagine the views you see...just look at the view in the above photo that I took from the bottom of the tower! If you live in Duluth and you have not been to the tower lately, you should take some time and go up to it...you won't be sorry!!!

More:

From Wikipedia.org

Enger Tower is an 80-foot (24 m), five-story bluestone observation tower atop Enger Hill in Duluth, MN. The tower is at an elevation of 451 feet (137 m) above Lake Superior, providing panoramic views of the Twin Ports. Each of the tower's levels has a lookout that is accessible by stairs. A green beacon mounted on top of the tower can be seen for many miles.

Dedicated by Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha of Norway on June 15, 1939, the tower memorializes Bert Enger, a Norwegian immigrant who found success as a furniture seller and donated the land for Enger Park.

During the recent restoration, the area Rotary Clubs provided lights that shine on each side of the tower, so that it can be seen at night.