Canoe Races At Gunflint Lodge

     Every year Gunflint Lodge hosts the Canoe Races to raise money for the volunteer fire department. Vendors from all over the Northwoods area donate money and things to help fund it. We had two breweries donate free beer the whole time and raffles to win a ridiculous amount of free stuff. Anyone can sign up and the events get pretty hilarious.

     This was my first year attending this event. It was a beautiful day and there was a crazy amount of people for this lake. I trained for about 15 minutes before the races start and jumped into the Gunnel Pumping Race. Gunnel pumping is a ridiculous event where you stand on the back of the canoe on the gunnels, or ridges, of the canoes above the seat and jump to make the canoe move, instead of paddling. It is completely impossible to steer from there, and you don't get far each jump. It was so funny though. This event is a great one for goofing off and laughing at yourself, and if you are good at board sports, it is easy to balance. I attached a video of the event for your enjoyment.

     If you ever are in  the Northwoods in July, I would recommend these races for a good laugh and fun.

Kakabeka Falls, Onterio

      Living in the middle of nowhere is nice for many reasons. Nature is right outside my front door, I don't see people on their phones everywhere I go, and I don't spend my money on stuff I don't need. On the other hand, sometimes you need to get things, and you just can't. We live equal distance between Duluth, Minnesota and Thunder Bay, Ontario. As a result, when I need to go shopping, I go to Canada. Thunder Bay is a nice town, full of polite people. I do wish Americans had such a good stereotype. The thing I like most about Thunder Bay is not the shopping or the people though, it's that it is completely surrounded by the most beautiful nature.

      Just a 15 minute drive or so from the city center is Kakabeka Falls. The drive reminded me of the years I spent driving through southern Montana. I half expected to see a sign saying I was close to Hamilton. The pines are tall and bushy, and in the distance I can see sharp cliffs all around.

     Upon entering the park, you have to pay $3 (CAD) for parking for the hour, but it is well worth it for this view. Not only is the roaring waterfall astonishing, but the glass-like water running over the perfectly cut granite rock is unreal. The view looking down the canyon looked like a painting as the mist from the waterfall creates fog that rolls through the area. Next time I take a trip to Canada, I would love to spend a lot more time to explore this area. There are camping spots right by the falls and the whole area looks fantastic for hiking and swimming. I could not emphasize enough how much I recommend this area.

Devils Kettle

         It was described to me as a giant pit in the ground with water flowing into it. I had such high hopes, only to have them crushed. Devil's Kettle is the name of some waterfalls outside Hovland, Minnesota. It is only 50 feet tall, opposed to what they say is giant, but the pool it goes into is unknown how deep. It is a 2.25 mile round trip to see it, and it is a very easy hike. The narrowness of the trail is made up for by the dozens of turn offs so others can get by.

       I tried to find where it is and had a hard time, so I decided to give you directions to this waterfall so you won't have the same problem. Driving from Grand Marais to Hovland, you will turn on the street right after Gauthier Road with a sign (it's small so keep your eyes out) labeled Judge C.R. Magney State Park on the left side of the road. The entrance is only a few dollars for parking and that's it. It wasn't the most wild thing I have ever seen, but it was a nice view. I'd highly recommend bringing a tube to float the river if you choose to visit this site.

Flores, Guatemala

 Flores is a beautiful little town nestled in Lago Petén Itzá, Guatemala. It is just across the bridge from Santa Elana (the local town) and small enough that you can walk the whole place in about an hour. When you cross that bridge you return to non-tourist Guatemala. The prices drop, the English (what little there was) goes away, and the market is alive and bustling with people. If you want to go anywhere for cheap (on a chicken bus), ask for a taxi (a tuk-tuk) to the market in Santa Elana. It is madness in there and you can buy just about anything for 5 to 10 quetzales, without even leaving the bus. If you hop on a bus from there, you only need to give the bus driver 10 quetzales per person, and make sure each person hands him their own fare. If you don't, you will pay more and they are pretty impossible to argue with, even if you speak Spanish.

 There is only one ATM (cajero automatico) in Flores, so bring plenty of GTQ on the island. Originally, I stayed at the Hotel Villa De Lago, but later moved to an airbnb in El Remate for a fantastic deal. The Hotel Villa De Lago was amazing. They were super nice and helpful and had AC in the rooms and bats to watch (and hear) at night. Overall, I'm glad I stayed there, because that's how I got my awesome trip to TIKAL booked and it gave me an opportunity to see the city.

        Prices can vary from Q35- Q135 per meal, so if you are on a budget, you may have to shop around, but over all, Flores was worth it. As much as I loved El Remate, don't count on getting much sleep if you are off the main road, the roosters like to crow early as 4am and may never stop.... every 7-15 seconds.... but that is the norm if you want to live like the locals for a bit.

      Now I did something I never did before.... I skipped a whole country. I traveled through Belize without taking one picture and stayed and had a great time. If you want to know the best way to get from Mexico to Guatemala, you can follow this link and then take the first bus at the ferry station in Belize City to Flores. At least that's what I did. Now you may wonder... why skip over such a big section of travel? To be honest... sometimes, we all need to stay in the moment and have a memory that is just that.. a memory. You should try it sometime.... it just may be what you need to keep yourself living in the now.

Tikal-Episode IV (Part 2)

      As I walk through the ancient dwellings, the cool walls shade me as bees swarm  by buzzing loudly overhead. I picture what this must've looked like 2,000 years ago, with woman busy at work, men busy at rituals, and children running about playing in the hallways. Nothing could prepare me for this experience. Energy of the past lives in the plants and animals around me, we are so close to the answers of this era of mystery, yet so far from the truth.

