States – Page 32 – Wandering Dawgs

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Minnesota

April 4, 2017April 18, 2017Posted in Lighthouse, Minnesota, Wandering around America, WildflowersTagged Blue Mounds State Park, Green Giant Statue, Itasca, Mississippi River Headwaters, Spam Museum, Split Rock Lighthouse17 Comments

State 21:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Minnesota

Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The capital is St. Paul.

Our first visit to Minnesota can be described in one word – SNOW. It started snowing shortly after we left Wisconsin one morning in early April. As we traveled west on I-90 we crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota with the wind blowing snow horizontally across the interstate. It was so bad we pulled off the interstate and spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express in Winona. I will be forever grateful to the kind employees who put us up in a downstairs room with our Labrador Retriever. There was a restaurant in the hotel and they even had an indoor pool so we were roughing it in style.

20070411Snow-(6) — Crossing the Mississipi River to Minnesota in a snow storm

20070411Snow-(7) — Snowing over the Mississippi River

20070411Snow-(14) — Terrifying icy road conditions in Minnesota – at times we couldn’t even see the road

Overnight Camping at a Holiday Inn Express

The next morning the hotel let us have a late check out so we could wait until the roads were safe enough for travel. Later that day we checked into Blue Mounds State Park and we were the only campers in the park. With snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing the water was turned off and the dump station wasn’t operating. It was a great adventure!

Camping in the snow at Blue Mounds State Park

The weather was much better on our other visits to Minnesota. During our stay at Temperance River State Park on the Minnesota North Shore we enjoyed wandering around Split Rock Lighthouse and on the huge boulders beside Lake Superior.

Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota's North Shore — Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore

Island in Lake Superior on MInnesota's North Shore — Island in Lake Superior on MInnesota’s North Shore

We loved visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park so much we camped there twice.

Mississippi River Headwaters in Itasca State Park

20110611Mississippi-Headwaters-and-Sunset-(22) — Walking across the headwaters of the Mississippi River

Mighty Mississippi River near the headwaters — The mighty Mississippi River near the headwaters

Walking across the Mississippi River near the headwaters

We made several visits to the St. Paul area to visit family. While there we visited the Mall of America and the Minnesota Arboretum.

Minnesota Aboretum

A trip to the Spam Museum and the Green Giant Statue were on our bucket list as we traveled through Minnesota.

We drove out of our way to visit the Spam Museum in Austin, MN

Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, MN

Some of the wildflowers and wildlife we found in Minnesota.

Bluebells on Minnesota North Shore

Tortoise on Minnesota North Shore

20110611Mississippi-Headwaters-and-Sunset-Lady-Slipper

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Michigan

March 24, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Birds, Lighthouse, Michigan, RVing, Wandering around America, WaterfallsTagged Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City, Pictured Rocks, Porcupine Mountains, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Upper Peninsula25 Comments

State 20:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Michigan

Michigan became the 26th state on January 26, 1837. The capital is Lansing. Michigan is the only state with two peninsulas.

Our wandering around Michigan took us to three great lakes, two national lakeshores, huge sand dunes, magnificent waterfalls, a beautiful island with no motorized vehicles allowed, a lock connecting two great lakes, lighthouses, and gigantic cliffs.

Our Michigan journeys included camping in Muskegon State Park on Lake Michigan and in Lakeport State Park on Lake Huron.

20080610Muskegon-Channel-Swan — Swan in Muskegon Channel

20080611pmLakeport-(7) — Beach on Lake Huron in Lakeport State Park

We picked a beautiful day to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

20100528Sleeping-Bear-Dunes-(24) — Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

20100528Sleeping-Bear-Dunes-(49) — 450 feet above Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

We had a great view of the Mackinac Bridge from our campsite at Macinaw Mill Creek Campground. The campground was our home base for a visit to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island Ferry

On the ferry to Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

Lilacs were blooming at Fort Mackinac

Mackinac Island

After crossing the Mackinac Bridge we spent a few days in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, otherwise known as the UP. We spent a day marveling at the spectacular waterfalls in Tahquamenon (rhymes with phenomenon) Falls State Park.

20100601Tahquamenon-Falls-(23) — Upper Tahquamenon Falls

20100601Tahquamenon-Falls-(88) — Lower Tahquamenon-Falls

We drove up to Sault Ste. Marie for a look at the Soo Locks.

Another day was spent exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(12) — Sable Falls

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(52) — Miner’s Castle

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(70) — Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Our campsite at Porcupine Mountains State Park was right next to the rocky shore of Lake Superior.

We enjoyed seeing a few of Michigan’s Lighthouses.

