North Dakota - Day 2 (Duluth, Voyageur NP, International Falls, Baudette)

Day 2 started out cloudy and it appeared that we would need to make changes to our plans due to rain. We had a full day of driving (6.5 hours) plus stops, so we got an early start. Our first stop was Tobie's in Hinckley, for a sweet breakfast treat.

On our way to the next stop, Jay Cooke State Park, we hit rain. We were an hour from the park, so we were hopeful that we would drive out of the rain.

Luckily, the rain was very spotty and we decided to stop at the park. We were hopeful that the rain wouldn't catch up with us. 

Our first stop in the park was Oldenburg Point Overlook. The St Louis River below was impressive!

On our way back to the swinging bridge, we stopped at this bridge to get another glimpse of the river valley. 

We then made our way to the gem of the park, the Swinging Bridge. This beautiful bridge was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1934 (replacing an earlier built bridge). Due to flood damage, it needed to be repaired/replaced in the 1940s, 1950s and again in 2012. 

We left Jay Cooke and headed into Duluth to Canal Park. While planning our trip, we found a Facebook post about the Festival of Sail Duluth - then figured out that the festival would be happening the same weekend we would be in the area! While Duluth hadn't been in our initial itinerary, we added it so we'd be able to see the tall ships.

We drove to Canal Park and quickly realized that everyone else was also there for the festival! There were LOTS of people and we couldn't find a parking spot within a few miles of the park. Matt ended up dropping me off so I could walk up to the water and take some pictures/see the ships. We were in luck - the ships were out in the lake, parading back into the Harbor! I took some pictures and enjoyed the ships for a few minutes then went and swapped spots with Matt so he could see them too. 

If we'd known that the ships were heading back into the harbor, we would've walked over to the passageway. It was really neat to watch the ships as they made their way into the harbor. 

We had planned to visit Enger Tower Park, but decided to pass on this stop due to the extreme cloud cover (we could barely see the tower as we came in to Duluth). We were bummed, but knew that was our best decision. Enger Tower Park is beautiful (the view from the tower as well as the gardens in the park) if you ever get an opportunity to visit.

We grabbed lunch and filled up with gas before leaving Duluth and heading north. 

Our next scheduled stop was International Falls, MN - across the Rainy River from Canada. I was able to find a fun photo op along the way in Kabetogama (see Walleye below). While pinpointing the walleye on the map, I realized how close we would be to Voyageurs National Park and added the park to our itinerary. We didn't spend much time there but enjoyed what we did see. The only way to truly see the park is via boat, which we didn't have time to do on this trip. In all honesty, this park is such a remote one, we truly never thought we would see/visit it. To be able to experience a small portion of it...very cool!

A quick stop for a ride on the large walleye!

After a pizza dinner, we had an hour of driving from International Falls to Baudette (our hotel for the night). Driving Hwy 11 (aptly named Waters of the Dancing Sky Scenic Byway) into Baudette was so peaceful. Very little traffic and beautiful scenery! Most of the drive was along the Rainy River and we could see Canada on the other side. 

As we were getting close to Baudette, we crossed over a bridge and couldn't believe the view out our window! Matt asked if we should stop and I agreed. We got out and found a small park (Clementson Wayside Park). We walked down to the water and then walked up to the bridge. We spent at least 15-20 minutes at this stop - taking in the sunset, listening to the rushing water, enjoying the beauty of the area. We literally had 1 vehicle drive by us while there! We were so glad that we stopped - it ended up being one of favorite stops for the whole trip.

Baudette was our final stop for the day. We arrived just as the glow of the evening sunset was taking effect. We stopped for gas and took a picture with Willie the Walleye. 

We drove around Peace Park, which borders the US/Canadian Border and saw a rainbow while there.

We were able to enjoy the last of the sunset from our hotel room.

While our weather ended up clearing up, the kids called that night and said that they had been hit by a large storm. Flooded streets and loss of power at the house. It sucked not being home, helping them. I was able to pull up this camera view of our side lot and Matt's work truck (picture captured before the power went out).  That's a lot of water!

Favorites from Day 2:

Matt: Clementson Wayside Park

Becki: Drive from International Falls to Baudette