 There are many theories as to why every ancient civilization on this planet had pyramids in place, and evidence of a worldwide society throughout, but most people find these old people a mystery with no answers. There is so much to learn from these people, and I couldn't resist taking in everything that I could.

I really enjoyed getting away from people. Even if you did chose to do this in the heat of day, the park is big enough that you can wander around by yourself and get behind, in, and on top of these amazing ruins. I would highly recommend the morning tour though. It's worth the splurge.

All around you will see trails leading to what seems to be nowhere, but the views are irresistible. When you are up this high on the pyramids, you can see many "hills" around the area, which are actually more ruins that have not yet been excavated. How amazing would it be to uncover more history!

 

I would recommend going here, alone, with friends, with family, or whatever way you chose. There is unlimited memories here and I don't think anyone should have to miss out. 

       I like so many things about Guatemala, and Central America calls to me every time I leave, but I fell in love with the Ceiba tree before I left. The locals say it looks like a tarantula, and I agree, it is a one of a kind tree in a one of a kind place. If you have one thing to remember, remember to visit Tikal.

Tikal.... "We are approaching the planet Yavin." (Part 1)

 It all started at 3AM when my alarm went off. The bats were out and squeeking, and the moon was bright. I worked my way through the corridors, blindly grasping for any source of light. The guard was at the bottom of the stairs sleeping behind the desk. I felt bad for waking him, but we couldn't get out, and seeing the sun rise over the legendary "Yavin" was a must that I couldn't miss out on.

 The crowd was small, less then 30 people in the whole park, and the air was cool and clean. The howlers were yelling and roaring and the toucans were croaking.

 I didn't get much of the noises, but I gave it a shot here. If you can get it loud enough, you can hear it a little.

Honestly, the fact that Star Wars had a scene here, wasn't the selling point for me though..... it was everything!

 Everything was beautiful, we had a tour guide for it all (English or Spanish), and I couldn't get enough of it.

 Guided tours are not my favorite way to go, I'm more of a wayfarer myself, but we were given some time to wander alone, and I still had a great time. Next time I will wander alone though.

 I love seeing those adorable little pizotes, it's been so long and they are beyond cute. Don't feed them though, they travel in groups and will attack if you quit feeding them. You will probably only see one, but they are close.

 This beautiful Argiope Aurantia caught my eye, it truly was a beauty.

You can see the size of it compared to the flowers next to it here.

 There was so many ruins! I could explore all day, even though I have already seen this once, it just is too much to think I could fit it all in just once.

 Even though we all know Yavin is just Guatemala, it feels like a different planet when you are all over these mysterious ancient pyramids.

I was in love with this tree.

Life is everywhere in this jungle. From the spiders, to the monkeys in the trees, everywhere you look, there is something crawling or flying by.

 There was so many stairs to climb, but I was never disappointed when I reached the top, plus a little bit of exercise will only do me good.

 Here you can see the temple of the ascending god. The carvings are still so clear to this day.

 The temples, the greenery, the heights, the giant steps that are obviously too big for the Mayans we know of, all of it made for an unbeatable combination. This is all to big for one blog though.... more to come.

The Unforgettable Ruins of Coba

        Coba had it all. There wasn't too many people, it was shady and cool, and you can climb many of the ruins. Everything about it was awesome. I really like that people don't know about it as much. It is much more of a local destination, just the way I like it.

 

Everywhere you look there is more ruins, beautifully uncovered.

       The paths to each section of Coba are well groomed, but kept as natural as they could while still making it easy for bike and walking traffic. Normally this isn't an issue, but I did almost hit my face on a snake that was hanging from the tree branches. I was very lucky Teddy saw it and pushed me out of the way. I looked up the snake, and it is hard to tell if it was venomous or not from memory, but even if it was, the species it might have been isn't too bad. Just a warning to make sure you keep your eyes open and don't walk around without paying attention. The odds are in your favor though, snakes don't normally like people.

 I thought it was nice how they put huts up on certain alters and such, to make it as close to the way the ancient Mayans did as possible.

The view from the top is just too hard to capture from a traditional camera.

 No matter what, it does make for a nice backdrop for photos. Over all, I was really happy to visit this site.

Swimming in a Cenote

 There are a lot of cenotes in the Yucatan to choose from. I saw signs for cenotes everywhere. some were a fortune, some were packed full of people, it was a hard decision and we thought we were lost when we finally found it, I couldn't be happier. This  cenote was owned by a very nice family, the water was cool and refreshing, and we were the only ones there.

 It was really cheap too!

 It was pretty hard to capture the beauty of it all because it was so dark in there, but the water was unbelievable. I just had to hold my camera really still using night vision.

The water was so clear, it was hard to tell where it was when you jumped in so it was kind of shocking every time. You could see John swimming so far down it was creepy, but awesome that you could see that far.

I was so proud of Zoey for jumping in. She needed a wet-suit because she gets cold easily. There was a little kayak in there to float around on, and I brought my snorkel gear so I could see the black fish swimming all over in the water. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. Please support Cenote Palomitas.

Tulum Adventures

Tulum was our first ruins to visit. The ocean views were amazing, the ruins were in great shape, and the weather was warm, sunny, and beautiful.

 

 The ruins were fun to look at and walk around, but there wasn't much shade, so bring lots of water.

 There wasn't much when it came to real pyramids, but there was an awesome alter to the god of the winds overlooking the ocean.

 I love thinking about how many ancient people walked on these steps.

 I couldn't get over the contrast of the deep purple to the beautiful greenery around it mixed with the beautiful ruins. Over all Tulum was fun, but still very touristy and full of people. My favorite part was spending time with the coolest niece I could ever wish for.