Kahlen Turns 10

My original inspiration for starting this blog was my first grandchild, Kahlen. Watching her grow from an infant to a little person. From that little person with her very distinct opinions and personality to an almost preteen. Ten, she's going to be TEN! It seems impossible but there it is, just the same.

For her tenth birthday I wanted to do something special. I mean, sure, she probably has a list of things she wants. Things that she might enjoy for a while, or clothes she would like. Let's face it though, kids out grow clothes and get bored with things.

Last September I started a new job, and started brewing up an idea for Kahlen's tenth (TENTH!) birthday present. I was working a lot of overtime, so that OT money went into savings. I talked to Willie and got a tentative OK. I thought about it for another month or two, and in December made my move. I knew if I waited much longer I might not be able to do it.

I talked to her mom, and got her and Dad's permission. I made the final decision, and decided for each of the grandchildren, the year they turn ten, Willie and I will take them on a special vacation, just them and us.  The way I see it, they are old enough to remember it, and young enough to still want to hang out with Gramma and Papa for a week. Not necessarily on their birthday, but the summer or spring break of that year. Memories last a lifetime. Everything else time takes away.

I got on the computer and started looking at places to go without a crazy amount of driving. I wanted to go somewhere Willie and I hadn't been so we could all experience the new together. I thought seriously about Yellowstone. With just the three of us we could do that fairly easily, with maybe one overnight stop in South Dakota. The more I thought about it, I decided that someplace a little closer would be better. Plus, I have been to Yellowstone, many, many moons ago, but it wouldn't be all new for me.

Willie and I had gone up to the southern tip of Lake Superior a few years ago and really enjoyed that. I started looking at state parks further up the North Shore. By December, most of the camping sites in most of the state parks along the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota had already been booked. There were three sites left in Cascade River State Park, so I reserved one. Willie and I hadn't been that far north, and my hope was that it would be cooler the further north we went. Mid July is not one of my favorite times of the year, I hate hot weather. The idea of going north, or up in altitude to escape the heat is very appealing to me.

With the reservation at the park set, this was going to happen. The next few months I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and Google looking for fun things to do while we would be there. And, of course, saving money. I wanted this to be a lot of fun for Kahlen, and for Willie and I as well. I wanted to do new things and see new places. I wanted it to be memorable for all of us.

I looked into horseback riding, but that would have cost over $300 for a 45 minute ride. I couldn't bring myself to do that. That just seemed ridiculous. I told Kahlen way ahead of time that horseback riding was out. She was fine with it, her response being, "we can just go to Dawn's on the way back!" Dawn has horses, but Dawn lives south, we were going north, so no.

I kept looking for things to do, and thought I had found some that we all would enjoy. I found a gondola at Lutsen Mountain that went up to the top of Moose Mountain, and boasted of fabulous views of the Sawtooth Mountains and Lake Superior. (After our trip to the Rocky Mountains last year I thought I should prepare Kahlen for the fact that Minnesota mountains are not like the Rockies. It reminded me of the movie "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain.")

I found The International Wolf Center and The North American Bear Center both in Ely, MN. I thought those would be good rainy day activities. They would be a drive, but they were close to each other and could be done in one trip.

Finally, I booked a kayak trip. Just a short one, most kayaking trips have age limits, this was the only one I found that a child under 14 could go on. Plus, I didn't know how my old arms would do with a very long trip. I had been looking at canoe trips. I figured we could all be in the same canoe that way. Then I decided, this was about new experiences. Neither Willie nor I had ever been kayaking. It was a guided tour, for beginners, so, perfect.

Either on the way up, or the way home we would try to ride on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. I decided to leave the last two days open for hiking or whatever we might find to do. Adventure awaited us.

Well, it WAS still an eight hour drive.