Day 13

We got to bed late last night. Sitting around the campfire was so enjoyable none of us wanted the evening to end. Therefore, when my alarm went off, no one wanted to get up. But we did. We broke camp quickly and were on the road by 7:30. We are heading to Grand Portage, back across the border into Minnesota. We need to start heading to Michigan in hopes that Kati’s knee will be well enough for our trip to Isle Royal. I hope it will be. This entire trip was planned around that excursion since it was at the top of her bucket list.

We are back Stateside. We crossed the border and the time zone—we are now in Central Time—this morning and entered Minnesota. We were all extremely disappointed that there was no duty free shop at the border crossing. We hadn’t passed many souvenirs shops and had hoped to get shirts from Northern Superior. Besides, duty free is just fun to wander around. Oh well, Life goes on. Our vacation is not yet over so maybe we’ll find something yet.

We crossed into the States and not only found the sun, but warmth as well. I had hoped to get one more swim in the Canadian side of Superior, but the weather did not cooperate. Here’s hoping we can at least go swimming on the American side in the next few days.

Minnesota means “sky colored water” in the Dakota language. The Pigeon River marks the border between the States and Canada. As soon as we reached Minnesota, we saw a sign for Grand Portage State Park. Of course we pulled into the lot to explore. The visitor center was closed, but the half mile walking trail to High Falls was open. Kati stayed in the car to read, and G3 walked with me along the paved path. Yes, after yesterday’s bout of complaining, I dragged G3 to see yet another waterfall. He was in better spirits this morning, which was surprising considering he was hungry.

I will probably never look at waterfalls the same way again after this trip and learning the history of voyageurs. Instead of simply seeing beauty, I will now see them as obstacles that required a great deal of labor to bypass. The High Falls were petty. I took a few pictures and the G3 and I walked back to the car. The visitor center was open when we got back, so I stopped in to get G3 a patch. While paying for it the ranger told me that the Ojibwa were having their annual powwow this weekend. We planned only to pass through Grand Portage, but a powwow seemed a reasonable enough reason to stay a bit longer.

Before heading to the Powwow, we needed breakfast, especially since I was getting a caffeine headache. Grand Portage is not very big so our options were limited to the restaurant in the casino and lodge. They were having Sunday breakfast buffet, which sounded kind of appealing, especially since the buffet included eggs benedict. The buffet reminded me of vacation breakfasts on the road as a kid. Dad always liked eating at Bob’s Big Boy because it was all you could eat. G3 was reminded of the buffets that his grandparents took him too in Disney which he said, “Were the best.” The buffet today definitely filled us up, but it wasn’t the tastiest food I’ve ever had. G3 must have eaten a pound of bacon or more, so it’s safe to say he got my money’s worth of food.

As we were looking for the restaurant, we took a wrong turn and stumbled upon the Grand Portage National Monument—which is really a historical site. Wow! Powwow plus history. A double bonus. You can imagine my excitement. So after stuffing ourselves silly, we went to the National Moment. As you already know from my trip to Fort William, the North West Company operated out of Grand Portage before moving north. The National site is a recreation of what the area looked like during the fur trade in the late 1700s. However, the history is told from the perspective of the Ojibwa, who were vital participants in the fur trade. Ojibwa women often acted as translators between the Ojibwa people and the Europeans. Ojibwa were the middlemen between the Europeans and tribes further west. They were the first people to use birchbark canoes, perfecting their construction so they were both light and capable of carrying heavy loads. They were so light that they were relatively easy to portage. As a result, the voyageurs—who were predominantly French—stole their technology. Despite the Ojibwa being treated relatively well by Europeans engaging in the fur trade, they suffered greatly from the importation of alcohol. Also, in 1782-1783 a smallpox outbreak ravaged the Ojibwa people

It was the politics between the British and the newly formed United States that changed things for the Ojibwa people. Politicians and surveyors decided the fate of those involved with the fur trade when they decided to set the border between nations at the Pigeon River. The Ojibwa lived on both sides of the divide, but neither Britain nor the US seemed to care. We still don’t talk about that outcome of the war in our schools. We won our independence, but what did the new division mean for the indigenous people—not just the Ojibwa—who would now be divided due to the will of strangers?

The North West Company moved north, and the Ojibwa people in Grand Portage temporarily went back to their old ways of life—hunting, fishing, and farming—until settlers moved onto their land, pushed them into reservations, and formed the state of Minnesota. As for the fur trade, it only lasted until the 1850’s. By then, fashions in Europe changed so the beaver and other furs were no longer in demand.

While walking through the historical site, I spoke with one of the women dressed as if she lived in the late 1700s. Somehow, we went from discussing politics of the early 1800s to present day politics. She said people from Minnesota hope Harris will win because if she does, their governor will become vice president. If that happens, their Lieutenant Governor—an indigenous woman—would become the nation’s first indigenous governor. That would be amazing. (I have no service at the moment, so I have not fact-checked this information.)

From the past, we moved back into the present to participate in the celebration of a culture that the white man tried to destroy. When we arrived, we wandered around looking at the various goods being sold by vendors. There weren’t many, and they all seemed to be selling similar things—jewelry, blankets, and clothes with traditional designs. At one o’clock, we watched the opening ceremonies and then we left since we had a long drive ahead of us.

G3 angered me today. He complained about going to the National Monument because he’d already been to Fort William so it was stupid to go somewhere similar. Then he complained about the powwow because his grandfather took him to one in Long Island so this was redundant. I pointed out it was a different tribe, he argued it didn’t matter. Then he complained that we were too rushed this vacation and didn’t have time to just hang out and swim. I pointed out that we could have had more time on the road if he hadn’t wanted to go to summer camp which inconveniently falls in the middle of summer and severely cuts into my non-New Jersey time. If he hadn’t gone to camp, then we could have had a leisurely five or six week road trip. He said he was bored doing the same things all the time and not having a real vacation. I told him next year he can stay and I will go hiking and visit historic sites without him. Grrrrrr…

We drove south along the coast of Superior—the Ojibwa called it Gichigami—and when I could see the lake, the drive was pretty. We stopped in Duluth because Kati had another hankering to stop at Walmart. She wanted to pick up tent stakes—they didn’t have them yesterday—a poncho for trekking in the rain, and Advil. We got everything and then eagerly headed over to Culver’s for dinner. You know we love our cheese curds and pretzel bites. And I love my broccoli.

We crossed the border into Wisconsin, drove about another hour and found a cheap campground near Cornucopia. We set up our tents quickly and had about ten minutes left of daylight for me and G3 to play catch. In the distance, I can hear the rumble of thunder and overhead is a dark gray cloud. I sort of hope it does rain because it might force the one group here into their tents where the’d have to shut off their music. I already miss Canada and their sites that ban both music and generators. Oh jeez, a loud humongous trailer just pulled into the campground. It’s going to be a long night. They obviously don’t care about anyone but themselves.