July 7, 2014 (77th Day)

Can't ask for a better morning that we woke up to. 62˚ and the sky was blue

We decided to try breakfast at Tamarack Buffet inside the casino.  Good price at $5.35 for seniors.

While eating breakfast we said we were going to gamble a bit before checking out of the campground and when we were done eating we changed minds and went back to the campground.

We left the campground to get on 169 for Ely, MN.  First stop was to visit Northern American Bear Center.  There were 4 bears in captivity. The first bear that we saw was Holly, who was resting in the tree.

Holly was napping on the branch

Holly was born in the wild in Arkansas in January 2013. A fire broke out in the area causing the separation between her and her mother.  She was discovered by a man hiking nearby. 

There is a sitting area with a big window inside the exhibit where people can see bears up close or they can go to the upper level for outdoor viewing of the bears.  Holly came down the tree, came running toward where the keeper dumped foods on the ground.   Then Lucky came.

Lucky (7 years old)

Holly and Lucky

Finally Honey with the rich cinnamon colored fur came by. Ted was the standout. Holly preferred to be alone, so she did not socialize with Holly and Lucky.

Honey (18 years old)

Honey taking a dip to cool off

Went through the town of Ely to go to International Wolf Center.

Luna

Denali

It was a pleasant drive between Ely and Silver Bay, MN. We went to Tettegouche State Park for a short break, hiked a bit. Then we continued our trek on 61. Not too far from the state park Edith saw a large area of colorful lupines and there was a marina nearby, so she told Erwin to pull into the marina parking lot. She wanted to take pictures of the flowers, enjoy the view of the lake and boats.  That was when Edith's brother called to tell us that an hour ago her 101 year old mother had passed away peacefully.

The marina at Lake Superior

Lupines for Edith's momma

After talking to his brother-in-law Erwin was too emotional to drive, so we stayed at the marina for a short break to think about momma.  Edith went out and took pictures of lupines.  They were so beautiful.  

To clarify the situation; Before we started on our journey (original plan was for 3 months) we sat down with momma and Edith's brother and talked about "what ifs"!  Momma said "I may not be here when you get back, I want you to keep traveling and enjoy yourselves. I would rather you see me living and not see me dead, so keep traveling!" We all agreed to this. So in light of this situation, we decided to continue on and remember Momma as the dear loving person she always was! She will be missed!

While on Route 61 we pulled over to a scenic overlook to get a view of the famous Split Rock Lighthouse. The reason we did not go visit the lighthouse was because we visited it last year, so we just drove by.  It was put into service in 1910 and is perched on a 130' cliff.  Very picturesque. 

Driving 5 miles south of Split Rock Lighthouse to check into Gooseberry Falls State Park to spend the night.

It is always nice to have leftovers which makes it easier and quicker to prepare supper.  

Late in the evening it rained briefly which was fine with us since we were not going anywhere