Muskegon Lights

Round Island Light, MI

Round Island Passage Ligh, MIt

Cheboygan Crib Light, MI

Old Mackinac Point, MI

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Massachusetts

March 20, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Lighthouse, Massachusetts, Wandering around AmericaTagged Fisherman's Memorial, Gloucester, Man at the Wheel Statue, Rockport, Ten Pound Light Station10 Comments

State 19:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Massachusetts

Massachusetts was one of the original thirteen colonies and became the 6th state on February 6, 1788. The capital is Boston .

On our one and only trip to Massachusetts we wandered around two gorgeous waterfront towns.

Our first stop was Gloucester where we visited the Fisherman’s Memorial. The Man at the Wheel Statue faces the sea. Across from the statue beside the waterfront is a List of Names honoring not only those men known to be lost at sea but also the men and ships lost without record. The number of men and ships who left from Gloucester and never returned is staggering.

Sebastian Junger’s book “The Perfect Storm” (and later the movie starring George Clooney) told the story of the fishing vessel Andrea Gail from Gloucester that went down with all of it’s crew during the storm of the century in 1991. The names of the crew members are included on the List of Names at Fisherman’s Memorial.

Man at the Wheel Statue at the Fisherman’s Memorial, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Just a few names of the people lost at sea – Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial

The Ten Pound Light was visible from the Gloucester waterfront. Many fishing vessels were tied up at docks.

We also stopped to stroll around Rockport with it’s beautiful harbor.

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Maryland

March 16, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Maryland, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, National Aquarium, Rocky Gap State Park, Tall Ship4 Comments

State 18:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Maryland

Maryland was one of the original 13 colonies and became the 7th state on April 28, 1788. The capital is Annapolis and the largest city is Baltimore.

Although we traveled to Maryland multiple times before our RV’ing days, back then we spent most of our time visiting family and seeing the sights in Washington, D.C. Way back in the early 1980’s we wandered around Baltimore touring the National Aquarium, the B&O Railroad Museum, and enjoying the beautiful harbor.

Tall Ship in the Baltimore Harbor (early 1980’s)

After we started traveling in the RV, we enjoyed camping in Rocky Gap State Park on Lake Habeeb. The birds in the trees and the chipmunks on the ground kept us entertained when we weren’t enjoying the lake.

This chipmunk visited our campsite at Rocky Gap State Park

Great Crested Flycatcher in Rocky Gap State Park

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Maine

March 9, 2017September 29, 2017Posted in Lighthouse, Maine, Wandering around AmericaTagged Acadia, LL Bean, Lobster Rolls, Maine Maple Sunday, Portland Head Lighthouse, Ridley Farm, West Quaddy Light16 Comments

State 17:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Maine

Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820 and the capital is Augusta.

Twelve years ago, in our pre-RVing days, we flew to Maine to visit our daughter’s family while they were living in Biddeford for a short time. We arrived during the mud season, just before Easter. We stayed with them a few days and then took off in our rental car to explore a little bit of New England and Canada. We circled back to have some more grandson time before flying home.

On Easter Sunday, our then one year old grandson had his first Easter Egg hunt in the snow. Later we drove through the countryside to Ridley Farm for Maine Maple Sunday. In addition to raising dairy cattle, this family owned farm produces maple syrup. Our grandson got to see the cows up close and we got to see how the syrup is produced. We loaded up on bottles of their syrup to take home to Georgia.

Biddeford is located on the coast and we loved the rocky coastline. Even though it was cold, we had a great time enjoying the coast with our grandson.

We wandered around the coast of Maine, eating lobster rolls and blueberry pie, and finding lighthouses.

West Quaddy Light is located on the easternmost point in the U. , MES.

Bass Harbor Light

Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse, ME

Portland Head Light, ME

We spent some money at the LL Bean store in Freeport and stopped at several of the LLBean outlets along the way.

Our journey took us across this Cribstone Bridge to Cook’s Lobster House in Harpswell where we enjoyed lunch. If you guessed we tried their lobster rolls you would be correct.

Cribstone Bridge connecting Bailey's Island and Orr's Island — Cribstone Bridge connecting Bailey’s Island and Orr’s Island

A Bed and Breakfast in Bath was our home for a night. Dining at a waterfront restaurant and watching the ice flow down the river was a great way to end the day. A couple of the locals told us they make bets on when the ice will start to break up.

We visited Acadia National Park before it was officially open and had the park almost to ourselves. We walked along the ocean path above the water and listened for the loud boom of the waves crashing at the Thunder Hole.

Acadia National Park

Sand Beach at Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park

At the Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park

We passed through miles and miles of forest as we traveled through the north Maine woods on our way to Kent and the beginning of U. S. Highway 1. I was on moose alert the entire time but the only we one we saw was crossing the road so far ahead of us to get a good look.

We drove through North Maine Woods to get to Kent

Beginning of U. S. Route 1 in Fort Kent, Maine

Wandering around Maine was such a great adventure. One of my favorite memories, though, is the sound of the Easter eggs cracking as our grandson dropped them one by one into his basket.